Wicked Blue
Wicked Blue's JournalFederal health workers terrified after 'DEI' website publishes list of 'targets'
Source: NBC
Federal health workers are expressing fear and alarm after a website called “DEI Watch List” published the photos, names and public information of a number of workers across health agencies, describing them as “targets.”
It’s unclear when the website, which lists mostly Black employees who work in agencies primarily within the Department of Health and Human Services, first appeared.
“Offenses” for the workers listed on the website include working on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, donating to Democrats and using pronouns in their bios.
The website, a government worker said, is being circulated among multiple private group chats of federal health workers across agencies, as well as through social media links.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/federal-health-workers-terrified-dei-website-publishes-list-targets-rcna190711
Trump Says He's Given Instructions For Iran To Be 'Obliterated' If He's Assassinated
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he’s given his advisers instructions to obliterate Iran if it assassinates him.
“If they did that they would be obliterated,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters while signing an executive order calling for the U.S. government to impose maximum pressure on Tehran. “I’ve left instructions if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left.”
Federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump and other administration officials for years.
Trump ordered the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani, who led the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-iran-assassination-instructions_n_67a2880ee4b05ad598a0a70a
USAID upheaval is paralyzing global delivery of food and medicine
Source: NBC
Shipping containers packed with lifesaving antibiotics and antimalarial drugs are being held at the Port of Sudan, where they sit in limbo. Essential medicines are expiring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a cash-strapped government contractor was forced to shut off the air conditioning. Millions of pounds of American-grown soybeans that were bound for refugee camps overseas are being diverted to warehouses instead.
President Donald Trump’s mission to upend the U.S. Agency for International Development, a government organization tasked with alleviating global poverty and providing humanitarian relief, has paralyzed efforts to distribute essential food, medicine and other lifesaving supplies around the world, according to nonprofit organizations, farm industry groups and federal lawmakers.
The administration’s 90-day freeze on foreign aid, a stop-work order to review agency operations and the abrupt closure of USAID’s headquarters have stalled the aid distribution system, despite the administration’s claim that “life-saving humanitarian assistance” would be allowed to continue.
USAID delivers billions of dollars in humanitarian aid overseas, funding that advocates say provides a critical lifeline to more than 100 countries at only a small fraction of the overall federal budget. It’s not clear how much money in aid is tied up, or how long the pause may last.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/politics-news/trump-usaid-upheaval-paralyzing-global-delivery-food-medicine-rcna190565
Rep. Jamie Raskin demands details on U.S. citizens caught up in ICE enforcement
Feb. 4, 2025, 6:32 PM EST
By Suzanne Gamboa
The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is asking the Trump administration to do some explaining about U.S. citizens who were caught up in recent immigration enforcement actions.
Following up on a report by NBC News, Rep. Jamie Raskin, House Judiciary Committee ranking member, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a subcommittee ranking member, asked for an accounting of immigration enforcement actions since Jan. 20 involving U.S. citizens.
The request was made in a letter signed by Raskin, D-Md., and Jayapal, D-Wash., whose subcommittee oversees immigration. It was sent Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Caleb Vitello, Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director. A copy of the letter was first provided to NBC News.
“If you’re not out looking for criminals based on crimes committed, but undocumented immigrants based on their looks, you’re going to sweep up a lot of innocent people, including innocent citizens,” Raskin said in a statement to NBC News. “We’ve already seen cases of racial and ethnic profiling leading to the unlawful detention of U.S. citizens. That’s why I’m demanding answers about some of these profoundly troubling stories we’ve heard about citizens being targeted, detained and questioned.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/rep-jamie-raskin-demands-details-us-citizens-caught-ice-enforcement-rcna190649
Republicans OK With Trump Acting Like A King -- As Long As He Does What They Like
HuffPost
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump’s extraordinary and unprecedented move to unilaterally shutter a federal agency without congressional approval drew little pushback from Republicans on Capitol Hill who’ve spent years complaining about executive overreach and infringements on their power of the purse.
