DOGE Catch-All

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nycfan said:


FDA staff return to crowded offices, broken equipment and missing chairs​


“…About half the FDA’s 20,000 scientists, attorneys, inspectors and support staff report to the agency’s main campus in White Oak, Maryland, which until the late 1990s was a naval weapons testing facility.

… While many agencies switched to telework work during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA began embracing the practice a decade earlier. Most employees had the option to work from home at least two days a week — flexibility that was seen as a competitive perk for recruiting highly trained experts who can often earn more working in industry.


By 7:30 a.m., many on-campus parking lots were full, with cars parked along side streets, according to employees. Some workers reported waiting up to one hour to clear security checkpoints, and photos viewed by the AP showed lines of employees winding out doorways, along sidewalks and around corners.

… Some employees were left to scour the campus for chairs and other essentials.

“People are looting chairs from conference rooms and other buildings,” a staffer said. “We have no supplies. People are hunting around all of the buildings on campus for pads of paper and other basics.”

When employees did get situated, many shared cramped spaces with people from different divisions and teams, making it difficult to hold calls and meetings. Photos shared with the AP show folding chairs and tables setup in hallways and lobbies.

An FDA spokesman said in an email Monday the agency is “is continuing its return-to-office activities to ensure staff remain able to conduct their important public health work.”

All the employees told the AP that they brought their own drinking water Monday. That’s due to a monthslong issue involving Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, which was detected at several FDA buildings. The General Service Administration, which oversees federal buildings, has been working on the issue since last summer. …”
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Efficiency!

These clowns have no idea what the fuck they are doing.
 
nycfan said:
UPDATE:

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Musk’s Team Evicts Officials at the U.S. Institute of Peace​

A bubbling dispute broke into a dramatic standoff that ended with police involvement and the Department of Government Efficiency taking up residence at the independent agency.

www.nytimes.com

DOGE Staff Marches Into U.S. Institute of Peace and Evicts Its Officials

A bubbling dispute broke into a dramatic standoff that ended with police involvement and the Department of Government Efficiency taking up residence at the independent agency.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

“A simmering dispute between the Department of Government Efficiency and an independent agency dedicated to promoting peace broke into an open standoff involving the police on Monday, as Elon Musk’s government cutters marched into the agency’s headquarters and evicted its officials.

The dramatic scene played out in Washington on Monday afternoon as Mr. Musk’s team was rebuffed from the U.S. Institute of Peace, an agency that President Trump has ordered dismantled, then entered it with law enforcement officers. Agency officials say that because the institute is a congressionally chartered nonprofit that is not part of the executive branch, Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk do not have the authority to gut its operations.

“DOGE just came into the building — they’re inside the building — they’re bringing the F.B.I. and brought a bunch of D.C. police,” Sophia Lin, a lawyer for the institute, said by telephone as she and other officials were being escorted out.

… The standoff quickly became one of the most visible points of resistance to Mr. Musk’s effort to fire federal workers and dismantle whole agencies. And it underscored Mr. Trump’s willingness to push the legal limits of his authority in his drive to reshape the federal government and put even entities that have traditionally been independent under his thumb.

A spokesman for Mr. Musk’s team directed an inquiry to the White House. An administration official blamed the institute for not complying with an executive order signed by Mr. Trump … Over the weekend, the F.B.I. threatened institute employees over the lack of access to the building, Ms. Lin said.

… Musk representatives arrived on Monday afternoon in a black S.U.V. with government plates and were escorted by what appeared to be private security who arrived in separate vehicles and were dressed in street clothing.

They tried one entrance, but could not seem to find a way inside and instead circled the building before getting back into the S.U.V. …

IMG_5693.jpeg

… Mr. Musk’s team did not get into the building until officers from Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department showed up, Ms. Lin said. Institute officials had called the police to report that Department of Government Efficiency members were trespassing, she said, but the police instead cleared institute leaders from the building.

A police spokesman, Tom Lynch, said that officers were called to the scene on a report of an unlawful entry and said the police left after the people who were seeking unlawful entry had left. He did not say who those people were or provide more information on what happened at the scene aside from the fact that no arrests had been made.

Two of the men, Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Aimonetti, a lawyer, were the same Musk officials who this month forced entry to the African Development Foundation, one of the government entities mentioned in the February executive order. They did not respond to shouted questions. …”
 
The claim of efficiency is that there are a lot of credit cards that they canceled? Hmm. I wonder why they didn't publicize the amounts charged to these duplicate credit cards. Hmm. It's almost as if they were not being used.

DOGE is growing more desperate and pathetic by the day.
 
