Judge blocks Trump 2.0’s declaration of war on Venezuelan “gangs”

Federal judge blocks Trump’s plan to target ‘alien enemies’ for deportation

In his latest move to clamp down on illegal immigration and immigration more broadly, President Trump has filed a presidential action invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a seldom-used law that gives the president authority to detain or deport nationals of an enemy nation during wartime. It’s only the fourth time in American history a president has used the act — and the first since World War II.

The directive targets members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan prison gang, and authorizes expedited removal of all Venezuelan citizens 14 and older, deemed to be members of the organization, who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

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How to DOGE USAID: The Wall Street Consensus under Trump

How to DOGE USAID: The Wall Street Consensus under Trump

We often hear that the new Trump administration inaugurates the age of technofeudalism. Just look at Elon Musk, pontificating about so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) democracy from the Oval Office while undemocratically occupying the US Treasury payment system. But is the administration simply using bullying as a mode of power, as Adam Tooze recently diagnosed it, destroying institutions without measure or plan?

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DOGE Sets Its Sights on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

Due Dissidence

The Republican record on Social Security: Getting worse all the time

Related:

‘$2 Trillion By 2026!’ Elon Musk’s Ambitious Push To Reinvent Government Spending With Silicon Valley Powerhouses

Social Security at Risk? The Impact of Trump and Musk’s Reforms

Cutting Social Security Disability Benefits Can Backfire Horribly

FAIRNESS OF REAGAN’S CUTOFFS OF DISABILITY AID QUESTIONED

The US Treasury Claimed DOGE Technologist Didn’t Have ‘Write Access’ When He Actually Did

Elon Musk’s DOGE Allies Search Medicare Agency Payment Systems For Fraud

Trump Suspends Funding to the National Endowment for Democracy

Full video

The Trump administration has frozen funding to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a US-funded organization that meddles in elections and pushes regime change around the world in the name of “promoting democracy.”

According to The Free Press, an order from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to the US Treasury Department that blocked the disbursement of funds to the NED has crippled the organization’s activities.

Trump Suspends Funding to the National Endowment for Democracy

He’s going to fold it into the State Department, just like he did with USAID (see NED document)!

Elon Musk’s DOGE Allies Search Medicare Agency Payment Systems For Fraud

Representatives of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have been working at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where they have gotten access to key payment and contracting systems, according to people familiar with the matter.

CMS in particular is a highly politically and economically sensitive agency. It is the nerve center of much of the nation’s complex healthcare economy, with outlays of about $1.5 trillion in fiscal 2024, or about 22% of the federal total. With around 6,710 employees, it oversees Medicare, the health coverage program for older and disabled Americans and Medicaid, for lower-income enrollees, among other areas. Many veteran CMS staffers have worked there for decades.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the high-profile physician and former television host, has been nominated to lead CMS, but hasn’t yet been confirmed by the Senate. Several CMS officials who are expected to work under Oz have already taken over at the agency.

Elon Musk’s DOGE Allies Search Medicare Agency Payment Systems For Fraud

Related:

As Elon Musk Begins Shutting Down Payments to Federal Contractors, a Strange Money Trail Emerges to His Operatives Inside the U.S. Treasury’s Payment System

‘It’s a Coup’: Musk’s DOGE Granted Access to Treasury System That Pays Out Social Security

Trump nominates Dr. Oz, who campaigned on privatizing Medicare, for Administrator of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

As Elon Musk Begins Shutting Down Payments to Federal Contractors, a Strange Money Trail Emerges to His Operatives Inside the U.S. Treasury’s Payment System

Elon Musk is the billionaire CEO of the publicly-traded EV company, Tesla. As such, under corporate law, he owes a Duty of Loyalty to Tesla. Notwithstanding this well-established law, Musk is engaged in an array of other corporate endeavors outside of Tesla, including being the CEO of SpaceX, a private rocket company.

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‘It’s a Coup’: Musk’s DOGE Granted Access to Treasury System That Pays Out Social Security

Elon Musk and his team at the Department of Government Efficiency—or DOGE—have been granted access to a sensitive Treasury Department payment system that contains the personal information of every American who receives tax refunds, Medicare, Social Security, and other payments from the government.

‘It’s a Coup’: Musk’s DOGE Granted Access to Treasury System That Pays Out Social Security

Trump Treasury pick Scott Bessent could become highest-ranking openly LGBTQ+ person in US history

The Pink Palace (Wikimedia Commons)

Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina with his husband and family, could become first Senate-approved LGBTQ+ member in a Republican cabinet.

Trump Treasury pick Scott Bessent could become highest-ranking openly LGBTQ+ person in US history

Miami Financier Stephen P. Lynch Is Quietly Trying to Buy Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline + More History

An American investor with a history of dealmaking in Russia has asked the U.S. government to allow him to bid on the sabotaged Nord Stream Pipeline 2 if it comes up for auction in a Swiss bankruptcy proceeding.

Miami Financier Stephen P. Lynch Is Quietly Trying to Buy Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline

Related:

[2016] US INVESTORS IN RAID AGAINST DMITRY FIRTASH – STEPHEN LYNCH ATTEMPTS TAKEOVER OF UKRAINIAN GAS PRODUCER, MISEN ENERGY (archived)

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Trump says he will nominate former George Soros money manager Scott Bessent to lead the Treasury Department

Draining the Swamp, huh?

President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that he’ll nominate former George Soros money manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction, to serve as his next treasury secretary.

Trump names hedge fund founder Scott Bessent as pick for treasury secretary

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Scott Bessent:

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