Elon Musk’s AI-bola and Marco Rubio’s Very Busy Month

Trump had a ritual humiliation session yesterday he billed as a Cabinet Meeting. One purpose of it was to perform complaisance with DOGE [sic]. Trump had Elon lie about his accomplishments and goal, and then invited Cabinet Members to speak up publicly about problems with him, which of course all declined to do.

And obviously, that can only be done with the support of everyone in this room. And I’d like to thank everyone for — for your support. Thank you very much this. This — this can only be done with — with your support.

So, this is — it’s really — DOGE is a support function for the president and for the — the agencies and departments to help achieve those savings and to effect- — effectively find 15 percent in reduction in fraud and — and waste.

And — and we bring the receipts. So, people say, like, “Well, is this real?” Just go to DOGE.gov. We l- — we — line item by line item, we specify each item. So — and w- — and I — I should say, we — also, we will make mistakes. We won’t be perfect. But when we make mistake, we’ll fix it very quickly.

So, for example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled, very briefly, was Ebola — Ebola prevention. I think we all wanted Ebola prevention. So, we restored the Ebola prevention immediately, and there was no interruption.

But we do need to move quickly if we’re — if we’re to achieve a trillion-dollar deficit reduction in tw- — in — in financial year 2026. It requires saving $4 billion per day, every day from now through the end of September. But we can do it, and we will do it.

Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, do you have any questions of Elon while we’re on the subject of DOGE? Because we’ll finish off with that. And if you would have any questions, please ask — you could ask me or Elon.

Go ahead, please.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Musk. I just wanted to ask you, the — President Trump put out a Truth Social today saying that everybody in the Cabinet was — was happy with you. I just wondered if that — if you had heard otherwise, and if you had heard anything about members of the Cabinet who weren’t happy with the way things were going. And if so, what are you doing to address those — any dissatisfaction?

MR. MUSK: To the best of —

THE PRESIDENT: Hey, Elon, let the Cabinet speak just for a second. (Laughter.)

Is anybody unhappy with Elon? If you are, we’ll throw them out of here. (Laughter.) Is anybody unhappy? (Applause.)

They are — they have a lot of respect for Elon and that he’s doing this. And some disagree a little bit, but I will tell you, for the most part, I think everyone is not only happy, they’re thrilled.

The Ebola line — one Marco Rubio did not contest — got a ton of press.

But WaPo’s story — describing that Elon’s claimed restoration was a lie — got far less.

Yet current and former USAID officials said that Musk was wrong: USAID’s Ebola prevention efforts have been largely halted since Musk and his DOGE allies moved last month to gut the global-assistance agency and freeze its outgoing payments, they said. The teams and contractors that would be deployed to fight an Ebola outbreak have been dismantled, they added. While the Trump administration issued a waiver to allow USAID to respond to an Ebola outbreak in Uganda last month, partner organizations were not promptly paid for their work, and USAID’s own efforts were sharply curtailed compared to past efforts to fight Ebola outbreaks.

“There have been no efforts to ‘turn on’ anything in prevention” of Ebola and other diseases, said Nidhi Bouri, who served as a senior USAID official during the Biden administration and oversaw the agency’s response to health-care outbreaks.

Last month’s Ebola outbreak has now receded, but some former U.S. officials say that’s in part because of past investments in prevention efforts that helped position Uganda to respond — and that other countries remain far more vulnerable.

Bouri said her former USAID team of 60 people working on disease-response had been cut to about six staffers as of earlier this week. She called the recent USAID response to Uganda’s Ebola outbreak a “one-off,” far diminished from “the full suite” of activities that the agency historically would mount, such as ramping up efforts to monitor whether the disease had spread to neighboring countries.

“The full spectrum — the investments in disease surveillance, the investments in what we mobilize … moving commodities, supporting lab workers — that capacity is now a tenth of what it was,” Bouri said.

[snip]

“We have the programs and the people who were working on Ebola and other deadly-disease prevention capacity in other countries not able to do their jobs because their work is frozen, and many of the people have been put on administrative leave,” said Cameron, who worked on biosecurity efforts in the Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden administrations. “And we have a response that is, at best, less efficient, because the implementers are not able to get reliably paid.” [my emphasis]

This is consistent with what people have been claiming in court declarations (in this case from a Controller stationed overseas) for weeks: even where State/USAID claims to have sustained a program, it was nevertheless gutted through non-payment and staffing cuts.

