#usgovernment

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/preserving-and-protecting-the-integrity-of-american-elections/

Why does DOGE get to look through voter registration records, state records, and immigration databases?

Why does DOGE get subpoena power to look through this information?

— In Trump’s executive order today —

A document outlining requirements for proving U.S. citizenship for voting registration, detailing acceptable forms of identification and the responsibilities of the Secretary of Homeland Security. Key points include the review of state voter registration lists and maintenance records, alongside immigration databases, for compliance with requirements. Highlighted text: “the Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with the DOGE Administrator, shall review each State's publicly available voter registration list and available records concerning voter list maintenance activities as required by 52 U.S.C. 20507, alongside Federal immigration databases and State records requested, including through subpoena where necessary and authorized by law, for consistency with Federal requirements.” https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/preserving-and-protecting-the-integrity-of-american-elections/ Accessed: 25 March 2025 at 1915 MST

#USgovernment #history #GoodStewards

**Tim Bondy** @TimBondy@mstdn.social · Mar 22

Mar 22

Tim Bondy @TimBondy@mstdn.social

I never thought I would say this, but the US Government and probably quite a few state governments cannot be relied upon to be good stewards of the history of the United States.

I cannot be alone in this thought.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/historic-figures-cut-military-websites-others-are-restored-dei-ban-rcna197336

NBC News · Mar 22Historical figures cut from military websites while others are restored following ‘DEI’ banBy Curtis Bunn

**Joseph Lim** @joseph11lim@mastodon.social · Mar 22

Mar 22

Joseph Lim @joseph11lim@mastodon.social

Bayer hit with $2bn Roundup verdict
"Bayer has paid ~$10bil to settle disputed claims tt Roundup, based on #glyphosate, causes #cancer.. #Bayer acquired Roundup as part of its $63bil takeover of #Monsanto.. Glyphosate is still avail in #Thailand. Authorities in 2019 initially planned to ban glyphosate but reversed their decision.. #Reuters #investigation subsequently revealed tt the reversal of the glyphosate ban was influenced by pressure fr the #USgovernment & Bayer"
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/2985446/bayer-hit-with-2bn-roundup-verdict

Bangkok Post · Mar 22Bayer hit with $2bn Roundup verdictBy Reuters

**Guill.Jones, Honorary Canadian** @Guillotine_Jones@beige.party · Mar 22

Mar 22

Guill.Jones, Honorary Canadian @Guillotine_Jones@beige.party

"Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post observed today that “the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ [is making] the federal government almost comically inefficient.” She wrote that Internal Revenue Service employees line up at shared computers on Mondays to submit their “five things I did last week” emails to DOGE while taxpayer service calls go unanswered." --Heather Cox Richardson, Letters From An American
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-21-2025
#SocialSecurity #USGovernment #Musk

heathercoxrichardson.substack.comMarch 21, 2025These days, I keep coming back to the quotation recorded by journalist Ron Suskind in a New York Times Magazine article in 2004.

**ˈdälfən™** @dalfen@mstdn.social · Mar 21 *

Mar 21 *

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/us/politics/musk-pentagon-briefing-china-war-plan.html

This is freaking insane.

See article screenshots that follow

~ Musk Set to Get Access to Top-Secret U.S. Plan for Potential War With China ~

#USA #musk #trump #usgovernment #USGov

BREAKING Musk Set to Get Access to Top-Secret U.S. Plan for Potential War With China Giving Elon Musk access to military secrets is a major expansion of his role as an adviser to President Trump and highlights his conflicts of interest.

News headline, 20 March 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/us/politics/musk-pentagon-briefing-china-war-plan.html

Continued thread

**ˈdälfən™** @dalfen@mstdn.social · Mar 20

Mar 20

Also— another thought— no company was awarded a contract to make those changes to the government’s tech.

In the past, management in government would FIRST identify a need. THEN companies would compete for contracts and be awarded them before even beginning work. THEN their ideas would have to be run through committees for approval, considering factors like security and compliance with law.

The checks and balances of ‘bureaucracy’ exist for a reason.

Continued thread

**ˈdälfən™** @dalfen@mstdn.social · Mar 20 *

/4 of 4

Memos (likely put out by non-DOGE dept. heads after DOGE rolled out the chatbot) also include warnings: ‘Do not type or paste federal nonpublic information… personally identifiable information...unclassified information.’

Continued thread

**ˈdälfən™** @dalfen@mstdn.social · Mar 20

Mar 20

/3 of 4

“‘How can I use the AI-powered chat?’ reads an internal memo about the product. ‘The options are endless, and it will continue to improve as new information is added. You can: draft emails, create talking points, summarize text, write code.’”

Continued thread

**ˈdälfən™** @dalfen@mstdn.social · Mar 20 *

/2 of 4

So many questions. For example:

1) Who approved the chatbot? (Typically, tech changes would take a while to approve to ensure their security and compliance with law.)

2) Does Trump know?

**ˈdälfən™** @dalfen@mstdn.social · Mar 20 *

https://www.wired.com/story/gsai-chatbot-1500-federal-workers/

A PROPRIETARY chatbot—

proprietary— private, someone owns it—

Musk rolled it out quietly — WITHIN THE US GOVERNMENT— as he cuts federal workers.

And “The DOGE team hopes to eventually use it to analyze contract and procurement data.”

/1 of 4

#USGov #USGovernment #USA #musk #trump #DOGE

WIRED · Mar 7DOGE Has Deployed Its GSAi Custom Chatbot for 1,500 Federal WorkersBy Makena Kelly

**Nonilex** @Nonilex@masto.ai · Mar 20

Mar 20

Nonilex @Nonilex@masto.ai

A Statement from #ConstitutionalLaw Scholars on the government's funding cutoff at #ColumbiaUniversity

— Eugene Volokh, Michael C. Dorf, David Cole, & 15 other scholars

The #USgovernment may not threaten #funding cuts as a tool to pressure recipients into suppressing #First #Amendment protected #speech.

#law #Constitution #CivilRights #FreeSpeech #RightToProtest #FreedomOfAssembly #ThoughtPolice #ViewPointDiscrimination #dissent
https://www.nybooks.com/online/2025/03/20/a-statement-from-constitutional-law-scholars-on-columbia/

The New York Review of BooksA Statement from Constitutional Law Scholars on Columbia | Eugene Volokh, Michael C. Dorf, David ColeWe write as constitutional scholars—some liberal and some conservative—who seek to defend academic freedom and the First Amendment in the wake of the

**Dr N Kar** @nkar@mastodon.social · Mar 20 *