Flotsam and Jetsam - Elon Explains DOGE

Yesterday, President Trump held a press conference in the Oval Office concerning DOGE. After a few remarks he turned the conference over to Elon Musk to explain DOGE in detail and take questions, which he, while his son stood with him, and eventually crawled all over him. It was quite a spectacle. At Althouse, Little X and Big T listen as Elon Musk — AKA Harry Bōlz — expounds on the first few days of DOGE. "If the bureaucracy’s in charge, then what meaning does democracy actually have?... It does not match the will of the people." Sundance at CTH, posts the whole thing, President Trump and Elon Musk Hold Stunning Press Availability During Executive Order Signing. Clay Travis@ClayTravis, "Elon Musk changed his name to Harry Bolz on Twitter and now @cnn is covering it as news. Watch this clip. The legacy media is totally dead, they primarily exist now to be mocked online by everyone with a functional brain:" Matt Vespa at TownHall, Did You Catch Who Elon Musk and DOGE Are Targeting Next? It's Why the Libs Are Freaking Out. From Fox Business, Trump suggests US may have less debt than thought because of fraud. "Trump's comments about fraud in Treasuries were unclear." Sure, if a lot of what we think the country owes is fraudulent, the debt goes down accordingly. 

Beege Welborn at Hat Hair sees This Week's Feature in Drone-Speak: CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS. Guy Benson at TownHall, No, JD Vance Criticizing a Judge's Decision Is Not a 'Constitutional Crisis'. Media Research Center @theMRC, "A Yale law professor says JD Vance is right: the federal judge who blocked DOGE from exposing wasteful spending by the Treasury Department violated the Constitution."At PJM Matt Margolis, Congressman Drafting Articles of Impeachment Against Lawless Anti-Trump Judge. John Lucas at Bravo Blue says It Is Worse than We Thought, "An impeachment inquiry is necessary for Federal District Judge Paul Engelmayer." Fine, drag him and put him on trial, but of course, the Senate will never convict. Let the process be the punishment. EKO argues A federal judge ordered the destruction of evidence showing the largest fraud in American history. Kurt Schlichter@KurtSchlichter, "I’m beginning to think that Trump 2.0 was counting on them to pick this fight." Quote Bonchie@bonchieredstate, "It's absolutely insane that a judge even made this ruling. I can't wait for the Supreme Court to blow this left-wing activism out of the water, and when they do it, it's going to hand Trump the power to wipe out the bureaucracy." David Burge @iowahawkblog, "Oh great, a federal judge has just ordered me to uncancel my AOL subscription." End Wokeness @EndWokeness ""The Biden Administration should ignore the court" - AOC, 2023." Glenn Greenwald@ggreenwald, "To be clear, the Exec Branch does not have the right to ignore court orders. The President is bound by the Constitution. If you think he's violating it, you sue in a district court, then to an appellate court, then to SCOTUS. That's the system. But the sanctimony is gross."

At Breitbart, Democrats, Angry About DOGE’s Spending Audits, Ready to Shut Down Government Spending. Casey Chalk at Da Fed, Federal Employees ‘Angered’ And ‘Fearful’ At Having To Do What Their Boss Says. Bob Hoge at RedState reports Hoo Boy! CNN's Anderson Cooper Freaks Out Over DOGE, Calls Guest a 'D***' on Live TV. Stephen Kruiser at PJM says Force the Democrats to Explain Their DOGE Vapors. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, Liberal Analyst Warns Dems: 'Suicide' to Defend USAID. Fox, Scoop: More than 100 lawmakers join Congressional DOGE Caucus. Dave Catron at Am Spec, Most Americans Support DOGE and ‘Energetic’ Trump, "Democrat antics and media mendacity aside, a clear majority favor paring down government." From Fox, Republican AGs back Trump federal employee buyout as judge decides 'Fork in the Road' directive's fate, "The Trump admin extended the deferred resignation offer deadline until 11:59 pm EST Monday."