8. Every single payment that I tried unsuccessfully to process after January 27 was for an expense incurred before January 20. Most of the payments I have been trying to process were for expenses incurred in November or December of 2024. These included large payments to partners who bill us every month for the work performed in the previous month, as well as smaller administrative items like cell phone and other utility payments, travel reimbursements, and rental payments.

9. On February 3, the situation changed yet again. As of that date, every time I tried to hit the “certify” button to begin a disbursement, I received an error message stating that I did not have authority to proceed. I contacted Phoenix Security to inquire if there was a technical problem in the system and was told “on Friday January 31, we were instructed to remove the ability to certify payments.” They did not indicate who instructed them, only stating “Unfortunately I am unable to reverse this decision.”

10. On February 5, all USAID controllers received another diplomatic cableindicating that USAID personnel could no longer process payments themselves but must request approval from a Senior Bureau Officer before forwarding the payment packages for processing. However, as of February 11, nobody can agree on who is the appropriate SBO for USAID payments and the State Department hasn’t processed a single payment based on the new procedure.

11. As of February 9, when I try to log into Phoenix, I receive a new error message stating that my sign-in attempt has failed. I have even less access to Phoenix after the February 7 court order than I did before that date.

[snip]

13. I have not been able to process payments under any of the waivers included in the January 24 cable, including legitimate expenses incurred prior to January 24 under existing awards or those for employee operating expenses. Though the waivers exist on paper, in reality all USAID funds have remained frozen because of technological barriers added to the system, I don’t know by whom. Phoenix will not let us disburse anything.

The people who pay the bills have all been forced out of payment systems. And it’s not clear whether DOGE [sic] broke the system or simply disabled it (a Matt Bai report I find suspect, but which plaintiffs have now cited in court filings, says it’s the latter).

The first of these USAID cases — on Judge Amir Ali’s order to halt freezes of such funding — landed before SCOTUS last night; the government’s request to vacate Ali’s order presents a wildly misleading description of the posture of the case.

It also wails mightily about plaintiffs’ request to conduct discovery, including by deposing Marco Rubio.

Worse, this order exposes the government to the risk of contempt proceedings and other sanctions. Agency leadership has determined that the ordered payments “cannot be accomplished in the time allotted by the” district court. App., infra, 97a. That risk is especially concerning because the district court appears poised to require mini-trials, discovery, and depositions of senior officials as to whether a host of foreign-aid decisions genuinely rested on the government’s conceded discretionary authority to terminate contracts and grants, or were instead supposed pretexts for a blanket foreign-aid cut that the district court considers unlawful. See id. at 141a (respondents’ proposed discovery plan) (requesting deposition of Secretary of State) Respondents are pressing even further, demanding discovery into personnel actions, payment-processing protocols, and other agency actions that have nothing to do with their original APA claims challenging a categorical funding pause. The threat of invasive discovery into senior officials’ subjective motivations only exacerbates the Article II harms inflicted by the court’s order.

Or perhaps it wails mightily about being called on a claim made below: That Marco Rubio has been personally involved in all this.

After Judge Ali first issued a TRO, State offered a new claimed basis for the freeze: that State was in the process of canceling the contracts via clauses within the contracts, applied individually. It claimed that the reduced staff of State reviewed every contract and decided whether to keep or eliminate it.

And according to multiple declarations from Pete Marocco, Marco Rubio was personally involved in all of that.

5. USAID led a rigorous multi-level review process that began with spreadsheets including each contract, grant, or funding instrument where each line of the spreadsheeting reflected one such agreement and included information about the recipient, the amount of the award, the subject matter, and a description of the project that often included the location of the project. Policy staff first performed a first line review to determine whether the individual agreement was in line with foreign policy priorities (and therefore could potentially be continued) or not (and presumptively could be terminated as inconsistent with Agency priorities and the national interest). Those recommendations were reviewed by a senior policy official to confirm that, for awards recommended for termination, that ending the program was consistent with the foreign policy of the United States and the operations and priorities of the Agency. The results of that review were routed to me for further review, including of institutional and diplomatic equities. As one example, a presumptively terminated agreement might be continued for a variety of foreign policy reasons, such as the location of the project or the general subject matter, or the judgment and foreign policy perspectives of the second line reviewer. Termination recommendations approved by me ultimately received the Secretary of State’s review. The Secretary of State’s personal involvement confirmed that termination decisions were taken with full visibility into the unique diplomatic, national security, and foreign policy interests at stake vis-à-vis foreign assistance programs. [my emphasis]

Just in time to rush this to the Supreme Court, Marocco claimed that Rubio had finished his decision-making.

