“Definitely never seen this type of response to a FOIA request,” quipped one journalist.
Why not post the actual CNN article? https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/18/politics/opm-privacy-team-fired/index.html
CNN is sympathetic to fascists. I’m happy to not give them a click.
Could use the Wayback Machine
Common dreams headline is funnier and more succinct.
One thing I would like to say for people who aren’t familiar and won’t read the article:
Every federal agency has its own FOIA team, in this case the OPM FOIA team was slaughtered and flayed for sport. It’s possible other agency’s FOIA teams were removed, but also more likely that they still exist. This wasn’t a blanket death of all FOIA, just the death of arguably the most important FOIA team
OPM is the most important? I don’t even know that acronym
I would argue FOIA requests on the intelligence community is the most important
OPM is the most important in the “keeps the gears of the government moving” sense. It’s basically the federal government’s HR department. Without OPM, no federal workers get hired, get paid, etc… It’s not glamorous or politically charged work, which is why you rarely hear about them. But they recently hit the news because Elon kicked their doors in and illegally installed his own servers to capture personal data about every single federal worker.
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Intelligence Communities work with classified stuff more than anyone. You may only FOIA unclassified stuff so the information and documents you can FOIA is limited
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OPM is the most important at the moment as they are the office primarily under attack and being abused by Elon Musk and DOGE. They are the vehicle that Musk is using and abusing to try and destroy all Federal workers across every agency.
FOIA requests of the intelligence community is still super important. We only learn about the illegal shit they do about 30 years later, but I would argue that’s extremely important for historians and preventing it from happening in the future
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They are literally fucking up entire US government.
That’s the point
Yep:
“I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” — Grover Norquist
That was 25 years ago. It’s always been their plan. They want to dismantle democracy and replace it with a corporatocracy, oligarchy, or similar authoritarian structure.
No. They want to make it small enough to fit in a woman’s uterus because that’s all they give a shit about regulating
Americans wouldn’t let that happen.
Right, Americans?
When it’s not single digits and ice storming in a couple weeks I think people are going to take to the streets. Everyone I talk to is pissed except the unreachable morons.
All the maga 2nd amendment bible beaters that voted for the talking Cheeto are too busy kicking their wife and jerking off to pics of trump to worry about anything.
Of course! Isn’t this situation what the second amendment is for? 🤔
It’s the situation they claim it’s for, but no it isn’t. The second amendment is to have a militia ready to defend the nation in case of invasion. Militias were the norm at the time, not standing professional armies, which the newly founded tiny union of states certainly didn’t expect to have. That time came and went though and some people carried the corpse of the second amendment and turned it into something else that it clearly isn’t.
There’s one more step that brings it back to the same place. The thinking behind standing armies is that they would be used for tyranny. The reason for loosely connected militias is that there isn’t a singular guy who is Commander-in-Chief of all of them. There was even attempts at a militia Navy, which is a hilarious idea to me (“Got my musket and my rowboat. Off to defend the motherland!” Rows up to 28-gun British heavy frigate)
It’s not a practical system of defense in the modern age. It barely was back then.
To be fair, it wasn’t some people but the majority opinion of Chief Justice Antonin Scalia in DC v. Heller (2008) that swept away the militia part as a mere “prefatory clause”. 😔
“I don’t want to abolish government. I just want to have the ability to abolish the government on a whim. Whether the government just so happens to be abolished or not after that is up to the direction of the wind and whether the sun gets in my eyes.”
Part of the GOP plan. First fuck up government so completely it doesn’t work, then scream that government doesn’t work and should be defunded and shut down.
Exactly. Destroying the government is thier wet dream.
Well, not all of the government. Just the parts that could hold them accountable for anything they do.
I think at this point, it’s all of the government. If it can be privatized, why wouldn’t they push to eliminate that sector of the government and then install their own corporate entities?
Because the central guy can’t control those corporate entities directly. He primarily wields political power, not financial power. There’s a tension between the two.