Mary Chastain at LI, FEMA Fires Employees Who Sent Money to NYC to House Illegal Aliens in Hotels "DHS: “Firings include FEMA’s Chief Financial Officer, two program analysts and a grant specialist.” NYPo reports FEMA employees fired over ‘egregious’ $59M payment for NYC migrants, Beege Welborn, DOGE Meat: $59M in FEMA Funds to NYC, FEMA Employees Fired. Ace, Kristi Noem and Trump Fire the FEMA CFO Who Defied Trump's Order and Illegally Sent $59 Million to Luxury Hotels to Shelter Illegal Aliens. WaEx reports As DOGE targets FEMA, the aid agency is accused of illegally destroying records, "The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is set to be a key target of Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, is facing a complaint for reportedly deleting a group chat on the taxpayers’ dime." NYPo reports from Inside FEMA’s sickening history of misspending billions of taxpayers’ dollars — and going largely unchecked. John LeFevre @JohnLeFevre "It's a new world... 2024: Biden's FEMA took over a luxury casino resort in North Carolina for employees after Hurricane Helene, and ran out of money to help victims living in tents. 2025: Trump's DOGE ordered mattresses to the office so they can sleep on the floor and work 24/7." From Da Caller, Musk Quietly Inserts DOGE Across Federal Agencies In Move That Could Uproot $162,000,000,000 Gov’t Industry. Across da pond at Da Mail, Terrified staff left hysterical as 'well drilled' DOGE nerds storm hyper 'woke' Department of Education. At USA Today, DOGE slashes millions from Education Department research. WokeSpy, Elon Musk Considers Ron Paul to Audit The Federal Reserve. Dave Strom at Hat Hair determines DOGE Smells Out More NGO Shenanigans. Chuck Ross @ChuckRossDC, "NEW: Atlantic Council and Aspen Institute received $50 MILLION from federal agencies since 2021 for grants and contracts. Between them, they have 50 donors who have given at least $1 million each." Natalie Winters @nataliegwinters, "The Brookings Institution has forcefully attacked @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk for shutting down USAID. They conveniently never disclose in all of their hit pieces that they've received USAID grants for "humanitarian assistance" and "protecting human rights."" Sundance says Congratulations America, We Have Reached Peak Graham (Lindsey, that is). "The part where Graham tells former USAID Director Samantha Power to “quit texting me” is epic. WATCH:" At NewsBusters, WHAT IN THE NAME OF ORWELL! US Gov’t Paid $2.4M to Soros-Backed Censorship Giant. From Twitchy, DataRepublican Drops DAMNING Receipt After Chelsea Clinton INSISTS Her Family Foundation Helps MILLIONS. Chelsea Clinton @ChelseaClinton, "Lies and conspiracies about my family and me are nothing new. Still, I am particularly troubled by the absurd claims that continue to pervade social media this week, fact checks be damned. Facts: I’m proud of the Clinton Foundation work that has helped tens of millions of people. Show more" Quote, DataRepublican (small r) @DataRepublican, "Ms. Clinton, am I correct in reading that out of your reported $57,597,174 in expenses, $8,176,112 went to conferences and meetings, plus an additional $1,996,121 on travel?" Similar things are happening in Europe, from the Brussels Signal, EU spending: Who is getting quiet billions from the European Commission? John Hinderacker at Power Line calls It Corruption, All the Way Down. Pop Times reports A Shocking Study Finds that USAID Funneled Millions to Fund “Designated Terrorists.” The WJ finds 'Calling Card' for US Democratic Party Found Along with Missiles, Rifles in Terrorist Weapons Cache. "Packages from the United States Agency for International Development were found last year in a cache of weapons owned by the terrorist group Hezbollah, according to new reports." Matt Vespa thinks It's Not Shocking These Two People Shilled for USAID on the Sunday Shows, Margret Brennan and Ilhan Omar. Rick Moran at PJM hears a Liberal Analyst: Dems Who Go All-In to Defend USAID Are Committing 'Political Suicide'.