Since last night when I executed a declaration, the process for individually reviewing each outstanding State Department grant and federal assistance award obligation has concluded. Secretary Rubio has now made a final decision with respect to each such award, affirmatively electing to either retain the award or terminate as inconsistent with the national interests and foreign policy of the United States. State is processing termination letters with the goal to reach substantial completion within the next 24-48 hours. Notification letters will be distributed for retained awards withing 2 weeks to take account of the overseas lag. In total, approximately 4,100 awards were terminated, and approximately 2,700 awards were retained. Of approximately 711 contracts originally paused, approximately 297 still need to be reviewed; the remainder have either been terminated or resumed. Defendants are committed to fully moving forward with the remaining awards and programs that Secretary Rubio has determined to retain.

A Contracting Officer submitted a declaration yesterday explaining how “implausible” the claim of personal involvement from Rubio is.

36. As a CO who manages a portfolio of less than 50 awards, the claims of “individual reviews” by Secretary Rubio are completely implausible. Contracts and awards are lengthy, technical, and complicated documents. They often include technical specifications that are dozens of pages long, as well as lengthy technical appendices. It would take a single person weeks and weeks of work to substantively review hundreds of contracts and awards, especially if that person was not already familiar with the programs at issue. For example, when the Agency asked COs to review the Scopes of Work and Program Descriptions contained in our awards to determine whether provisions regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion were incorporated, it took me and my team a week to review fewer than 50 awards. Not only did we have a team of people doing this work, but these were awards which I manage and have significant foundational knowledge about.

37. Beyond that, without consulting the COs and CORs/OARs who manage a specific contract or award, it would be impossible in most cases to understand whether a specific award could be terminated, effective immediately, without incurring even greater termination costs or causing even greater harms to the national interest or Agency priorities. For example, the COs and CORs/OARs have specific information about the status of ongoing work, whether immediate termination would incur sunk costs (for example, by allowing already-purchased food and medicine to expire), whether immediate termination would risk the health or safety of Agency personnel or implementing partners, among many other award-specific factors.

Rubio’s recent schedule makes that all the more implausible. For six days after the original stay, Rubio was traveling.

Secretary Rubio is on travel to Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates from February 13-19, 2025.

He had nothing but briefings on his schedule on February 20. But then he had two high level meetings on February 21. More high level meetings, including with President Macron, on Monday. A meeting with the Saudi Defense Minister Tuesday. And the aforementioned Cabinet Meeting yesterday, where Rubio didn’t speak up to correct Elon’s false claim about Ebola. Rubio did, however, blow off EU foreign policy minister Kaja Kallas yesterday, avoiding a discussion about Ukraine. Today, Keir Starmer visits.

Even with the canceled Kallas meeting, though, Rubio simply had no time —  especially not blocks of time that fell into the periods when Pete Marocco claims these decisions were made — to review the contracts in depth.

State needs to claim Rubio had personal involvement in rescinding these contracts. But it is virtually impossible that he did, much less that he had meaningful input on it.

What is far more likely is that Elon’s AI reviewed these contracts, and State is claiming that the work of that AI is instead the considered conclusion of the Senate-confirmed Secretary of State.

No wonder DOJ panicked when plaintiffs said they wanted to depose the people who made the decisions (a request Judge Ali has not endorsed).

Someone just shut down the bulk of foreign aid, purportedly with the personal involvement of the Secretary of the State. But that very same Secretary of State sat silent when Elon Musk falsely claimed that State was still funding Ebola prevention.

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71 replies
  1. Golden Bough says:

    The $55 billion question is how will SCOTUS handle the USAID case now before it?