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DOGE Reverses Move That Made Its Claims Nearly Impossible to Check​

After getting called out, Elon Musk’s cost-cutting group reinstated details about the grants that it canceled.

www.nytimes.com

DOGE Reverses Move That Made Its Claims Nearly Impossible to Check

After getting called out, Elon Musk’s cost-cutting group reinstated details about the grants that it canceled.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

“…
In early March, the group — which had been caught in a series of high-profile errors — began posting itemized claims about the savings it had achieved from canceling federal grants. Its website interface provided only minimal details about those grants but the site’s public source code included identification numbers, making it possible to glean more information from other official sources.

On March 5, however, the group removed those identifiers from the code, while also adding thousands more grants, making it very difficult to verify the figures provided. A White House official said the group had withheld identifying information “for security purposes.”

On Tuesday, the group added some of the missing details, providing links to many of the grants’ entries in a federal spending database, USAspending.gov. Now, fact-checkers will have the ability to match the claims with other sources.

… The new details provided by the group made clear that its claims about these canceled grants also contained the same kind of errors that had marred its previous work.

For instance, the group said that it had saved $1.75 billion by cutting a U.S. Agency for International Development grant to a nonprofit called Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

The New York Times reported last week that Gavi had said that the website’s claims were wrong. The nonprofit said that its grant had not been canceled and that, even if it was, all the money it was owed had already been paid. So canceling the grant would save nothing.

The Times had identified that grant using the details that Mr. Musk’s group had briefly embedded in the source code of its website.

On Tuesday, that erroneous claim about the $1.75 billion grant was still on DOGE’s website, which the group calls its “wall of receipts,” — its line by line accounting of the group’s purported cost savings. “
 

New Social Security rules: SSA to require in-person identity checks for new and existing recipients by end of March | abc7.com

In%20an%20effort%20to%20limit%20fraudulent%20claims%2C%20the%20Social%20Security%20Administration%20will%20impose%20tighter%20identity-proofing%20measures.
abc7.com abc7.com

In an effort to limit fraudulent claims, the Social Security Administration will impose tighter identity-proofing measures - which will require millions of recipients and applicants to visit agency field offices rather than interact with the agency over the phone.

Beginning March 31st, people will no longer be able to verify their identity to the SSA over the phone and those who cannot properly verify their identity over the agency's "my Social Security" online service, will be required to visit an agency field office in person to complete the verification process, agency leadership told reporters Tuesday.

The change will apply to new Social Security applicants and existing recipients who want to change their direct deposit information.

Retiree advocates warn that the change will negatively impact older Americans in rural areas, including those with disabilities, mobility limitations, those who live far from SSA offices and have limited internet access.

The plan also comes as the agency plans to shutter dozens of Social Security offices throughout the country and has already laid out plans to lay off thousands of workers.
 
altmin said:

New Social Security rules: SSA to require in-person identity checks for new and existing recipients by end of March | abc7.com

In%20an%20effort%20to%20limit%20fraudulent%20claims%2C%20the%20Social%20Security%20Administration%20will%20impose%20tighter%20identity-proofing%20measures.
abc7.com abc7.com

In an effort to limit fraudulent claims, the Social Security Administration will impose tighter identity-proofing measures - which will require millions of recipients and applicants to visit agency field offices rather than interact with the agency over the phone.

Beginning March 31st, people will no longer be able to verify their identity to the SSA over the phone and those who cannot properly verify their identity over the agency's "my Social Security" online service, will be required to visit an agency field office in person to complete the verification process, agency leadership told reporters Tuesday.

The change will apply to new Social Security applicants and existing recipients who want to change their direct deposit information.

Retiree advocates warn that the change will negatively impact older Americans in rural areas, including those with disabilities, mobility limitations, those who live far from SSA offices and have limited internet access.

The plan also comes as the agency plans to shutter dozens of Social Security offices throughout the country and has already laid out plans to lay off thousands of workers.
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Hopefully, most SS recipients can use the 'my Social Security' online service. Millions of elderly folks going in-person to SS offices would be a logistical nightmare.
 
I've been saying for a long time that the major problem facing America is our reluctance to address the fact that the poor have too much and the rich have too little.
Finally the proposed GQPer budget is doing something to bring things back into balance.

www.rawstory.com

GOP budget plan would take from the poorest 40 percent and give it to the rich: Yale

The budget plan being contemplated by congressional Republicans would represent a massive transfer of wealth from the poorest 40 percent of Americans to the richest 1 percent of the country, according to a new analysis from Yale's Budget Lab.As explained by researchers Harris Eppsteiner and John...
www.rawstory.com www.rawstory.com
 
heelinhell said:
I've been saying for a long time that the major problem facing America is our reluctance to address the fact that the poor have too much and the rich have too little.
Click to expand...
LOL. Reminds me of Schatz' tweet a while back, "on the plus side, the American people are finally getting the cuts to national parks that we've been demanding."
 