From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.10.25, Twitchy: Elon Musk Responds To NYT OpEd On DOGE By Five Former SecTreas, Ben Rhodes Whines “This Isn’t The Trump America Elected”, Louder With Crowder, Democrat congressman attempts using JD Vance’s kids for a political attack, gets DESTROYED by the VP for his troubles, Vox Popoli: Blitzing the Deep State, Postcards From Barsoom: The Blitzkrieg Through The Institutions, American Greatness: House Democrat Moves to Impeach Trump Over His ‘Dastardly Deeds’, Musk Fumes After DOGE Team Discovers ‘FEMA Sent $59 Million LAST WEEK to Luxury Hotels in NYC’ to House Illegals, President Trump Revokes Security Clearances for State Prosecutors, Other Officials, SecState Marco Rubio Takes Control of USAID, Accuses Agency of ‘Rank Insubordination’ and Undermining U.S. Interests, and Musk Sets His Sights On Defunding NPR, American Thinker: The Musk-eteers Reveal You’ve Been Living in a Simulated Reality, BattleSwarm: Rogan, Weinstein On USAID Scandal, Biden’s FEMA Couldn’t Shelter Americans In NC, But Could Hotel Illegal Aliens In NYC, Da Tech Guy: Trump & Musk vs Deep State Have been Nathan vs David on Steroids, also, What USAID is Doing as Explained by Tip O’Neill and James Michael Curley, Don Surber: What Trump Did This Weekend, First Street Journal, The left are aghast that President Trump is keeping his campaign promises, The Geller Report: USAID Provided “Full Funding” for 9/11-Linked Terrorist Leader Anwar Awlaki, Legal Insurrection, Trump Admin Moves To Dissolve “Impermissible and Anti-Constitutional” Weekend TRO Against Treasury, DOGE Alleges FEMA Sent $59 Million Last Week to House Illegal Aliens in NYC Luxury Hotels, and ‘Wasteful’: Trump Orders Treasury to Stop Producing Pennies, Nebraska Energy Observer, Audacity, Audacity, Always Audacity, Transterrestrial Musings, Elon, and The Federalist: Media Should Investigate Federal Waste Instead Of The People Uncovering It, Federal Employees ‘Angered’ And ‘Fearful’ At Having To Do What Their Boss Says, How A Minnesota School District Is Trying To Drive Out A Trump-Supporting Teacher For Sharing A Meme. Whew!

At PJM Stephen Kruiser notes a Progressive Rag Says Trump Could Learn Something From...Hitler and Bob Spencer hears Yet Another House Dem Calls for 'Street Fight' Against Trump Policies. Da Fetched, Top Democrat Calls for Violence Against Trump and Musk: We Need a “Street Fight!” From NYPo, Trump is not the radical — he’s simply undoing radical things Dems did. The Free Bacon wants you to WATCH: ‘We Have To F— Trump,’ Congresswoman Says As Democrats Struggle To Form Focused Message. From Twitchy, AP Reporter Blocked from Oval Office for Deadnaming Gulf of America After Textual Transition.

At Power Line John Hinderacker concludes Tulsi Gabbard To Be Confirmed "The final vote on her confirmation, which Democrats have delayed as long as they can, will be late tomorrow night. It is not in doubt, and J.D. Vance is out of the country, as his vote will not be needed to break a tie." Beege Welborn wonders Where in the Hell Is Kash Patel? "Sen Markwayne Mullin says they have the votes to carry her (Tulsi's) confirmation and get to a Kash Patel vote on Thursday." Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47 "NEW: “On behalf of the more than 377,000 members of the Fraternal Order of Police, @Kash_Patel has our full support and confidence to be the next Director of the FBI.” LifeZette, Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon Shuts Down Transgender Recruitment and Costly Medical Procedures. Beege Welborn, There's Been a Sheet of Music Change at the DoD UPDATE. Mrgunsngear @Mrgunsngear, "The new Army commercials look like updated 90s Army commercials. SECDEF @PeteHegseth called for this on the @ShawnRyan762 show last year and it's become reality. Things are happening quickly these days...." Media Research Center @theMRC, "Lloyd Austin wore five face masks and skipped out on his job without telling anyone. Pete Hegseth works out with the men he's tasked with leading." Driscoll at Insty, on 21st CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: "Internet goes wild for hulking Special Forces agent spotted with Pete Hegseth on early morning run." At Da Signal, ‘No Exceptions’: Pentagon Schools Defy Hegseth by Renaming DEI Efforts. Dave Strom, You Won't Believe This Space Force Program George@BehizyTweets "BREAKING: DOGE just terminated a $2.3 million contract for a virtual reality training course that taught soldiers how to have "difficult conversations" about DEI. Supposedly, the course taught Air and Space Force soldiers how to talk to each other. - Via DailyMail You can't make this up... These people have been burning our money and are wondering why we voted for the creation of DOGE. Thank you @elonmusk."

From NYPo, Eric Adams ‘keeping options open’ on switching to GOP after Trump DOJ moves to drop bribery case, pal says. Mia Cathell at TownHall sees Fulton County Hand Fani Willis a Hard Pill to Swallow, a budget cut. 

