An educator, archaeologist and scientist were among the thousands of government workers culled by Musk’s agencyThe Trump administration has fired at least 20,000 government employees in its first month, as Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) dramatically overhauls work at federal agencies. Some economists have speculated that these terminations, which could affect nearly 300,000 workers, will be the biggest job cuts in US history.Most of the workers cut were in probationary periods and lacked job protections that come with longer terms of employment. In social media spaces, especially the r/fednews subreddit, these workers described scenes of confusion and feelings of anger directed at Musk, an unelected billionaire dubbed a “special government employee” by the White House. Last week, unions for federal workers sued the Trump administration for unlawfully using probationary periods to cut staff. Continue reading...

Events

Big tech billionaire grants extension to initial deadline as administration’s Office of Personnel tells agencies that answering mailout is ‘voluntary’, sowing confusion

Politics

Almost 40% of federal contracts canceled as part of Doge’s cost-cutting efforts aren’t expected to save government any money, Trump administration’s own data showsIt’s coming down to the wire for beleaguered House speaker Mike Johnson, who is trying to rally GOP holdouts behind his budget plan for enacting Donald Trump’s agenda before the showdown vote this evening.Amid Republican opposition threatening to derail his bill, Johnson was up late last night locked in talks with holdouts from across his party who remain skeptical of his outline plan for tax and spending cuts - as well as border security, energy and defense policy - via a single reconciliation bill. Continue reading...

Politics

US office for personal management, which manages federal workforce, says that responding to Musk is not mandatoryThe Kremlin appeared to contradict Donald Trump’s assertion that Russia was open to European peacekeepers being deployed in Ukraine, and referred reporters to an earlier statement that such a move would be unacceptable to Moscow.Russia has repeatedly said it opposes having Nato troops on the ground in Ukraine, with foreign minister Sergei Lavrov saying last week that Moscow would view that as a “direct threat” to Russia’s sovereignty, even if the troops operated there under a different flag, Reuters reports.There is a position on this matter that was expressed by the Russian foreign minister, Lavrov. I have nothing to add to this and nothing to comment on. I leave this without comment. Continue reading...

Politics

Elon Musk is vowing yet again to fire any federal workers who don’t respond to an email asking them to list five things they accomplished last week

Events

Big tech billionaire earlier claimed mass mailout last week was mostly a ruse to see if government employees at DOGE-targeted agencies ‘had a pulse’

Events

Bitcoin has tumbled below $90,000 to hit the lowest since mid-November, as rising volatility hits crypto marketFull story: Tesla sales almost halve in Europe as Musk faces criticism over Trump tiesSeveral UK charities are warning that this morning’s rise in the energy price cap (which covers England, Wales and Scotland) will hurt struggling householdssThe Centre for Ageing Better is concerned that millions of older people already struggling on low incomes will be put into even greater difficulty with increasing energy costs, having already lost their winter fuel payments last year.“It is so dispiriting to learn that bill payers must brace for another substantial increase to energy prices from April. For those living on the breadline, desperately struggling to meet the basic costs of everyday living, this will be heartbreaking news.There are millions of older people who no longer qualify for winter fuel payments who live on paltry incomes that do not even cover the basics of a dignif...

Economics

Tech billionaire, a close adviser to the US president, is a vocal supporter of Germany’s far-right AfD partyBusiness live – latest updatesSales of new Tesla cars almost halved in Europe last month, indicating waning demand for the US carmaker’s vehicles as its chief executive Elon Musk intervened repeatedly in the politics on both sides of the Atlantic.The Texas-based carmaker sold 9,945 vehicles in Europe in January, down 45% from last year’s 18,161, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). Tesla’s share of the market dropped to 1% from 1.8%. Continue reading...

Politics

Big tech billionaire earlier claimed mass mailout last week was mostly a ruse to see if government employees at DOGE-targeted agencies ‘had a pulse’

Events

I played a fictional billionaire on TV. It’s time world leaders got serious about taxing the real onesBrian Cox played Logan Roy in HBO’s Succession and is a supporter of Patriotic Millionaires InternationalYou could be forgiven for thinking the second coming of Donald Trump was fiction. Unfortunately, it’s not – the threat he and his “broligarchs” bring to people around the world is very, very real. Last month Trump, surrounded by his uber-rich friends, was inaugurated the 47th president, while his political supporters sat outside in the cold – the perfect metaphor for who really matters in this presidency.Among the clique were the three richest men in the world: Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and top dog Elon Musk, who personally poured $277m into Trump’s election campaign, increasing his own wealth by $170bn as a result.Brian Cox played Logan Roy in HBO’s Succession and is a supporter of Patriotic Millionaires International Continue reading...