Inside The Now-Shuttered Federal Agency Where Employees Lived ‘Like Reigning Kings’

Employees of DOGE's latest target spent taxpayer money on exotic vacations, portraits, and more.

One of the seven small federal agencies that President Donald Trump ordered downsized or eliminated on Friday was rife with corruption, with its employees hiring friends and relatives, commissioning paintings of themselves, and using government credit cards to indulge in constant luxuries.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) occupied a nine-story office tower on D.C.’s K Street for only 60 employees, many of whom actually worked from home, prior to the pandemic. Its managers had luxury suites with full bathrooms; one manager would often be “in the shower” when she was needed, while another used her bathroom as a cigarette lounge. FMCS recorded its director as being on a years-long business trip to D.C. so he could have all of his meals and living expenses covered by taxpayers, simply for showing up to the office.

FMCS is a 230-employee agency that exists to serve as a voluntary mediator between unions and businesses. As an “independent agency,” its director nominally reports to the president, but the agency is so small that in effect, there is no oversight at all — and it showed, becoming a real-life caricature of all the excesses that the Department of Government Efficiency has alleged take place in government.

This reporter spent a year investigating the agency a decade ago, and I found egregious and self-serving violations of hiring, pay, contracting, and purchase card rules. One thing I could not discover is why the agency actually existed, other than to provide luxurious lifestyles for its employees. Endless junkets to resort destinations, which employees openly used to facilitate personal vacations, were justified as building awareness of the agency in the hopes that someone would actually want to use its voluntary services.

FMCS seemed, quite clearly, to exist for the benefit of those on its payroll, and not much else. One employee told me: “Let me give you the honest truth: A lot of FMCS employees don’t do a hell of a lot, including myself. Personally, the reason that I’ve stayed is that I just don’t feel like working that hard, plus the location on K Street is great, plus we all have these oversized offices with windows, plus management doesn’t seem to care if we stay out at lunch a long time. Can you blame me?”



 
ZenMode said:
Inside The Now-Shuttered Federal Agency Where Employees Lived ‘Like Reigning Kings’

Employees of DOGE's latest target spent taxpayer money on exotic vacations, portraits, and more.

One of the seven small federal agencies that President Donald Trump ordered downsized or eliminated on Friday was rife with corruption, with its employees hiring friends and relatives, commissioning paintings of themselves, and using government credit cards to indulge in constant luxuries.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) occupied a nine-story office tower on D.C.’s K Street for only 60 employees, many of whom actually worked from home, prior to the pandemic. Its managers had luxury suites with full bathrooms; one manager would often be “in the shower” when she was needed, while another used her bathroom as a cigarette lounge. FMCS recorded its director as being on a years-long business trip to D.C. so he could have all of his meals and living expenses covered by taxpayers, simply for showing up to the office.

FMCS is a 230-employee agency that exists to serve as a voluntary mediator between unions and businesses. As an “independent agency,” its director nominally reports to the president, but the agency is so small that in effect, there is no oversight at all — and it showed, becoming a real-life caricature of all the excesses that the Department of Government Efficiency has alleged take place in government.

This reporter spent a year investigating the agency a decade ago, and I found egregious and self-serving violations of hiring, pay, contracting, and purchase card rules. One thing I could not discover is why the agency actually existed, other than to provide luxurious lifestyles for its employees. Endless junkets to resort destinations, which employees openly used to facilitate personal vacations, were justified as building awareness of the agency in the hopes that someone would actually want to use its voluntary services.

FMCS seemed, quite clearly, to exist for the benefit of those on its payroll, and not much else. One employee told me: “Let me give you the honest truth: A lot of FMCS employees don’t do a hell of a lot, including myself. Personally, the reason that I’ve stayed is that I just don’t feel like working that hard, plus the location on K Street is great, plus we all have these oversized offices with windows, plus management doesn’t seem to care if we stay out at lunch a long time. Can you blame me?”



Click to expand...
“The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) is issuing this statement to address the recent article by Luke Rosiakwhich resurrects reporting dating back over 12 years.

…
The article references elements and reporting that are not only outdated but also fail to acknowledge the substantial reforms FMCS implemented over a decade ago. Since the time of that reporting, FMCS has:

  • Completed an Internal Independent Audit: FMCS commissioned an external independent audit to thoroughly review past practices and implemented 100% of the auditor's recommendations, further solidifying and displaying our commitment to transparency and continuous improvement.
  • Established a Comprehensive Ethics Program: In response to those issues, FMCS introduced a robust ethics initiative designed to guide our operations with the highest standards of integrity and accountability.
  • Enhanced Operational Oversight: Beyond these measures, FMCS has consistently invested in best practices and compliance protocols. Our proactive approach to agency management ensures that any legacy issues are not only addressed but serve as a catalyst for ongoing organizational excellence.
  • Maintained a Pristine Record: External independent financial audits have been conducted with zero findings of any irregularities, affirming our commitment to flawless financial stewardship.
"FMCS remains steadfast in its dedication to ethical operational practices and transparent operations," said Greg Goldstein, Chief Operating Officer and Acting Director of FMCS. "We are disappointed that an article published under the guise of responsible journalism would choose to resurrect old and sensational claims rather than focus on positive changes FMCS has made, and the contributions we continue to make to keep our economy strong. Our independent audit and the successful implementation of all the recommended improvements are a testament to our relentless pursuit of excellence."