    Unfortunately, I don’t have much hope that the High Court, currently constituted with at least two corrupt Fed Soc ghouls and also Associate Justice I-like-beer-and-I-drink-beer, won’t do anything but let what is a significant Project 25 strategy to gut the Federal Government administrative workforce proceed unabated.

  2. allan_in_upstate says:

    “State needs to claim Rubio had personal involvement in rescinding these contracts. But it is virtually impossible that he did, much less that he had meaningful input on it.”

    Well, the State Secrets Doctrine case was based on false submissions to the courts,
    so there’s no reason why a DOGE Uber Alles Doctrine can’t be as well.

    • gruntfuttock says:

      ‘ But it is virtually impossible that he did’

      Ah, but, through the power of magical thinking, Rubio can be anywhere, anytime, anyhow. He is filled with the Trumpian power of unlimited griftiness.

      Into Griftinity!

  3. Upisdown says:

    Most of the DOGE reporting is false. Reports of billions and trillions of dollars unaccounted for and untraced are ludicrous.

    Speaking for the Department of Education, I accounted for federal and state grants for a major school district for twenty years. Whether the money came directly from DC or came from DC through Tallahassee, reporting was extremely detailed and linked to very specific grant ID numbers and award years. Requests for cash on fed direct project and Pell grants with USDOE are submitted through the G5 system and reference very specific award ID’s. Other departments and agencies use the more antiquated federal Payment Management System (PMS), but also must identify a specific award number.

    Reporting on federal expenditures was done annually, audited according to OMB guidance, and published on the district’s website. Every dollar of federal money was broken down by federal department (USDOE, DHS, Agriculture, DOJ, etc). Every dollar had to be identified to the original funding source code using the Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number for that grant or contract. This, too, was audited on the Schedule A. (I can attest that auditors get extremely anal over the formatting of the SEFA and using the correct CFDA numbers.)

    I have zero confidence in the claims of lost and untraceable amounts as large as we’ve been told. The level of accountability is simply too great.

    • PeteT0323 says:

      The level of audit you described should be the least level of scrutiny that DOGE and that band of misfits – including Trump – need to abide by.

      I realize this level of detail that you provide does not make for attention getting headlines, but perhaps all the more reason to craft it into something that would be of interest to the masses.

      I have my doubts that any level of pushback will change what Musk, Trump ,etc lie about, but that should NOT be the focus. It will take time to sink in, but repetition is important.

      Somewhat unrelated, I think the time frame is within 90 days when the Red Staters and MAGA really realize they have been screwed over.

    • e.a. foster says:

      Your last sentence makes a lot of sense. Have wondered about that also. If it were actually true, it wouldn’t have started 4 years ago, it would have been going on during Trump’s first term. So was he and his so ignorant during his first term, that they didn’t catch it? or would he like us to believe he just ignored it?
      If we are to believe Musk and the boys found this all out while looking at computers, I don’t believe it. Its just too fast.
      Given Musk and Trump’s claims, I expect their noses to start growing and board rooms will need to be lengthened for them to get in.

      • Upisdown says:

        I can only speak for education. There may be tons of waste in defense spending. Perhaps someone else has insight on that.

        Here’s another example of monitoring expenditures. All school districts are required to keep capital outlay inventories which must track furniture, fixtures, and equipment over a certain dollar amount. That amount is currently $1,000, but was just $200 when I started working back in the 90’s. We had to tag and track every dot matrix printer that cost $200 or more, along with any other fixed asset over that amount. The inventory record would list the serial number, PO info (date, vendor, price), the physical location of the item, and the funding source (federal grant number/year). Transfer of tagged items from one cost center to another required a detailed form signed by both centers and acknowledged by the property records department. Equipment purchased with federal Title I funds had to be made available to other Title I schools before it could be retired as obsolete. Retired assets were sold at auction and taken off inventory but still had to be cleared through the federal project managers. A physical inventory of all tagged assets was conducted yearly. School principals were responsible for missing items.

        Trust me when I say that accountability is taken very seriously in public education.

  4. drhester says:

    Thank you for this. This is very destabilizing and incredibly sad. So basically, Elon’s AI, flawed as it appears to be, is effectively running parts of our government.