Politics

Musk claimed that mass emails last week were mostly a ruse to see if government employees at DOGE-targeted agencies ‘had a pulse’

Politics

Musk claimed that mass emails last week were mostly a ruse to see if government employees at DOGE-targeted agencies ‘had a pulse’

Politics

Nearly 40% of the federal contracts that the Trump administration claims to have canceled as part of its signature cost-cutting program aren’t expected to save any money

Politics

Missouri representative Mark Alford was the latest Republican to provoke shouts and heckles while attempting to defend Donald Trump and Elon Musk

Events

From the latest in Musk’s fight to fire federal workers to concern over appointment of Dan Bongino – key US politics stories from Monday at a glanceConfusion continued on Monday over the demands made by Elon Musk of federal workers. Just hours after the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had directed agencies that responses to its email were optional, Musk again threatened federal workers. He wrote on X, the platform he owns: “Subject to the discretion of the president, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.” President Donald Trump backed Musk earlier Monday, two days after OPM initially sent an email asking federal workers to list five things they accomplished last week. Several government agencies, including the FBI and state department, have told their employees not to respond.Here are the biggest stories in US politics on Monday, 24 February. Continue reading...

Politics

OPM says failure to respond to email will not be considered resignation but Trump ally digs in and threatens job lossesThe US government’s human resources office has walked back an ultimatum issued by Elon Musk that would have forced its workers to resign if they did not submit a bullet-point list of their recent accomplishments, in one of the first signs of internal pushback to the Tesla billionaire’s campaign to downsize the federal workforce.The demand, made in an email sent to million of government employees over the weekend and quickly sued over by a coalition of labor and advocacy groups, represented the latest salvo by the “department of government efficiency” (Doge), the Trump-sanctioned cost-cutting initiative Musk chairs. Continue reading...

Politics

This blog is now closed. Here’s our latest politics storyHere’s a little more on Dan Bongino, the Maga podcaster Donald Trump has named as deputy director of the FBI and who will oversee the bureau alongside newly appointed director Kash Patel.The president announced the appointment on Sunday night in a post on his Truth Social platform, praising Bongino as “a man of incredible love and passion for our country”. He called the announcement “great news for law enforcement and American justice”.Kash Patel should have been a redline. Bongino is what you get when R Senators fail to do their jobs and say no to Patel. The Trump Admin is turning federal law enforcement over to unqualified, unprincipled, partisan henchmen. It’s unacceptable and conservatives need to say so. Continue reading...

Politics

Judges are raising constitutional alarms about the role of the world’s wealthiest man

Politics

OPM says federal workers not obliged to respond despite Musk’s that ignoring email would be considered resignationHere’s a little more on Dan Bongino, the Maga podcaster Donald Trump has named as deputy director of the FBI and who will oversee the bureau alongside newly appointed director Kash Patel.The president announced the appointment on Sunday night in a post on his Truth Social platform, praising Bongino as “a man of incredible love and passion for our country”. He called the announcement “great news for law enforcement and American justice”.Kash Patel should have been a redline. Bongino is what you get when R Senators fail to do their jobs and say no to Patel. The Trump Admin is turning federal law enforcement over to unqualified, unprincipled, partisan henchmen. It’s unacceptable and conservatives need to say so. Continue reading...

Society

US office says federal workers are not obliged to respond to the email despite Elon Musk claiming ignoring the email would be considered a resignationHere’s a little more on Dan Bongino, the Maga podcaster Donald Trump has named as deputy director of the FBI and who will oversee the bureau alongside newly appointed director Kash Patel.The president announced the appointment on Sunday night in a post on his Truth Social platform, praising Bongino as “a man of incredible love and passion for our country”. He called the announcement “great news for law enforcement and American justice”.Kash Patel should have been a redline. Bongino is what you get when R Senators fail to do their jobs and say no to Patel. The Trump Admin is turning federal law enforcement over to unqualified, unprincipled, partisan henchmen. It’s unacceptable and conservatives need to say so. Continue reading...

Society