Sundance, After President Trump Talk with President Putin, Russia Releases U.S. Prisoner Marc Fogel. "It’s good that Fogel is returning, and the gesture of his release is an act of good faith between the Russian government of Vladimir Putin and the U.S. government of Donald Trump. However, that said, Marc Fogel was not arrested and detained for some arbitrary reason. The American teacher was arrested, tried and convicted for taking marijuana into Russia. The Russian government doesn’t recognize medicinal marijuana, and they do not play around with illegal drugs or classified narcotics. It’s a big issue and considered a serious crime with severe penalties." VodkaPundit at PJM hears Trump Has a Deadline for Hamas and (Almost) an Ultimatum for Egypt & Jordan "I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday, and if they’re not returned – all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two. Saturday at 12 o’clock, and after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out." In which time zone? "Reporters also asked Trump if he might withhold aid from Egypt and Jordan if they refuse to take in Arabs from Gaza, now that the strip is mostly rubble after Hamas played FAFO with Israel on Oct. 7 of 2023. "Yeah, maybe, sure, why not? If they don’t, I would conceivably withhold aid, yes."" Eric S. Raymond@esrtweet, "Trudeau has a dilemma. Somebody, probably Cynthia Freeland who is (unlike Trudeau) not an idiot, has clued Trudeau in that interprovincial tariffs and GST have been strangling the Canadian economy for a long time, and this is a drag the country can no longer afford if the US isn't an extremely benign and forgiving trade partner. . ."

Matt Margolis hears Democrat Insiders Knew Joe Biden Was Getting Doped Up Before Public Events. Matt Vespa, Former Dem Donor Drops More Damning Allegations About the Biden Presidency. Sister Toldja at RedState sees CNN's Brian Stelter Accidentally Stumble Upon One of the Biggest Issues of Joe Biden's Presidency. 

A lot of us asked why the media went days without seeing or thinking about Joe Biden, actually. pic.twitter.com/7wf826CCES

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 10, 2025

VodkaPundit at PJM says Another Biden Time Bomb Just Blew Up, "The train is out of control," Geiger Capital warned on X on Monday. "The first four months of FY 2025 produced a deficit of $838 billion. That’s $306 billion more than the deficit recorded in the same period last fiscal year." Keep your flashlight on me as I walk you through the tall weeds. . . " Peter St Onge, Ph.D. @profstonge, "Joe Biden's final jobs report is out and it's a doozy. - 589,000 jobs revised into oblivion - 70% of jobs created in the government sector - 99.2% of jobs going to foreign-born workers This is the mess they’re handing Donald Trump."

WSJ finds Democrats in Disarray as Trump Pushes Through Agenda "After decisive losses in November, party has found little consensus on message or direction." At Am Great, the Great Victor Davis Hanson pens How To Commit Democratic Party Suicide, "The Democrats' radical overreach, election losses, and Musk-fueled government exposés have left them flailing, doubling down on failure instead of recalibrating for a political comeback." The NYT (archive) whines about How Democrats Drove Silicon Valley Into Trump’s Arms. Richard Hanania@RichardHanania, "I just listened to Kara Swisher on the Ezra Klein show. I now have much better insight as to why Silicon Valley has sifted to the right. Her entire "analysis" is petty and personal insults about the men she covers. Contempt just absolutely drips off her tongue in every sentence." Bob Spencer at PJM thinks Taylor Swift Summed Up What the Left Is Thinking After Three Weeks of Trump. ‘What’s going on?’

Sassafrass84 @Sassafrass_84 "When your tweet doesn't age well." ->

Gunther Eagleman™@GuntherEagleman, "BREAKING: Tom Homan says they have potentially identified the person responsible for leaking critical information surrounding ICE raids. “Not only is this person going to lose their job, they’ll lose their pension, they're gonna go to jail.”" Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson, "FAKE NEWS: Newsweek Caught in Blatant Lie About Deportation Rates Newsweek reports that Trump is on track to deport *less* criminal aliens than Biden!? Can this be true? The Hard Facts: Trump’s ICE deported 5,693 in two weeks, equating to 2,864 per week. That’s on track for roughly 150,000 deportations per year. ICE says they want to increase this number sharply. Biden’s ICE managed only 47,732 deportations in FY 2024, averaging 917 per week. Even at its peak, Biden’s 2024 figures are dwarfed by Trump’s rate, with FY 2022 under Biden seeing just 28,000 removals. Newsweek INFLATED Biden’s numbers by using data that INCLUDED criminal aliens that were turned away by Customs and Border patrol." Erick Erickson @EWErickson "The American Bar Association destroyed its remaining credibility to be treated as an honest entity when it acted like Joe Biden could tweet the Equal Rights Amendment into law. This is a partisan organization the media pretends is nonpartisan in order to attack Republicans." Quote Adam Klasfeld@KlasfeldReports "In a blistering statement, the American Bar Association describes "attacks on constitutionally protected birthright citizenship, the dismantling of USAID and the attempts to criminalize" diversity initiatives as "wide-scale affronts to the rule of law itself."" At Da Wire, Trump Wasn’t Joking: Some IRS Workers To Help With Deportation, Report Says, "Trump said last month that he might send IRS workers "to the border."" "IRS criminal investigators often carry firearms and can make arrests. They currently investigate tax return preparer fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and identity theft schemes, among other crimes, according to the IRS website. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asked Bessent to provide agents who would help investigate financial flows involving human-trafficking networks and businesses that employ illegal immigrants in a memo dated February 7, the Journal reported. The agents could help arrest, detain, and transport criminal illegals."