“My attitude is, if you’re upset by that, call someone who cares,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters on Monday. “Because that’s why we’re elected ― to review all the spending.”
Over the weekend, agents of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by billionaire Elon Musk, effectively shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, locking its employees out of their computers, barring them from their offices and halting its work delivering humanitarian assistance abroad. The Tesla CEO then accused the agency of being a “criminal organization” that should “die.”
Newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Republican proponent of USAID’s mission during his time serving the Senate, also announced on Monday he is taking over as acting director of USAID to overhaul its funding and operations. The agency, he said, would be consolidated under the State Department with the consultation of Congress.
Much more at
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-usaid-spending-republicans-capitol-hill_n_67a167dee4b0344ef9aa5d60
Some USAID employees abroad lose access to secure communications, including in war zones
NBC Live Updates
The Trump administration has blocked access to secure communications for hundreds of USAID employees abroad, including many who work in war zones, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.
American embassies typically extend security protection to USAID employees. But given the administration’s actions in recent days, some USAID employees are concerned that they can no longer assume they will be placed under an embassy’s security umbrella.
“People are stranded, and’s it unclear whether they are still under embassy security protection,” said one source.
At the same time, USAID mission directors, spread out across more than 60 countries and regional offices, are awaiting orders to be recalled to Washington. The orders are expected to come as soon as today, according to five sources familiar with the decision.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/live-blog/trump-canada-mexico-tariffs-live-updates-rcna190371
Are Trump and Musk trying to make it tougher for normal Americans to file their taxes for free?
NJ.com
By Lauren Sforza | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Is Direct File the latest government program to be targeted by President Donald Trump’s administration?
Tech billionaire Elon Musk said Monday that the 18F group that helped build the Direct File initiative, which allows taxpayers to file their returns directly to the Interval Revenue Service (IRS) for free, has been “deleted.” It’s not clear what this means for the Direct File program or other software that group built.
“That group has been deleted,” Musk wrote on social media platform X.
While the Musk said the 18F group has been deleted, the Direct File website is still running. And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent committed to keeping the Direct File initiative running through the 2025 tax season during his confirmation hearing last month.
https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/02/are-trump-and-musk-trying-to-get-rid-of-this-tax-filing-program.html
Foreign service union criticises plans for USAID, says 'several dozen' staff placed on leave
BBC Live Updates
17:11
Kayla Epstein
US reporter
The American Foreign Service Association, a union that represents about 1,800 USAID staffers and other foreign service officers, has called the Trump administration's reported plan to merge USAID with the State Department "alarming".
Doing so "without congressional notification and no clear plan for continuity, raises serious concerns about the future of US development policy and America’s global standing," they said.
AFSA President Thomas Yazdgerdi told the BBC that "at least several dozen" USAID staffers have been put on administrative leave, "if not more, probably more at this point".
He estimated that number to be about sixty people, but noted that "it's hard to get facts and figures right now. We're just getting anecdotally from what we hear from our members."
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cy08dkgej8pt
Trump to order US withdrawal from UN Human Rights Council, halt UNRWA funding
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order on Tuesday withdrawing the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council and prohibiting funding for the U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, a White House official said on Monday.
Trump has already previously ordered U.S. withdrawals from the World Health Organization and from the Paris climate agreement since taking office on Jan. 20.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-order-us-withdrawal-un-human-rights-council-halt-unrwa-funding-2025-02-03/
USAID employees told to work remotely until further notice, Democrats say
BBC Live Updates
16:32
Democratic lawmakers have spoken again to reporters outside USAID, saying that Elon Musk's Doge representatives have told USAID agency employees to work remotely.
This is the opposite of what other federal employees have been told by the Trump administration, which is attempting to force all its workers to return to their offices full-time.
"If Elon Musk wants to shut this place down, he should have the decency to come out here and speak to all of you," Senator Chris Van Hollen said as he stood outside of the USAID building earlier today.
Jamie Raskin, a Maryland congressman, alleged that this effort to close USAID is a form of political retaliation, and he notes attempts by the Trump administration to identify employees' political loyalties in other agencies.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cy08dkgej8pt
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