Musk (financial power) is currently winning out over Steve Bannon (political power). Musk doing that Nazi salute brought a lot of MAGA people underneath him who were otherwise getting worried that Musk was the wrong kind of authoritarian.
Financial power might win in the end, and the reason is that Trump is a doddering old man. This is unique; it’s not quite following the same script as Nazi Germany, where Hitler was relatively young and still had the same mental faculties he always did (even if those faculties were twisted).
This is unique; it’s not quite following the same script as Nazi Germany, where Hitler was relatively young and still had the same mental faculties he always did (even if those faculties were twisted).
Don’t get it wrong: Hitler was fucking stupid. Not quite on Trump’s level, but he was extremely arrogant, pushed his shitty book during his reign just to earn a lot of money, didn’t listen to his generals, and got the people around him so scared of bad opinions that they all turned into Yes Men.
All you need in this world to achieve power is overconfidence and enough money to enchant a following.
Dumb, but he was like, there.
Just look at that press conference with Musk. Trump looks defeated and tired. Musk’s crotchspawn mumbles something to Trump that was probably insulting, and he’s just, like, whatever. Musk was completely in charge. Hitler didn’t do big appearances where he let some big business leader do all the talking while looking like he wants to take a nap.
What these techbro assholes don’t get it that cyberpunk is supposed to be a warning. Not a guide.
Yeah, the first Trump term was the cutesy “let’s get a lil richer u guys” stuff. This is the real shit. The first purges of the past often didn’t involve death–just shoving out academics, government employees, disloyal party members, etc.
Sure, they’ll privatize what they can, but they need a way to keep those corporate entities in line. They don’t want to give up their own power, and their power lies in their position in government. If they go too far, they risk being thrown under the bus themselves. They’ll need to leave the treasury intact, at least, along with some kind of enforcement arm. Maybe we’ll see some drastic restructuring of the military soon.
There is more power in being a billionaire than there is with being in a position of government. Trump is a useful idiot, but even he didn’t actually want to win the (first) election. He wanted the fame, and wanted to continue pushing this idea of “well, if I won then…”, as its own media circuit and tours. Instead, he actually won, and it disappointed him.
Elon doesn’t want to be a government employee permanently. He wants to be there just long enough that he can siphon the nation’s money into his pockets.
The real power is in wealth, because the government is powerless.
I think the driving forces are more likely sociopathic corporate interests that want deregulation and foreign adversaries who want to see the US government dismantled (and allies driven away, and growing social division)
You mean the GOP and their supporters?
Not entirely true.
All these firings are likely going to result in classaction lawsuits, and the judiciary (so far) has been very responsive to Trump’s power grabs. You’ll recall they shut him down on DOGE’s Treasury incursion, birthright citizenship, and the funding freeze. (Among others)
It may seem like everything’s fucked up, but that’s only because your social media feed and executive orders create chaos faster than the judiciary can check it.
You may want a more recent news update before you claim the judiciary has been responsive. Judge Tanya Chutkan, the same one who ruled against insurrection charges “because we don’t prosecute sitting presidents”, just blocked the multi-state lawsuit requesting DOGE be restrained.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/18/politics/doge-temporary-restraining-order-chutkan/index.html
Yep, I know.
Doesn’t change facts. The judiciary is, by and large, clocking these unconstitutional power grabs. It just takes time, and you all are doomscrolling and pretending checks and balances no longer apply despite the abundant display to the contrary.
Yeah that’s why I’m trying to take a more passive approach and only monitor the situation *gestures vaguely*.
I can’t affect anything that happens at the national level anyway, so all I can do is be on the lookout for harm to myself or my loved ones and do my best to mitigate it.
We have FOUR MORE YEARS of this, and after that its going to take decades to get back to where we were two months ago. So, buckle in, I hope you weren’t hoping for any kind of societal progess or innovation.
You’re never getting back to where you were two months ago. The United States’ elevated position on the geopolitical stage was due to being the last major power left standing after the second world war, and it’s maintained that position mainly through inertia. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
We have FOUR MORE YEARS of this
Not necessarily. Clinton, Dubya, Obama, and Trump all went into office with Congress and lost it at the mid-terms, and as we saw with the Muslim ban, Trump’s a bit of a bitch when the judiciary stands up to him. It’s just a matter of time until these attempts start to slow down.