    I listened to his word salad at the Cabinet meeting during which said they (AI?) would assess how well our dedicated civil service workers were performing. He had no idea what he was talking about.

    Speaking of which, I am trying to create an on-line account at the SSA for security reasons. I’ve been locked out and the suggestion was to call the SSA. Auto message said wait time approx 40 minutes.
    The automated response also mentioned that due to a reduction in force SS Disability Applications would take 200 -230 days to process. When our kids were small I worked at the State SS Disability bureau (9 years). Turn around was 60 – 90 days, if that.

    We are witnessing the enshitification of the US.Gov

    • P J Evans says:

      Best results with SSA are to call the nearest local office, if there is one. (I had trouble, and the local guy was very helpful.)

      • drhester says:

        Thanks a lot. It was easier talking w the local branch. They are snail mailing me stuff to help sort this all out. Much appreciated.

      • bloopie2 says:

        Agreed, try the local office. And not just yours; if need be, try some nearby local offices; some are busier and/or less responsive than others. Like dealing with many “organizations” — keep asking people until you find someone who will help.

  5. scroogemcduck says:

    The only appropriate response from SCOTUS was to tell the Executive branch to comply with the damn Court order already. Once again, John Roberts puts his thumb on the scale for the Orange one and removes another brick from the wall separating us from tyranny.

    • drhester says:

      Thank you. He’s a coward and a weasel. Never forget he has always tried to prevent people from voting. Of all the justices, I have the most disdain for him.

      • Memory hole says:

        He is calling his balls and strikes through his very partisan lenses. And now his eyes seem to be failing, so he is going by instinct.

        • Joe Orton says:

          How can he rule against the man who will bring God’s kingdom to Earth? Seriously. How would that go over in his personal life and among most his professional friends and colleagues? He’s put himself in a Sophie’s Choice type situation.

    • Bugboy321 says:

      It really is amazing that the Judicial Branch seem to have missed the entire point of that whole “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition” thing. And here I thought these guys were fans of the Federalist Papers?

      • P J Evans says:

        I don’t think they’ve ever read them. (Like many MAGAs, who talk about being Christian, but have never read the four gospels.)

  6. charlie_on_the_MTA says:

    This is being done across the government.

    DOGE is trying to tie a budget code to a specific statutory authorization, if they can’t find it in the AI database it is cut.

    And of course, most programs aren’t really listed like that in actual budget documents — which is why they can claim to cut 90% of them.

    It’s the new form of impoundment, being done by an extra-constitutional organization.

  7. Bruce Olsen says:

    He’s moving toward declaring the emergency he needs to finish his autogolpe, by triggering protests in response to the layoffs or to his refusal to abide by an unfavorable SCOTUS decision or to his staggeringly incompetent and corrupt gang of thugs he calls his government.
    Even if the privately “concerned” GOPers decide to impeach/convict he won’t leave.
    That will be difficult to push past unless enough MAGAistas have their faces eaten, which is also happening.
    The whole meeting reminds me of the Wannsee Conference.

    • PeteT0323 says:

      The ironic thing is, like I posted above, when the Red Staters and MAGAs realize they have been screwed over by Musk-Trump will it be them that precipitate the “emergency”?

    • Memory hole says:

      It seems Erik Prince with his mercenary army is willing to offer his services to Mr. Trump.
      According to Politico, for the great deal of about $25 billion, his group will deputize 10,000 citizens to round up and deport “illegal” immigrants. Then fly them away on a fleet of planes.
      A private brown shirt army, paid for by our taxes.

      • Bruce Olsen says:

        I wonder if Erik Prince’s plan was inspired by Mulholland Falls.
        Perhaps they’ll fly out over the Gulf of America, defenestrate a load of illegals, and do it again.

    • Palli Davis Holubar says:

      I’d settle for arrests of musk & tra/ump, cabinet heads & International Criminal Court referrals.

    • Molly Pitcher says:

      Tomorrow it starts. No buying anything , unless it is from a small local company, but ideally no economic activity tomorrow.

      There are more things scheduled after tomorrow as well.

      I have been calling for a General Strike for the last 10 days. Somehow, European cities are holding rallies of over 100,000 people and Trump isn’t even their God/King/dictator.

