Trump / Musk (other than DOGE)
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Yep.
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What 130-day cap? Musk is ‘here to stay’ in the Trump admin, adviser says
Questions have swirled around how long Musk can and will serve in DOGE, but those close to Trump say there’s no end in sight.“… Musk’s “special government employee” designation as leader of the Department of Government Efficiency means he isn’t subject to the same financial disclosures as full-time government employees. But it also comes with a work limit: 130 days out of a 365-day year.
Because of that time limit, questions have swirled around how long Musk can and will serve at DOGE, which has dramatically reshaped the federal government by firing thousands of government workers and demanding others justify the job performance via email.
But it’s become increasingly clear inside the White House that Musk will blow past the 130-day limit and stay around as long as President Donald Trump lets him.
“There are likely people who are counting the days until 130 days are up and will push against keeping him around, but I just think that’s a losing battle,” said an outside political adviser close to the president, granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics.
Musk, the person said, is “here to stay.” …”
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Email shows that Musk ally is moving to close office behind free tax filing program at IRS
Program is apparently being closed according to email from former Tesla engineer installed in GSA
Email shows that Musk ally is moving to close office behind free tax filing program at IRS
Program is apparently being closed according to email from former Tesla engineer installed in GSA
“An Elon Musk ally installed in the US government said in a late night email going into Saturday that the office behind a popular free online tax filing option would be shuttered – and its employees would be let go.
The 18F office within the General Services Administration (GSA) created the IRS Direct File program that allows for free online tax filings. It has been a frequent target of Musk, and one of the billionaire businessman’s close associates who holds a key position in the GSA informed staffers that the agency would close 18F in an email to staffers that arrived around 1am on Saturday morning.
…
“The 18F Office has been identified as part of this phase of the GSA’s Reduction in Force (RIF) as non-critical,” the email states. “This decision was made with explicit direction from the top levels of leadership within both the Administration and GSA. There are no other TTS programs impacted at this time, however we anticipate more change in the future.”
The email came from Thomas Shedd, a 28-year-old former Tesla software engineer who took over in late January as head of the GSA’s Technology Transformation Services. It’s not immediately clear what may happen to 18F programs such as the direct filing system or the total number of workers that the GSA is firing from the office, which has about 90 employees.
Musk claimed in early February that he had “deleted” 18F while responding on X to a rightwing influencer who accused the agency of being “far left”. Musk didn’t elaborate on his statement, which caused confusion as the 18F website and services like its direct file program remained online.
In addition to working on the free tax return program, the 18F office worked across government agencies to update technology and launch new software products. It worked on more than 31 projects across different government agencies in 2024, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa). It has been part of the GSA since 2014.
Shortly after taking over TTS, Shedd told staffersthat he planned to run the agency like a tech startup and that he wanted to implement artificial intelligence programs throughout the government. …”
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Email shows that Musk ally is moving to close office behind free tax filing program at IRS
Program is apparently being closed according to email from former Tesla engineer installed in GSA
Email shows that Musk ally is moving to close office behind free tax filing program at IRS
Program is apparently being closed according to email from former Tesla engineer installed in GSAwww.theguardian.com
“An Elon Musk ally installed in the US government said in a late night email going into Saturday that the office behind a popular free online tax filing option would be shuttered – and its employees would be let go.
The 18F office within the General Services Administration (GSA) created the IRS Direct File program that allows for free online tax filings. It has been a frequent target of Musk, and one of the billionaire businessman’s close associates who holds a key position in the GSA informed staffers that the agency would close 18F in an email to staffers that arrived around 1am on Saturday morning.
…
“The 18F Office has been identified as part of this phase of the GSA’s Reduction in Force (RIF) as non-critical,” the email states. “This decision was made with explicit direction from the top levels of leadership within both the Administration and GSA. There are no other TTS programs impacted at this time, however we anticipate more change in the future.”
The email came from Thomas Shedd, a 28-year-old former Tesla software engineer who took over in late January as head of the GSA’s Technology Transformation Services. It’s not immediately clear what may happen to 18F programs such as the direct filing system or the total number of workers that the GSA is firing from the office, which has about 90 employees.
Musk claimed in early February that he had “deleted” 18F while responding on X to a rightwing influencer who accused the agency of being “far left”. Musk didn’t elaborate on his statement, which caused confusion as the 18F website and services like its direct file program remained online.
In addition to working on the free tax return program, the 18F office worked across government agencies to update technology and launch new software products. It worked on more than 31 projects across different government agencies in 2024, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa). It has been part of the GSA since 2014.
Shortly after taking over TTS, Shedd told staffersthat he planned to run the agency like a tech startup and that he wanted to implement artificial intelligence programs throughout the government. …”
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IRS Direct File for free | Internal Revenue Service
Learn more about filing federal tax returns online – for free – directly with IRS.
The IRS direct file web page still appears operational, I guess they just fired the team that created and maintains it.
gtyellowjacket
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I don't get that. Of course it's okay to fire veterans. Some of them aren't going to be good workers.
I do think it's good to give them a leg up on the federal government hiring process, but if they're not performing or they are in a program that is getting cut, they're on the block like everybody else.
Never heard that one before, but it’s a really good one. I’ll have to file it away for future use.
The thing about these people who voted for trump is they obviously mistook him for someone who gives a fuck about them.
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What a lardass, my god.
Mulberry Heel
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Honestly I'm surprised he even showed up - many Congressional Republicans are just cancelling town halls and other public appearances in their districts so they can keep their heads in the sand and continue to believe that folks back home aren't getting upset over all of these cuts. Easier to ignore their own constituents rather than face the wrath of Dear Leader and his Co-President Musk. I've said this before, but they're a completely spineless and gutless bunch, the whole lot of them.
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Mulberry Heel
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Not many Democrats in that part of the country for sure. Even in deep red districts they're facing a backlash, though, so I wonder if he'll just do what other Congressional Republicans have done and not show up in his district for a good while, at least in places where they might face real people who are pissed about all of these cuts.He thought he was in safe country.
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These Pubs are gonna have to worry about more than just verbal blowback. Lots of their constituents are heavily armed and about to be PISSED. Better stay in DC where the "libtards" are a lot less likely to be violent.
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Honestly, I have zero confidence that these angry constituents who reliably vote Republican will vote for any non-Republican candidate. They may vote for the primary opponent, but they aren’t crossing party lines after that. They’re mostly concerned about the ten trans girls/women trying to play girls’/women’s sports.
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Here's the thing about that...it might be enough to get the pussies to push back in a major way on Trump if they start to fear being primaried by "Anti Trump Republicans". That's one thing we might have to hope for. Hell, it would be smart of the Dems to start lining up just such Manchurian candidates in those districts.
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Dems 100% need to start having Manchurian candidates run in districts Dems have no chance of winning.
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Hell, at this point, traditional Republicans are closer to the Dems than they are Trump and company anyhow.