DOGE barking at all three branches

Politico

14-03-2025

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The Trump administration is scrambling today to respond to a late Thursday court ruling requiring officials to reinstate fired workers at 18 federal agencies. Early signs point to a dual strategy – comply for now, while fighting on in court.
That could leave fired workers in limbo. Even if they are brought back, they may be let go again, once the administration either wins in higher courts or reforms its firing process to comport with the lower court procedural requirements for reducing the workforce.
But the last 24 hours have also been remarkable for another reason. We have seen the Department of Government Efficiency intersect with all three branches of government, creating disruption at every level.
Consider:
–The court ruling Thursday night by U.S. District Judge JAMES BREDAR, a Baltimore-based judge appointed by former President BARACK OBAMA, was the latest and broadest to push back against DOGE-inspired cuts, expanding another judge's ruling earlier that day that applied to six agencies.
The Trump administration is already saying it will appeal and wage a public relations campaign against 'activists who dress up in black robes,' as one administration official put it to Jake. That is likely to further fuel the administration's broader clash with the judicial branch that Trump has often cast in partisan terms.
– Democrats are likely to cave on a bill to keep the government open later today, suffering a rare loss in a spending fight because Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER does not want to let DOGE leader ELON MUSK 'expedite his destruction of key government programs and services' or allow President DONALD TRUMP to grab 'the keys to the city, the state and the country.'
That decision to retreat in the name of DOGE, articulated in a Thursday night floor speech, has already reverberated into a fight that is further tearing apart the Democratic Party over how to respond to Trump generally, and specifically, his efforts to dismantle the federal workforce. Trump was quick to declare victory, sarcastically praising Schumer in a social media post for his ''guts' and courage!'
Democrats used to routinely win these spending fights, largely based on their defense of government services. Now, they are losing because the administration has been playing offense on the same issue.
–The Trump administration is now reviewing detailed plans to cut jobs that Trump required agency heads to submit after a 30-day review period. An official told Jake that most, if not all, agencies had complied by Thursday's self-imposed deadline.
The reductions could have a dramatic impact on government services and the size of the federal workforce, on top of layoffs and firings that have already slashed tens of thousands of people. But the administration is so far keeping mum on specifics. White House press secretary KAROLINE LEAVITT said in a statement that 'the Trump Administration will communicate them directly to the American people,' after they are enacted.
Leavitt and other officials said the court rulings would have no impact on their efforts to execute those plans, however. Whatever the administration does next is likely to wind up in court again.
But the cumulative effect of DOGE, just in the last 24 hours, has been greater than almost anyone would have imagined when the idea was first conceived during the campaign as what sounded like a run-of-the-mill government commission.
MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at [e-mail].
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POTUS PUZZLER
Which president opened the first cherry blossom festival in Washington?
Musk Radar
DICTATOR DIALOGUE: On Thursday Musk reposted a message on X saying 'Stalin, Mao, and Hitler didn't murder millions of people. Their public sector employees did,' USA Today's SWAPNA VENUGOPAL RAMASWAMY reports. The repost now appears to be deleted.
Musk's repost drew intense reactions from a labor union and the Anti-Defamation League, among others.
The repost comes on the heels of Inauguration Day, when Musk made a hand gesture widely interpreted as a Nazi salute. He has dismissed the connection.
Agenda Setting
SEAL THE DEAL: The head of the U.S. Postal Service told lawmakers on Thursday that he has reached an agreement with the DOGE team, allowing the service to help in 'identifying and achieving further efficiencies,' New York Times' TIM BALK reports.
Musk and Trump have suggested the service should be privatized. But so far, DOGE has not targeted the Postal Service's roughly 635,000 workers. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a letter to lawmakers that he signed an agreement with Musk on Wednesday. DeJoy assumed his role during Trump's first administration.
Knives Out
SUMMERTIME SADNESS: Federal agencies will begin vacating hundreds of offices across the U.S. this summer under DOGE, the Associated Press's RYAN J. FOLEY, JOSHUA GOODMAN AND CHRISTOPHER L. KELLER report.
DOGE's list of canceled real estate leases is on it's public website. But the Associated Press obtained documents detailing when those cancellations will start to take effect. The document lists dozens of federal office and building leases that will end by June 30.
Many of the agencies – including the IRS, the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture – face more than 20 lease cancellations in all.
The alarm bells on these sweeping cancellations have started ringing as some lawmakers and agencies have appealed to DOGE to exempt certain government buildings.
KELLY DITCHES THE TESLA: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) is getting rid of his Tesla auto after publicly debating the move earlier this week 'This is going to be my last trip in this car,' Kelly said in a post on a social media site owned by … Musk.
Kelly called the car a 'rolling billboard' for Musk and said he couldn't drive it without thinking about the damage DOGE has brought on the government, including the firing of veterans, our ALI BIANCO reports. 'Elon Musk kind of turned out to be an asshole, and I don't want to drive a car built and designed by an asshole.'
WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT
CUTTING CONFIDANT: Private equity investor ANTONIO GRACIAS, a longtime friend of Musk, has taken a new role in the Social Security Administration, New York Times' THEODORE SCHLEIFER, KATE CONGER and RYAN MAC report.
Gracias has previously served on the boards of Musk's businesses, Tesla and SpaceX. The duo's relationship reaches way back – around two decades – and Gracias has since become one of Musk's most trusted advisers.
'The involvement of such a close ally with the Social Security Administration suggests that Mr. Musk has made overhauling the agency a priority; in recent weeks, the tech billionaire has regularly talked about supposed fraud inside the system,' the NYT writes.
What We're Reading
Musk's entitlement remarks show Trumpworld can't keep its story straight (Austin Sarat for The Guardian)
Elon Musk's Tesla says it could be targeted by retaliatory tariffs (Ramishah Maruf for CNN)
POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER
The first ever Cherry Blossom Festival was held in 1935, when former first lady ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, in collaboration with the District of Columbia commissioners and civic groups, put on the show. The ceremony, featuring a special concert by the Marine Corps band and an array of dances, was held between the two famous cherry trees planted by former first lady HELEN TAFT in 1912, when Japan gifted the trees to America. The festival also featured an air show, parade and fireworks display at the Washington Monument.
PS: We're a week out from cherry blossoms.