Special Issue: Government Updates 2/15/25
News of what is happening in the government is overwhelming as many things are being changed and challenged on a daily basis. I will post my usual COVID & Health news in a separate newsletter later today.
Here are three blogs that I recommend to understand what happened in the government this week:
Letters from an American by Heather Cox-Richardson: is a daily blog that summarizes what is happening. It is extremely helpful and comes in an audio version. I have been reading it daily now.
"So this is how liberty dies… " Making sense of Trump's first three weeks
Christina Pagel wrote this excellent summary on 2/12/25 in which she has made tables and a Venn diagram (below) showing how the different Executive Orders fit into the authoritarian playbook.
From: Christina Pagel
From: Christina Pagel
America’s unfolding cybersecurity catastrophe by Violet Blue
Violet Blue writes a weekly blog on cyber security and another on Long COVID. Last week’s cyber security blogpost on February 7th was especially eye-opening:
“Every United States government and DoD security standard has been circumvented by not a nation-state threat — but by a domestic adversary.
“The payment system at the U.S. Treasury Department has been taken over and private citizens — Elon Musk’s Department Of Government Efficiency — have admin privileges. Extensive and untested changes have been pushed into the Treasury’s code base to create backdoors into critical payment controls. The GSA has been taken over by the same operatives, Musk’s acolytes; they also seized control of USAID to dismantle it, classified information has been accessed, its employees have been harassed, locked out, and threatened, its website and DNS records have been wiped. Its new head, Pete Marocco, was identified as a January 6 rioter who participated in the attempted insurrection.
The same operatives have taken control of the OPM and installed a private server on its network to seize federal workers’ data, intercept communications and pose as government officials to send unencrypted mail to over two million government workers (creating unsecured comm channels subsequently barraged with spam, and very likely malware). It has been used to access employee PII, deactivate staff emails, send and store unencrypted data, and lock government workers out of systems. Combined with the server’s after-the-fact privacy impact assessment, we can expect that no standardized authentication and monitoring schemes are in place.
In cybersecurity terms, DOGE is “insider threat,” APT (Advanced Persistent Threat), and domestic adversary combined. One that we can be sure has wildly varying levels of cybersecurity competency and security hygiene.
News Summary
Since there was so much news in the Heather Cox-Richardson posts, AP News and others, I had ChatGPT help me summarize some of this week’s important government issues:
February 14, 2025
Letters from an American (Heather Cox Richardson)
The Trump administration dropped corruption charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for cooperation with ICE, triggering DOJ resignations. Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon and others resigned in protest, likening it to Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre.”
Trump attempted to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Denali via executive order, facing resistance from Alaskan senators and the AP. The AP was then told by the press secretary that they can no longer be in the reporter pool at the White House or on Air Force One.
Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for suggesting Ukraine should cede territory to Russia.
Protests erupted in NYC after the administration removed "TQ+" from the LGBTQ+ designation on the Stonewall National Monument website.
Hackers exposed vulnerabilities in Elon Musk’s "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) website, leaking classified data.
🚨Huffington Post: Elon Musk’s DOGE Posts Classified Data On Its New Website
"And the real concern is that Musk’s surrogates are bumbling around in classified programs. “These 25-year-old programmers, I don’t think they have enough experience to know what they don’t know,” said this aide. “Really, the question is: Where did they get this information and what are they doing with it?”
AP News
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will only meet Putin after negotiating a plan with Trump, who gave him his phone number at the Munich Security Conference.
Trump seeks nuclear arms control talks with Russia and China to halve defense budgets.
Mitch McConnell opposed three Trump Cabinet nominees: Pete Hegseth (Defense Secretary), Tulsi Gabbard (DNI), and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (HHS).
A federal judge temporarily lifted Trump’s freeze on humanitarian aid and ordered compliance within five days.
February 13, 2025
Letters from an American (Heather Cox Richardson)
Review of Trump’s Second Impeachment Acquittal (from 2021): Senate Republicans acquitted Trump of inciting the January 6 insurrection. McConnell delayed the trial, then claimed former presidents couldn’t be convicted.
McConnell’s Opposition to Trump’s Cabinet: He was the only GOP senator to oppose RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary and Tulsi Gabbard as DNI.
Kennedy’s Controversial Confirmation: Senator Ossoff criticized Kennedy’s lack of medical experience and history of spreading conspiracy theories. Anti-vaxer RFK Jr was confirmed to run HHS.
DOJ Resignations Over NYC Mayor Case: Six DOJ prosecutors resigned after charges against Eric Adams were dropped.
Pennsylvania Lawsuit Against Trump: Governor Josh Shapiro sued the administration to release $3 billion in blocked state funds.
Foreign Aid Freeze: A federal judge ruled Trump’s blanket aid suspension unlawful.
🚨 2/13/25 NPR: RFK Jr. confirmed as Trump's health secretary, over Democrats' loud objections https://buff.ly/3CE28Kn
February 12, 2025
Letters from an American (Heather Cox Richardson)
Trump-Musk Oval Office Event: Musk, wearing a MAGA hat, took center stage at the White House event with his son, X.
DOGE Executive Order: Trump granted Musk’s "Department of Government Efficiency" authority over hiring, firing, and downsizing in federal agencies.
Economic Impact: Inflation surged in January (egg prices up 15.2%), and Trump’s 25% steel and aluminum tariffs raised cost concerns. McConnell warned Kentuckians could lose $1,200 annually.
Budget Cuts: Republicans proposed $2T in Social Security and Medicare cuts and $4.5T in tax cuts for the wealthy.