Furthermore, FMCS is not a drain on taxpayer dollars as the article would suggest. In fact, our operations are managed on a $55 millionbudget (representing less than 0.0014% of the federal budget) yet we generate an impressive return on investment exceeding $500 million annually for the US economy. …”

——
 
Background:

“… FMCS, an independent agency, works with labor unions, federal agencies and private sector employers to avert strikes, impasses and litigation stemming from collective bargaining disputes. It was established by Congress as part of the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, making Trump’s planned closure of the agency legally dubious.

… Experts have long touted the cost effectiveness of programs like FMCS and the Federal Labor Relations Authority’s alternative dispute resolution process in helping parties reach agreement without the need for litigation. …”

www.govexec.com

Trump continues to curtail union rights and career pipelines

Guidance issued by the Office of Personnel Management last week instructs agencies to ignore union contract provisions on reductions in force, and apply its policies.
www.govexec.com www.govexec.com


Some budget details:

USAspending.gov

www.usaspending.gov www.usaspending.gov

——
I’ve never had any contact with this agency and don’t know how accurate their claims of cost savings by helping labor disputes avoid litigation really are. It does sound like it was materially reformed during the Obama Administration…
 


“… For weeks, Mr. Musk’s group said on its website that it had terminated more than 700 leases, and saved more than $460 million in the process.

But around 1 a.m. Wednesday, the group eliminated references to 136 of those cancellations. That reduced its savings by $140 million, or almost 30 percent of the total for lease cancellations it had claimed a day earlier.

Mr. Musk’s team did not give a reason for the changes. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. …”
 
nycfan said:
“The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) is issuing this statement to address the recent article by Luke Rosiakwhich resurrects reporting dating back over 12 years.

…
The article references elements and reporting that are not only outdated but also fail to acknowledge the substantial reforms FMCS implemented over a decade ago. Since the time of that reporting, FMCS has:

  • Completed an Internal Independent Audit: FMCS commissioned an external independent audit to thoroughly review past practices and implemented 100% of the auditor's recommendations, further solidifying and displaying our commitment to transparency and continuous improvement.
  • Established a Comprehensive Ethics Program: In response to those issues, FMCS introduced a robust ethics initiative designed to guide our operations with the highest standards of integrity and accountability.
  • Enhanced Operational Oversight: Beyond these measures, FMCS has consistently invested in best practices and compliance protocols. Our proactive approach to agency management ensures that any legacy issues are not only addressed but serve as a catalyst for ongoing organizational excellence.
  • Maintained a Pristine Record: External independent financial audits have been conducted with zero findings of any irregularities, affirming our commitment to flawless financial stewardship.
"FMCS remains steadfast in its dedication to ethical operational practices and transparent operations," said Greg Goldstein, Chief Operating Officer and Acting Director of FMCS. "We are disappointed that an article published under the guise of responsible journalism would choose to resurrect old and sensational claims rather than focus on positive changes FMCS has made, and the contributions we continue to make to keep our economy strong. Our independent audit and the successful implementation of all the recommended improvements are a testament to our relentless pursuit of excellence."

Furthermore, FMCS is not a drain on taxpayer dollars as the article would suggest. In fact, our operations are managed on a $55 millionbudget (representing less than 0.0014% of the federal budget) yet we generate an impressive return on investment exceeding $500 million annually for the US economy. …”

——
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Wait, the Daily Wire had an article that was FOS?
 
nycfan said:


“… For weeks, Mr. Musk’s group said on its website that it had terminated more than 700 leases, and saved more than $460 million in the process.

But around 1 a.m. Wednesday, the group eliminated references to 136 of those cancellations. That reduced its savings by $140 million, or almost 30 percent of the total for lease cancellations it had claimed a day earlier.

Mr. Musk’s team did not give a reason for the changes. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. …”
Click to expand...

“… Mr. Musk’s team also removed mentions of plans to cut dozens of local office spaces across the country for the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration, although more than 30 properties used by both agencies were still listed on the group’s website.

Those battles do not appear to be over.

This week, The New York Times asked the White House which of the terminations on the Musk team’s list were still accurate. A White House official declined to name any, offering instead a written statement: “G.S.A. is reviewing all options to optimize our footprint and building utilization.” …”
 
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