The downside is that Dems rule as conservatives too, so it’s likely whatever the judiciary doesn’t reverse will be permanent.
But, as we saw with similar activities in the McCarthyist era, the damage is reversible. (But I know that’s not much consolation, but it’s consolation to me to know that this isn’t the first time someone has tried to brute force fascism in government and been stopped.)
I don’t think you realize just how long it takes to hire federal employees, or reconstitute entire agencies (like CFPB).
tens of thousands of people forced out, thousands of research grants and projects canceled, hundreds of programs stifled…
this is the end of the federal government as we know it, and it will take a generation (20+ yrs) of back to back Democrat administrations to rebuild it. that’s not going to happen.
the oligarchs won dude. kids growing up today will never know how much has been lost. the corporate media will make sure all they know is ‘we’ve always been at war with eastasia’’
If by “corporate media” you mean Hollywood, they’re in the process of collapsing, too.
no, i do not mean Hollywood… that’s weird… why would anyone think corporate media means what, marvel movies?
I’m talking about Time Warner, Sinclair, CNN, Netflix, Comcast, Amazon, NBC, Fox, every single source of online professionally written articles, video segments, the evening news, and mainstream platform owned by someone with a net worth exceeding $1 billion dollars. the corporate media, ya know, the ones who manufacture the consent as described in “Manufacturing Consent” or a dozen different media criticism books available at your local library or on youtube (if you prefer).
that’s not going to happen
Possibly, but I know it’s already happened at least once in our history. We can speculate about the future all we want, but the past is a helpful guide.
I’m hoping that too. either way, I’m not advocating hopelessness or doomerism. I’ll be working harder than ever this year to decouple my life from corporations and govt reliance. community building, strengthening friendships, helping others when I can. it’s going to be a long road ahead and we won’t survive as isolated individuals.
That’s a good goal. I live solo and never had children and don’t want a relationship, so for me, things are fairly simple. It’s nice to not have responsibilities when the wealthy class is trying to seize more power.
I’m just doing what I can for my neighbors in my own little corner of the world. No matter how bad things get, you can always do good with your own two hands.
Clinton, Dubya, Obama, and Trump all went into office with Congress and lost it at the mid-terms, and as we saw with the Muslim ban,
Lost what at the mid-terms? Congress? You think he needs Congress to do all of this shit? Have you been paying attention?
There is no rule-of-law. No structure to these systems. It’s just pure defiance at whatever “social norms” are holding this house of cards together.
Nobody is putting up a reasonable fight with these EOs, so they just happen. Elon just wanders into government buildings and systems without criminal charges. No police action. No hard punishments.
And whatever fighting back is occurring in the courts, where we will never see a settlement before the courts themselves get dismantled before our eyes.
We’re fucked. Stop using past history as a guide.
Lost what at the mid-terms? Congress? You think he needs Congress to do all of this shit? Have you been paying attention?
Nope. But losing Congress will make it harder. We saw this with his first term.
There is no rule-of-law.
That’s factually incorrect. I provided several examples above.
Nobody is putting up a reasonable fight with these EOs,
Again, wrong.
We’re fucked
Totally, man. That’s why the funding freeze was reversed in less than 24 hours after a lawsuit was filed. You need to turn off the TV, stop doomscrolling, breathe, and maybe watch some alternative media.
Stop using past history as a guide.
You may need to start.
Totally, man. That’s why the funding freeze was reversed in less than 24 hours after a lawsuit was filed.
You think no damage has taken place? We’re in a thread where FOIA admitted that most of its staff has been laid off. They are trying to get rid of as many departments as they can.
Throughout all of this, I want you to understand one thing: It is easier to destroy than it is to create!
Things can be destroyed instantly. It takes no time to fire an entire department and wipe away centuries of institutional knowledge. It doesn’t matter if a lawsuit for a few of these managed to piece through the smoldering ruins and rescue what they could.