  8. TDBach_11APR_2022_1323h says:

    Elon’s new, self-driving ship of state is colliding with every iceberg, reef, rock, and other ship of state as it makes its way to the distant shores of techbro nirvana. Tesla-proven experience. AI may be fun new technology, but it sure ain’t good enough for government work.

    [Welcome to emptywheel. FOURTH AND FINAL REQUEST: Please choose and use a unique username with a minimum of 8 letters. We have adopted this minimum standard to support community security. Your username is too short; because you have less than 1000 comments published and been participating less than 10 years as of October 2022, your username will not be grandfathered under the old standard. Your username will be temporarily changed to match the date/time of your first known comment until you have a new compliant username. You will be prohibited from commenting if you do not change your name to comply with the site’s standards with your next attempt to comment. /~Rayne]

    • Rugger_9 says:

      AI is a model highly dependent upon its input and its structure. As charlie noted above the snot-nosed kids had no clue how to determine what programs were necessary, instead making a gross assumption about what evidence shows a program is important. Ass U Me. Then they never validated their assumptions.

      The problem became apparent when Elno published his list of savings and it was instantly torn apart by the intuitively obvious to a casual observer errors that riddled the report. No wonder they want secrecy.

      The Cabinet meeting also highlighted just how far the MAGA wing rules party decisions in Congress and the Cabinet. No elected politico wants to be primaried where MAGA hates them, and several examples exist even in the last budget brawl vote where the ‘concerned’ ones were dragged into line. If they continue voting for MAGA, we should call them what they are. Rubio should be looking for his bus soon.

      And as far as I know there is still NO basis for DOGE to have any pull in any decision.

  9. Matt Foley says:

    Leave the tough questions to BBBBBBB aka Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Body’s Boyfriend.

    BRIAN GLENN: Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Welcome, President Macron.

    I just want to touch upon, real quickly, the Harvard poll that came out that had – thank you very much – the Harvard poll that came out …

    PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yes.

    BRIAN GLENN:: … had you up nine-plus points. And all of your agenda that you ran on, you’re accomplishing that. You’ve got the support of the American people, including stopping the war in Ukraine. If you can comment on the latest Harvard poll, I’d appreciate that.

  10. earlofhuntingdon says:

    Saying that Marco Rubio approved every decision is certainly scapegoating, using Rubio as a cutout for the work of others with more political clout and/or who want less visibility and accountability.

    It’s also nonsense, in the manner of the health insurer’s nonsense, when it says it denied your claim – after thorough review. The “review” by qualified staff took about 1.2 seconds, which means the rubber stamp barely hit the page before the next file hit the desk for it’s thorough review. It’s fraud. As Marcy has laid out at length, Rubio could not possibly do all this, but he’s the one Trump-Musk have staked out like a goat.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Every barn needs a lightning rod. If Rubio is sacrificed to the T. Rex, they’ll have to find another goat.

      • Ginevra diBenci says:

        And they’re not gonna get a 99-0 confirmation vote in the Senate the next time. They must know that.

  11. Old Rapier says:

    That ritual self humiliation is the coin of the realm is certainly a wonder of the age but expecting anything other than Bambi from Secretary of State Bambi is a fools errand.

  12. Matt Foley says:

    Measles cases averaging 50 per month this year vs. 25 per month last year, per CDC data.

    Shh, don’t tell RFK.

    • P J Evans says:

      The FDA was supposed to meet with pharma to decide which flu strains go into next fall’s vaccines. That meeting got cancelled, no reason available.
      Pharma needs 6 months to get the vaccines made.

      • Gacyclist says:

        They’re also reevaluating whether to continue to buy moderna’s bird flu vaccine. The trump/rfk regime will be a great opportunity for infectious disease pandemics.

      • Konny_2022 says:

        Rubella is most dangerous in pregnant women. From the Wikipedia article:

        Rubella can cause congenital rubella syndrome in the newborn, this being the most severe sequela of rubella. The syndrome (CRS) follows intrauterine infection by the rubella virus and comprises cardiac, cerebral, ophthalmic, and auditory defects.[17] It may also cause prematurity, low birth weight, neonatal thrombocytopenia, anemia, and hepatitis. The risk of major defects in organogenesis is highest for infection in the first trimester. CRS is the main reason a vaccine for rubella was developed.[18]

        80–90% of mothers who contract rubella within the critical first trimester have either a miscarriage or a stillborn baby.[11] If the fetus survives the infection, it can be born with severe heart disorders (patent ductus arteriosus being the most common), blindness, deafness, or other life-threatening organ disorders. The skin manifestations are called “blueberry muffin lesions”.[18]

        That’s why rubella vaccination is recommended for women who want to get a child and have no antibodies from a previous infection.