Foreign Policy Shift: Trump echoed Putin’s stance on Ukraine, weakened NATO support, and suggested taking over Panama, Canada, and Greenland.
Controversial Prisoner Swap: The U.S. exchanged teacher Marc Fogel for Russian cybercriminal Alexander Vinnik.
Tulsi Gabbard Confirmed as DNI: Despite her pro-Russian views, she was approved over McConnell’s objections.
European Allies: France, Germany, and others reaffirmed support for Ukraine.
February 11, 2025
NYC Comptroller Statement
NYC Comptroller Brad Lander accused Trump and Musk of illegally revoking $80M in FEMA funds meant for shelter and services from a private NYC bank account. He called for legal action against the administration.
February 10, 2025
Letters from an American by Heather Cox-Richardson
Freezing Government Funds: The Trump administration halted significant portions of federal funding, challenging the 1974 law prohibiting presidents from withholding congressionally approved funds. This has negatively impacted Americans, including farmers who invested in government-backed projects.
Court Interventions: Judges have ruled against the administration's funding freezes.
Rhode Island’s Chief Judge John McConnell ordered the restoration of frozen funds, including money owed to farmers.
Massachusetts Judge Angel Kelley blocked NIH rate changes affecting grant funding.
State Reactions: Democratic-led states are suing Trump over funding issues, while Republican-led states are seeking direct exemptions.
Dismantling Agencies: Trump’s Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, a key Project 2025 figure, attempted to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, prompting legal challenges from the National Treasury Employees Union sued him.
Challenges to the Rule of Law: MAGA loyalists, including VP J.D. Vance, have suggested they may ignore court rulings, drawing condemnation from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
American Bar Association Response: The ABA issued a strong statement against the administration’s disregard for legal processes and called on Congress to uphold the rule of law.
🚨 Former Treasury Secretaries' Warning: Five ex-Treasury secretaries warned that Trump’s actions undermine U.S. financial stability, citing concerns over data security and threats to the constitutional system.
“While significant data privacy, cybersecurity and national security threats are gravely concerning,” the former [Treasury] secretaries wrote, “the constitutional issues are perhaps even more alarming.”
The executive branch must respect that Congress controls the nation’s money, they wrote, reiterating the key principle outlined in the Constitution: “The legislative branch [Congress] has the sole authority to pass laws that determine where and how federal dollars should be spent.”
“it is not for the Treasury Department or the administration to decide which of our congressionally approved commitments to fulfill and which to cast aside.”
Threats to U.S. Credit: Trump suggested that the U.S. may have “less debt than we thought,” raising concerns about the nation’s creditworthiness and contradicting the 14th Amendment, which guarantees the validity of public debt.
2/10/25 “Today, Trump fired David Huitema, director of the Office of Government Ethics, the department that oversees political appointments and helps nominees avoid conflicts of interest.
On Friday, Trump fired the head of the Office of Special Counsel, U.S. Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger. That office enforces federal whistleblower laws as well as the law that prohibits federal employees from engaging in most political activity: the Hatch Act. Congress provided that the special counsel can be removed only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office,” and today Dellinger sued, calling his removal illegal.
Tonight, Judge Amy Berman Jackson blocked Dellinger’s firing through Thursday as she hears arguments in the case.
2/10/25 AP News: Trump Weakens Government Oversight
Trump fired key ethics officials, halted enforcement of anti-bribery laws, and dismissed prosecutors investigating him.
The administration is compiling lists of investigators tied to past Trump probes and plans to remove them.
Ethics rules on lobbying and business dealings were rolled back, benefiting Trump’s personal interests.
Critics warn these moves promote corruption and remove government accountability.
Additional AP Headlines
DOJ ordered to drop corruption charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams.
Trump increased 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs, risking inflation.
A judge ruled Trump had not fully complied with orders to unfreeze federal spending.
Election security officials working with states were placed on leave.
A third judge blocked Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants.
Billions in unspent foreign aid lacked oversight as Trump dismantled USAID.
Ukraine offered Trump a rare earth mineral deal in exchange for continued U.S. military aid.
✈️FAA & Air Safety Issues
February 6, 2025 (Heather Cox Richardson’s Blog)
Trump proposed replacing air traffic control systems with Elon Musk’s Starlink and AI.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claimed DOGE would “fix” the aviation system.
Hillary Clinton noted the U.S. had 16 years without fatal airline crashes before Trump’s FAA cuts.
Critics argue Musk’s Tesla vehicles have the highest fatal accident rates, raising concerns about safety.
Recent Aviation Incidents
Mid-Air Collision (January 29, 2025): American Airlines jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk over D.C., killing 67.
Private Plane Crash (February 11, 2025): A pilot crash-landed near Hampton, NH, avoiding homes. No injuries reported.
Military Jet Crash (February 12, 2025): EA-18G Growler crashed into San Diego Bay; both pilots ejected safely.
Medical Flight Crash (January 31, 2025): A Learjet crashed in Philadelphia, killing all six onboard and one on the ground.
Seattle Airport Incident (February 5, 2025): Japan Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 clipped the tail of a Delta 737-800 during taxiing. No injuries reported.
Private Jet Collision (Scottsdale, AZ): Multiple fatalities after two jets collided mid-air.
💻 CDC, FDA and CMS website archives
Finally, I just wanted to remind you that Charles Gaba and associates posted the entire CDC, FDA and CMS website archives from 1/19/25 before the Trump administration purge. They are available on his website at https://acasignups.net/.
You will find the archives on the “.Gov sites” tab.
Have a good long weekend,
Ruth Ann Crystal MD