Trump himself even had a hard time trying to “unfire” a bunch of nuclear weapons workers.
You need to turn off the TV, stop doomscrolling, breathe, and maybe watch some alternative media.
Stop assuming what I do and don’t do. You aren’t me, you don’t know who I am, what my political trappings are, and what my habits are.
You may need to start.
Open your eyes. All of this behavior is unprecedented. You can’t just reference previous years and expect to be a guide.
Congress is too busy shitting its pants, while filling out the paperwork to do so, to matter. I think this opinion piece put it best:
And so we find ourselves in the absurd position where Democratic leadership, in the form of Jeffries and Schumer, treats an ongoing coup like an inconvenient scheduling conflict. Their response to democracy’s crisis amounts to little more than checking Robert’s Rules of Order to see if authoritarianism requires a two-thirds majority.
While Rome burns, they’re busy drafting strongly-worded letters to the arsonists, pausing only to scold the citizens who dare suggest using the fire extinguishers. Their position would be merely comedic if it weren’t so catastrophically dangerous—like watching someone respond to a home invasion by suggesting the burglar fill out a visitor’s form.
All these firings are likely going to result in classaction lawsuits, and the judiciary (so far) has been very responsive to Trump’s power grabs. You’ll recall they shut him down on DOGE’s Treasury incursion, birthright citizenship, and the funding freeze. (Among others)
Yeah, good luck with that in 2-4 years, when those lawsuits pan out. And then they get appealed to the Supreme Court, where the GOP-majority lapdogs say “yessir” and rule in favor of chaos.
We couldn’t even get Trump convicted of criminal charges in time. What makes you think the judiciary is going to save us?
GOP-majority lapdogs say “yessir”
Historically speaking, on some issues yes, and on some issues no.
They weren’t a rubber stamp in his first term, most notably on health care, but we’ll see. The culture’s different now and no one can really say how the lawsuits will go, but SCOTUS can’t take every case that’s going to come through.
The judiciary has entered temporary restraining orders. No one has declared his power grab straight out illegal yet.
And when they do he’ll just ignore it. The courts are dogs with no teeth.
No, they are NOT literally fucking the US government. They are figuratively fucking up the entire US government.
Literally fucking up the US government would be some kind of orgy at the Senate. Or a bukkae of The Statue of Liberty.
protip: if you’re gonna criticise another’s words, make sure you don’t make any typos. Just sayin’
Typos are less of a concern than spreading misinformation. Saying someone is doing something literally when they are doing it figuratively is dangerous misinformation.
This is very common for Muskolini, any press contacts are often let go, makes obtaining damning information impossible/improbable. None of his companies staff a PR department as far as I know. Why anybody puts up with this guy and his companies is beyond me.
Muskolini
Sounds like a pasta. A shitty pasta.
The word Duce (a title used by Mussolini - il duce) and Doge, have the same Latin etymology
The word is from the Venetian language, reaching English via French. Doge, along with the related English word duke and the Italian duce, duca (masculine) and duchessa (feminine) all descend from the Latin dux, meaning either “spiritual leader” or “military commander”.
No, absolutely not. I’m sorry, but that’s a bullshit false cognate that gives Musk way too much credit. The reality is much simpler, and stupider: it’s just a meme misspelling of “dog” that, even in its initial conception, was canonically coined by an idiot.
The etymology of “dog” is admittedly a little mysterious, but I can’t find anything at all to suggest it’s even slightly related to “dux.”
Huh til doge was from HSR
It is irony at its finest.
Like rain on your wedding day.
He’s right in that there’s a word doge (as in Doge of Venice) that matches what he said. I don’t think I’d consider it a false cognate, but a true cognate to a different word with an unrelated etymology. They just happen to be spelt and pronounced identically.
I don’t think I’d consider it a false cognate, but a true cognate to a different word with an unrelated etymology.
That’s literally the definition of “false cognate.”
