Trump / Musk (other than DOGE) Omnibus Thread

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Trump border czar privately tempers Republican lawmaker expectations on administration’s initial deportation operation​



“… The discussions are part of a broader level-setting that is occurring among House Republicans, who are now coming to terms with the challenges of turning one of their key campaign promises into a reality. Republicans are also grappling with the harsh realization that most of their border overhaul measures are unlikely to be included in Trump’s massive agenda bill, given the strict rules around the reconciliation process that require proposals to either increase revenue or reduce spending, not change policy.

“Many members are only now beginning to understand that,” one GOP lawmaker told CNN. …”
 
We'll find out very soon, but I still wonder if in the end we're mainly going to see a lot of smoke and mirrors without much actually being done. Some dramatic raids and flashy deportations of relatively small numbers of illegals, but nothing on the scale that Dear Leader promised in the campaign. And they'll rely on right-wing media like Fox and OAN and Newsmax to fool their base into thinking that some major deportations and round ups are happening and that Trump's promises are actually being carried out. And the reason will be because too much of their base needs that cheap immigrant labor to survive - farmers, small-business owners, construction industry, and rich and upper-middle-class people who hire them for various jobs.
 


Bannon using the populist anti-billionaire tack here is mostly on brand for him, but note also that Bannon is promoting his personal brand of xenophobia as “anti-racist” in his attack on Musk, Thiel and others.

I guess he sees an opportunity to undermine Musk’s influence over the easily manipulated Trump.
 


He first calls family separation a euphemism for the terrible job he says Biden did and family separation is something Dems will hide behind, saying it is about compassion for families.
 
“An unpaid group of billionaires, tech executives and some disciples of Peter Thiel, a powerful Republican donor, are preparing to take up unofficial positions in the U.S. government in the name of cost-cutting.

As President-elect Donald J. Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency girds for battle against “wasteful” spending, it is preparing to dispatch individuals with ties to its co-leaders, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, to agencies across the federal government.

After Inauguration Day, the group of Silicon Valley-inflected, wide-eyed recruits will be deployed to Washington’s alphabet soup of agencies. The goal is for most major agencies to eventually have two DOGE representatives as they seek to cut costs like Mr. Musk did at X, his social media platform. …”

GIFT LINK —> Inside Elon Musk’s Plan for DOGE to Slash Government Costs
 
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Continued

“…On the eve of Mr. Trump’s presidency, the structure of DOGE is still amorphous and closely held. People involved in the operation say that secrecy and avoiding leaks is paramount, and much of its communication is conducted on Signal, the encrypted messaging app.

… But parts of the operation are becoming clear: Many of the executives involved are expecting to do six-month voluntary stints inside the federal government before returning to their high-paying jobs.

Mr. Musk has said they will not be paid — a nonstarter for some originally interested tech executives — and have been asked by him to work 80-hour weeks. Some, including possibly Mr. Musk, will be so-called special government employees, a specific category of temporary workers who can only work for the federal government for 130 days or less in a 365-day period.

… The representatives will largely be stationed inside federal agencies. After some consideration by top officials, DOGE itself is now unlikely to incorporate as an organized outside entity or nonprofit. Instead, it is likely to exist as more of a brand for an interlinked group of aspirational leaders who are on joint group chats and share a loyalty to Mr. Musk or Mr. Ramaswamy. …”

——
I mean, what could go wrong?

And imagine if Biden had put George Soros and Bill Gates in charge of such a group called, say, L.I.B.S. (Leaders In Business Synergy) with unofficial teams dispatched to government agencies to oversee alleged improvements in government functioning (much less cost cuts)?
 
Continued

“… DOGE leaders have told others that the minority of people not detailed to agencies would be housed within the Executive Office of the President at the U.S. Digital Service, which was created in 2014 by former President Barack Obama to “change our government’s approach to technology.”

DOGE is also expected to have an office in the Office of Management and Budget, and officials have also considered forming a think tank outside the government in the future.

… Those who have conducted interviews for DOGE include the Silicon Valley investors Marc Andreessen, Shaun Maguire, Baris Akis and others who have a personal connection to Mr. Musk.

Some who have received the Thiel Fellowship, a prestigious grant funded by Mr. Thiel given to those who promise to skip or drop out of college to become entrepreneurs, are involved with programming and operations for DOGE. Brokering an introduction to Mr. Musk or Mr. Ramaswamy, or their inner circles, has been a key way for leaders to be picked for deployment.

… Some people close to Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. Musk hope that these DOGE engineers can use artificial intelligence to find cost-cutting opportunities.

… Both Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy have also recast what success might mean. Mr. Ramaswamy emphasized DOGE-led deregulation on X last month, saying that removing regulations could stimulate the economy and that “the success of DOGE can’t be measured through deficit reduction alone.”

…
Mr. Musk downplayed the total potential savings.

“We’ll try for $2 trillion — I think that’s like the best-case outcome,” Mr. Musk said. “You kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for two trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting one.” …”
 
… Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to the start

I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling the puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart

But tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh, and I rush to the start
Runnin' in circles, chasin' our tails
Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy
Oh, it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I'm going back to the start
 
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