At ET, a PBS Poll Finds Majority of Trump Voters Back Its Federal Funding as House DOGE Panel Eyes Budget Cuts "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who chairs the DOGE panel, told The Epoch Times she’s not convinced by the survey results." Why would you believe PBS? Don Surber on Trumping the media, "Deep state can no longer use tax money to pay off media."

No mincing words at Mintz, The False Claims Act and President Trump’s DEI Executive Order: Federal Contractor Employers Must Take Notice. From ZeroHedge, Under-Reported Trump Order Has Sweeping Implications For DEI At Universities. ET, Many Top Universities Have Yet to Comply With Trump’s Order on DEI, "Some schools still promote racial preferences and ideologies, while others have renamed their DEI functions." Insty sees CHANGE: "Goldman Sachs: On Second Thought, We’re Out on DEI Too. Related:" Ian Miller@ianmSC, "Remember when everyone went after Ron DeSantis for fighting Disney when they tried to interfere in the Parental Rights in Education bill? Well today Disney officially dropped DEI, telling execs to focus on "business outcomes" instead. Complete and utter victory for DeSantis." Mike Letts at PJM explains how A Little-Known Police Lawsuit Reveals Just How Damaging DEI Can Be. Sarah Anderson at PJM observes Google Change Its Calendar. Woke Mob Loses Its Mind. Pop Base @PopBase, "Google Calendar has removed key cultural events from their site including: • Pride Month • Black History Month • Holocaust Remembrance Day • Jewish Heritage • Hispanic Heritage • Indigenous People Month." "Well, you can still celebrate all of these things if you want to, but Google Calendar is no longer forcing them upon you if you don't. While some people are blaming Donald Trump — who else? — the tech giant said that it actually made the decision last year because trying to keep up with all of the cultural and historic events was just too much. So it's sticking to public and national holidays."

Althouse, "[T]he American Academy of Pediatrics has so far continued to endorse the treatments as effective in relieving the psychological distress many transgender youths experience..." ""... as a result of the incongruence between their sex and their gender identity. The Trump administration’s order calls the practice of medical transition for youths 'a stain on our nation’s history' and the medical guidelines 'junk science.' It directs federal agencies to withhold funding for hospitals and medical schools that carry out transgender medical care for patients under the age of 19, referring to it as 'maiming.' In a lawsuit filed last week challenging the order’s constitutionality, the attorneys general of Washington, Oregon and Minnesota noted the title, 'Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,' saying it was 'false and repugnant.'" From "How Trump Uses Language to Attack the Idea of Transgender Identity/Using words like 'maiming' and 'junk science,' the directives try to portray trans people as lacking honesty and integrity, and thus unworthy of legal rights" (NYT)." "ADDED: I am very glad to see this issue in court! It won't necessarily mean that the court will look deeply into the evidence of the validity of the science of what is called "transgender healthcare" by some people and "chemical and surgical mutilation" by others. There are other paths through this legal maze."

Tyler O'Neil at Da Signal, The Left Unwittingly Proves Trump’s Point on the Need to Root Out Anti-Christian Bias. "The Guardian’s Joseph Gedeon condemned the move as an effort to “boost Christian nationalism.” USA Today columnist Chris Brennan said the task force aimed to increase division. The secularist group Americans United for Separation of Church and State insisted that the task force “will misuse religious freedom to justify bigotry, discrimination.”" At WokeSpy, Here’s How Trump’s Trump’s “Anti-Christian Bias” Task Force Will Work. The College Fix reports Yale Jewish students kicked out of own center during pro-Palestinian protest. 

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Casual and FMJRA 2.0: Scalped up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.