No, a false cognate is a word with similar sound and meaning but different origin/etymology.
Doge (of Venice) - duke - dux - duca - duce
All true cognates, he’s perfectly correct there.
There’s no similarity to the meaning of the doge meme at all. The word sounds the same and is spelled the same, but has a different meaning. Therefore not a false cognate. You might get to a false cognate if you make the connection that DOGE (government organization) is somehow a mid-level ruler of something, but as you say that’s probably giving Musk too much credit.
It could be a false friend though.
You might get to a false cognate if you make the connection that DOGE (government organization) is somehow a mid-level ruler of something, but as you say that’s probably giving Musk too much credit.
Right. That’s the connection the guy I replied to was trying to make, that’s what I called a false cognate, and you’ve now agreed with me that I was correct in doing so.
I never said that “Doge (of venice)” was a false cognate of duce/duke/dux. I said that DOGE of the fucking shiba inu meme/edgelord government wrecking agency was a false cognate of it.
Tangent: I believe I was taught in school false friends were cognates. Learned that on here a month ago.
Mom and dad are fighting again 😟
They were already doing this in the first Trump term. They started clearing out a lot of the science-focused agencies, telling numerous agencies they couldn’t release ANY statements without approval from on-high. That was literally almost a decade ago now.
Same thing happened with the Twitter takeover.
All the official, PR/Communications staff were fired or quit, nobody had any idea what any actual policy changes were real or not.
Holy shit, I called it.
I thought they’d have Congress do it, but this was more efficient, so yay?
Who needs Congress when the supreme Court is behind you?
They already know the Supreme Court is too slow. By the time it lands on their desk, the damage was already done a long time ago.
And the supreme Court will also side with them anyways. It’s been stacked conservative over the years on purpose. When you lose the courts you lose the country. Look at what has happened with India and Pakistan over the years with their meddling with their legal systems.
So it seems like CNN doesn’t follow the news of the day do they? To my recollection Trump had DOGE actions covered under the Presidential Records system so they are classified for a number of years and not allowed to be requested by FOIA requests until that time passes. So as of now their request would just be denied anyway.
You know, Totally Transparent Government™©® things… Definitely not doing anything wrong that needs to be hidden right?
Slight clarification, presidential records are subject to foia a few years after the presidency. But yes, transparent in the way that Elon “jail CNN for badmouthing doge” musk is a free speech absolutist.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) applies to the Presidential Records Act (PRA) five years after the President has left office.
https://www.archives.gov/news/topics/presidential-records-act
EDIT: thinking about this more, you can definitely foia the clearances he had from SpaceX contracts. You know, back when he smoked weed on Joe Rogans podcast and got absolutely no consequences.
Thanks for the clarification! I’ll make an edit for that
I mean, next next Democratic president can declassify them (that is, if there is a next election)
💩 coming soon
🎶 Doo doo doo🎶 its an oligarchy 🎶 doo doo doo 🎶 it’s happening right now 🎶 tell your friends.
I’m confused with the “doo doo doo”, so I’m just gonna read your comment to the tune of “baby shark”
Here I’ll add the notes emoji
I appreciate your enthusiasm, but this isnt new. The US was founded by Oligarchs. It always has been an oligarchy.
What’s new is the slip into fascism. We haven’t seen that since between the two world wars (read Smedly Butler)
Removed by mod
Filter me too. I don’t want arrogant pricks to think they they can have only the conversation they want off of others work.
What’s this? I can have what ever conversations I’d like. You’d fit right in with the “free speech absolutionist crowd” why don’t you join them.
Yeah and you can also get backlash for it. You aren’t immune to it.
Until you block everyone and then you will just miss them talking behind your back you still have to deal with responses to your actions.You are being a jerk. So block me too. Cause I won’t block you but I will call you out for being a jerk as I see it.
This was planned and on purpose.
How convenient, considering one of the extremely few checks we have available on DOGE destructive powers is FOIA requests.
It’s hard to keep track of everything getting killed.
With this one now the transparency they’re touting so much has been cut off at source. What next?