    • Matt Foley says:

      Latest from CDC

      U.S. Cases in 2025 as of Feb. 27

      Total cases
      164
      Age
      Under 5 years: 55 (34%)
      5-19 years: 79 (48%)
      20+ years: 29 (18%)
      Age unknown: 1 (1%)
      Vaccination Status
      Unvaccinated or Unknown: 95%
      One MMR dose: 3%
      Two MMR doses: 2%

      2024 cases were 285, so this year’s annualized rate is 3.5 times higher.

  13. originalK says:

    Government spending data isn’t hidden. There is not a need for AI.

    If there is any AI, it would have, like Project 2025, been designed during 2021-2025 based on knowledge of the systems gained 2016-2020. Amy Gleason would probably be able to speak to that, as would others whose names have come up in relation to her role as DOGE admin (ex. Brad Smith – The American Prospect).

    As someone formerly in tech, with contract positions in corporations, gov’t and non-profits (and still as a volunteer) cruising around, looking for data and analyzing it is not hard – if you are given access to it.

    Implementing useful tools with data (to gather it and use it for some real purpose) OTOH is hard To start, most programs are built on a “buggy” foundation, next one has to be constantly concerned about security (so that data that is so easy for you to maintain and access isn’t open to everyone unless you want it to be), and last it has to be analyzed with meaning & knowledge that AI doesn’t provide unless AI is implemented to do so. The gov’t is a champ at gathering data, and it used to be a champ at keeping it secure, and so far DOGE has only given indications that knowledge and meaning are lost to them or are just fuel for lies and trolling (i.e. millions of people over 100 y.o. receiving social security.)

  14. observiter says:

    I think RFK, himself, should go to the (Texas etc.) measles locations and talk directly (in the same room and closely) with (unvaccinated) infected children about how they shouldn’t worry about acquiring autism.

  15. observiter says:

    Musk is untouchable. He’s the richest man in the world (yes?). Who’s going to sue him? He doesn’t even appear concerned about his companies. It seems he can do whatever he wants. The strategists behind Trump made a good selection there. They seem to be hitting the ball out of the ballpark. Where are the strategists who have the smarts, creativity, passion, knowledge, backbone and courage to confront this David and Goliath type of story.

    • skyscraper says:

      Hear me out.

      There’s a scenario that fits the Elon-adjacent facts pretty well: He’s been diagnosed with an incurable disease, has at most single digits of years remaining and he’s working to take us down with him.

      Probably not, but just the fact than one person would have the resources to implement something along those lines should raise some concerns.

  16. PD-Japan says:

    Following up on Molly Picther’s comment : there is a call for an economic strike tomorrow, Friday the 28th. Don’t buy anything. And following tomorrow’s action, a No Amazon week from the 7th to the 14th with a general strike on the 14th. The group calling for these actions seems to be called “Resist Tyranny.”

    • PD-Japan says:

      Oops, I just checked Resist Tyranny on the web, a group with that moniker, actually, Operation Resist Tyranny, is a reactionary group, so I do not know who is behind these calls for economic strikes.

        • harpie says:

          Yes. More about that:

          Friday’s No-Shopping ‘Economic Blackout’ Is Everywhere Online — And Experts Have Thoughts A Feb. 28 grassroots campaign is calling for a no-shopping boycott on all major retailers. Here’s why (and if it will actually work). https://www.huffpost.com/entry/economic-blackout-boycott_l_67c0a343e4b070266329379b
          Monica Torres Feb 27, 2025, 05:52 PM EST

          […] The Friday, one-day “economic blackout” is being organized by the nonpartisan People’s Union USA group that meditation teacher John Schwartz started. His posts about a no-shopping blackout on Instagram and TikTok under the handle “TheOneCalledJai” have gone viral in recent days. […]

      • Rayne says:

        I’m going to put my foot down about promoting events without providing adequate supporting information — basics, like who, what, why, when, where, how. We do not need commenters, especially people with scanty comment histories like yours, encouraging community members to participate in poorly organized events by sketchy groups which may lead to serious complications.

