Latest news with #DOGE-fueled
Axios
02-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Trump administration turns out in SF
Top cyber officials in the Trump administration are among those here in San Francisco this week — though the NSA and Cyber Command are both absent after President Trump unexpectedly fired Gen. Timothy Haugh this month. Typically, the U.S. government's entire roster of cyber officials attends the RSA Conference to meet with industry stakeholders, but it was unclear until last week what presence — if any — Trump's team would have. Why it matters: DOGE-fueled workforce and budget cuts have created uncertainty about what role the federal government intends to play in protecting U.S. organizations and citizens from malicious hackers. Zoom in: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will be on the RSAC main stage today talking about her cybersecurity priorities and the Trump administration's accomplishments ahead of its 100th day in office. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is also bringing its city-themed cyberattack simulation — which it debuted at the DEF CON hacker conference in August — to this week's conference. The simulation follows how a ransomware attack on a local hospital would impact a fictional city. Michael Garcia, associate chief of policy at CISA, spoke at a panel yesterday about responding to critical infrastructure attacks. Richard Evanchec, an FBI section chief, was also on that panel. Some officials at CISA and the Office of the National Cyber Director, including nominees, are also in town to take meetings on the sidelines of RSAC with industry executives, Axios has learned. Yes, but: The NSA and Cyber Command canceled their previously scheduled public appearances, and spokespeople for both agencies confirmed none of their officials are attending. Between the lines: Major cuts at CISA and a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into former CISA director Chris Krebs have rattled the industry's trust in the federal government.
Politico
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Politico
The Trump Cabinet nominee caught in the DOGE crossfire
PROTEST VOTE — Lori Chavez-DeRemer should be a cinch to confirm as secretary of Labor. The former Oregon congresswoman is liked by both unions and business interests and received a positive response from Democrats when her nomination was announced. If she'd gone through the confirmation process a month ago, or even two weeks ago, she may have sailed to confirmation with much of the Senate behind her. But the outlook for her has become cloudier as Trump tightens his grip on the federal government, his deputies carry out a rolling cascade of job cuts and Democrats settle into a battle stance against the president. The DOGE-fueled tumult across the federal government, combined with Trump's decision to hamstring an array of federal agencies tasked with policing labor law in both the public- and private-sectors, has left Democrats apoplectic and distrustful about his intentions toward workers. Many are now planning to protest by casting votes against the remaining Trump Cabinet nominees. It's created a scenario in which controversial nominees like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pete Hegseth — both of whom faced serious questions about their qualifications and character — end up in Trump's cabinet, while the comparatively squeaky-clean Chavez-DeRemer does not. 'I support her, but I'm not going to vote for her as long as President Trump is breaking the law and the Constitution,' Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley, a fellow Oregonian, said today. 'I think she's a good fit for the Republican administration in that role, but I'm not going to vote for any cabinet member while we have a president who is on the authoritarian tear.' In essence, Democrats are poised to spurn a nominee who just might be the best they were ever going to get from a Republican administration on labor issues — and who will likely be far more preferable than any alternative Trump would replace her with. It's a conundrum for a party that is facing dueling pressures — demands from the party's base to aggressively fight the White House while attempting to rebuild their sagging reputation with the American working class. The irony is that Chavez-DeRemer has one of the most relatable backgrounds of any nominee to Trump's cabinet. The daughter of a Teamster from California's Central Valley, she went to Cal State Fresno and tried her hand in local Oregon government before serving a single term in Congress. She's affluent, but her net worth pales in comparison to the collection of billionaires Trump has named to head other departments. Her family wealth is primarily due to her husband — a high school sweetheart — who made his fortune as an anaesthesiologist and investor. Chavez-DeRemer is different from Trump's other nominees in another important way. The only Republican in Oregon who made regular appearances at local Labor Day events, Chavez-DeRemer retained her connections to organized labor — a constituency Trump tried to make inroads with during the 2024 campaign, to some success. Yet that heterodox position towards organized labor was also the biggest knock against Chavez-DeRemer among conservatives. Republicans repeatedly pressed her about her prior support for the PRO Act — a suite of union-friendly labor law reforms that Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who led the confirmation hearing today as chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, derided as 'Democrats' cornerstone legislation.' 'Like President Trump, I believe our labor laws need to be updated and modernized to reflect today's workforce and the business environment,' she testified. 'But I do not believe the secretary of labor should write the laws.' In her own defense, Chavez-DeRemer cribbed a Trump-era aphorism — her co-sponsorship of the PRO Act was intended to be taken seriously, not literally. 'I wanted to be at that table,' she told committee members. 'I never want to be left out of a conversation where we can talk about the American worker and how important that is.' While Democrats may be sympathetic to that rhetoric, the problem is that Chavez-DeRemer — and the rest of the Cabinet — must deal with the blowback to Elon Musk, whose slashing and confrontational approach to the federal government bureaucracy loomed over today's hearing. Merkley and other Democrats have accused Trump, and Musk's DOGE initiative, of violating the Constitution. Today, Chavez-DeRemer faced questions about whether she would exert autonomy or push back against improper interference into the agency's workings. Democrats have already made symbolic protests against the confirmation of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, though the practical effect was minimal since Republicans were in lockstep behind nearly all of Trump's nominees. For Chavez-DeRemer, however, that support is not a given. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a HELP Committee member and no stranger to lonely stances that infuriate colleagues and the White House, indicated before the hearing that he and other GOP senators may not line up behind Chavez-DeRemer. It's created an opportunity, however slim, for Democrats to sink at least one of Trump's nominees. 'I met with her,' fellow Oregonian Sen. Ron Wyden — a Democrat — said today at the same time her hearing was underway. 'I'm gonna wait [to review] the hearing and make some decisions after I hear what she'll say.' Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@ Or contact tonight's authors at nniedzwiadek@ and nfertig@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @NickNiedz and @natsfert. What'd I Miss? — Trump attacks Zelenskyy as a 'dictator without elections' who duped U.S.: President Donald Trump continued to attack Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today, asserting in a social media post that the U.S. was duped into spending billions to help Ukraine defend itself following Russia's 2022 invasion — and himself seemingly threatening the country's existence. 'Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and 'TRUMP,' will never be able to settle,' the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. 'A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.' — State Department set to designate Latin American cartels, gangs as terrorist organizations: The U.S. State Department is moving to designate Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa Cartel and six other Latin American drug cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, according to an unpublished notice in the Federal Register posted today. The notice, which was issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and set to be officially published Thursday, suggests these groups have threatened the country's defense, international relations or economic interests. Many of these cartels — including Tren de Aragua and Sinaloa — have been engines for transnational drug trade that inundated some swaths of the country with illicit fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs. Some of these groups, like the Cartel del Golfo, have also been responsible for migrant smuggling, which the Trump administration has aimed to clamp down on. — Trump stuns Senate GOP with House budget endorsement: Republicans on Capitol Hill have long wanted President Donald Trump to weigh in on the strategic disputes that have divided the two chambers over how to pass his legislative agenda. But this is not what GOP senators had in mind. Trump's public call today for the adoption of a House-drafted budget framework — and the 'one big, beautiful bill' it sketches out — left Senate Republicans flat-footed and uncertain about the path forward. 'As they say, did not see that one coming,' Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after emerging from a morning huddle with his fellow GOP leaders. Trump, he confirmed, gave him no heads up that his Truth Social missive backing the House was coming. — Trump moves to kill congestion pricing in NYC: President Donald Trump moved to halt a controversial Manhattan toll plan today, throwing into doubt billions of dollars in financing for the region's mass transit system. Rescinding federal support for the tolls triggered immediate legal action against the Trump administration from backers of the tolls, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. In a social media post, Trump said 'CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!' The president's comments followed a more bureaucratic move by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to withdraw necessary approval of the New York tolls, which took effect in early January. — Judge says Trump administration made a 'mess' of plans for overseas USAID workers: A federal judge today said the Trump administration had created a 'mess' for overseas employees in the U.S. Agency for International Development by appearing to contradict its plans for those who opt to remain abroad rather than return to the United States amid efforts to dismantle the agency. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols' consternation comes as he considers whether to further extend his legal block on the Trump administration's plans to abruptly dismantle USAID — the agency responsible for administering billions of dollars in foreign assistance — and 'repatriate' thousands of workers living abroad within 30 days. He ordered the Justice Department to submit a new declaration by noon Thursday clarifying its position on overseas employees. Nichols is a Trump appointee. AROUND THE WORLD SNEAKING IN — Russian state-linked hacking groups have snuck into some Ukrainian military staffers' Signal messenger accounts to gain access to sensitive communications, Google said in a report today. Moscow-linked groups have found ways to couple victims' accounts to their own devices by abusing the messaging application 'linked devices' feature that enables a user to be logged in on multiple devices at the same time. In some cases, Google has found Russia's notorious, stealthy hacking group Sandworm (or APT44, part of the military intelligence agency GRU), to work with Russian military staff on the front lines to link Signal accounts on devices captured on the battlefield to their own systems, allowing the espionage group to keep tracking the communication channels. In other cases, hackers have tricked Ukrainians into scanning malicious QR codes that, once scanned, link a victim's account to the hacker's interface, meaning future messages will be delivered both to the victim and the hackers in real time. COALITION POLITICS — It's a quirk of German politics: Even though he's the strong odds-on favorite to become chancellor, Friedrich Merz is in for a nervous election night. If he's to have a strong grip on power after the Feb. 23 vote, he needs to be able to form a coalition he can work with. This requires Germany's smaller parties to suffer, and for some to suffer so much they won't even be represented in parliament. Merz has been pretty candid about the ideal scenario: His center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) must do 'so well in the election' that 'only one coalition partner is needed, definitely not two,' he said last year. Even better, he would have his pick of which single coalition partner to work with so he can play them off against one another. Although the CDU and its Bavarian sister, the Christian Social Union (CSU), are performing decently in opinion polls, they might not be doing as well as they need to. Here's a look at the potential fortunes of Germany's smaller parties, and how that could determine the next chancellor's fate. COMING TO AMERICA — French President Emmanuel Macron is coming to Washington next week, national security adviser Mike Waltz said today. Macron called for an emergency 'informal' meeting with world leaders just days ago in Paris to discuss European security and the challenges posed by President Donald Trump's administration. Trump and Macron had a 'friendly' but brief conversation just prior to the summit, POLITICO reported on Monday. Nightly Number RADAR SWEEP THE WHITE LOTUS EFFECT — 'The White Lotus,' a show on HBO that returned on Sunday for its third season, is a show largely about wealthy people behaving poorly on vacation. Each season explores the experiences of traveling to exquisite five-star resorts, only for paradise to gradually turn into a nightmare. And production has traveled so far to places in Hawaii, Italy and now Thailand. Despite the dark themes the show often explores, the accommodations continue to look beautiful — and fans want to go there. The destination for season two, San Domenico Palace in Taormina, was reportedly booked solid for six months when it opened after filming. And since The White Lotus announced it would head to Thailand, interest in traveling to the Southeast Asian country has skyrocketed, with airlines adding extra flights to Phuket and reporting a 40% surge in booking interest for the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui (the filming location). For the BBC, Laura Hall gives a breakdown of the 'White Lotus effect,' and how TV impacts travel. Parting Image