        People need to wake the fuck up and recognize while resistance is absolutely necessary, it should be done with more consciousness than the gut reflexivity Trump and Musk are using on our government.

  17. LaMissy! says:

    Now I understand why Little Marco looked nauseated at the veneration of King Trump (which phrase compels me to hear Steve Martin singing King Tut!).

    Andrea Cabral is a former Sheriff of Suffolk County (MA) as well as the former Secretary of Public Safety. I happened to catch her today on a podcast with our local public radio station where she was spitting bullets with regard to Robert’s decision. She’s a Democrat, but quite a moderate one.

    If you care to listen:
    https://www.wgbh.org/podcasts/boston-public-radio/best-of-bpr-2-27-on-the-courts-with-andrea-cabral-oscars-preview-with-james-bennett-ii

  18. harpie says:

    https://bsky.app/profile/joshtpm.bsky.social/post/3lj7di4bihc2h
    February 27, 2025 at 9:14 PM

    First of many, but here we have a completely manufactured criminal investigation. One career prosecutor already resigned over it. Goal is simply to claw back $20 billion in Biden era climate money. Open and shut corruption.

    2/ Very important here that Citibank appears to be extra-legally locked down the funds at the behest of the Trump administration. It’s so transparently corrupt judge wouldn’t sign off on a freeze.

    3/ We learn here that Emil Bove, who’s emerging as Trump’s point man for corrupt legal schemes tried to get another US Atty’s office to empanel a grand jury. But got refused. Lots afoot here. [WaPo link]

    Links to:
    FBI investigating Trump EPA claims of fraud in $20B Biden grant fund
    While career prosecutors in two U.S. attorney offices and a U.S. judge balked at a court-ordered freeze, Citibank has locked down billions without explanation // Washington Post 2/27/25

    • harpie says:

      https://bsky.app/profile/bradheath.bsky.social/post/3lj7buyriis25
      February 27, 2025 at 8:45 PM

      DC U.S. Attorney Ed Martin personally asked a judge for authorization to seize funds related to a Biden administration green program. The judge said they failed to show a reasonable belief that a crime occurred.

      This is extraordinarily unusual. [screenshot]

      Text from the screenshot:

      Interim U.S, attorney Ed Martin then personally submitted a seizure warrant application without any other prosecutors in his office that was rejected by a U.S. magistrate judge in D.C. who found that the request and accompanying FBI agent affidavit failed to establish a reasonable belief that a crime occurred, three of the people said.

    • harpie says:

      https://bsky.app/profile/kathleenclark.bsky.social/post/3lj7edvauuc2p
      February 27, 2025 at 9:29 PM

      Just realized that the Washington Post published former
      Asst US Attorney Denise Cheung’s letter of resignation: [link]

      Text from the screenshot:

      wanted. As I shared with you, at this juncture, based upon the evidence I have reviewed, I still do not believe that there is sufficient evidence to issue the letter you described, including sufficient evidence to tell the bank that there is probable cause to seize the particular accounts identified. Because I believed that I lacked the legal authority to issue such a letter, I told you that I would not do so. You then asked for my resignation. I remain committed to the oath that I took, and it has been an honor of a lifet me to be an AUSA in this Office. I know that all of the AUSAs in the Office will continue to uphold that pledge they have taken, following the facts and the law and complying with their moral, ethical, and legal obligations.
      Sincerely,
      Denise Cheung

      • Memory hole says:

        Has any Project Veritas story ever been accurate?
        It seems they create the chaos they desire, the media reports it as if it’s real, and they get their desired results. Then it comes out that oops, we fell another doctored video again.

        Why can’t it just be reported “Project Veritas, a well known propaganda outfit with a long history of doctoring alleged undercover videos…..”

      • harpie says:

        In the screenshot:

        Homeland Security @ DHSgov Feb 26
        EagleEdMartin, please investigate. [Xitter link]

        U.S. Attorney Ed Martin @ USAEdMartin 23h
        Duly noted. We are on it.

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