✊ DOGE Day Afternoon

☀️ April 7, 2025 ☀️

🐾 Now Let’s Sic ‘Em! 🐾

On Saturday, millions of protesters (literally) marched in over 1,200 U.S. cities Saturday under the banner of Hands Off! 

It was a massive, coast-to-coast show of defiance that targeted Co-President Trump and Musk — venting their anger about everything from DOGE’s deep and reckless cuts to anti-immigrant policies and rollbacks of civil rights.

There has been a growing public backlash against Musk that’s been steadily building week by week, but this marked the largest coordinated protest thus far.

The visuals plastered across social media and news outlets have been phenomenal, but here are a few of our favorite images from the Big Day…

Off-Leash. Musk Goes Rogue on Tariffs, Voices Opinion Against Trump’s Policy.

What’s this…? Trouble in paradise? A tiff over tariffs?

Elon Musk appeared to break ranks with the Trump administration this weekend, throwing cold water on the president’s sweeping new tariffs and publicly sparring with top trade adviser Peter Navarro (AKA the Ted Knight of the Trump Administration).

While Trump was golfing in Florida (boasting of 18 consecutive holes-in-one, presumably) and telling Americans to “hang tough,” Musk used his megaphone on Twitter (currently known as X) as well as a video appearance in Italy to call for a “zero tariff situation” between the U.S. and Europe.

This opinion puts him at direct odds with Trump’s protectionist playbook and Navarro specifically, who is the major proponent behind the “tariffs are tariffic” tax policy (and yes, tariffs are taxes).

Which is why Musk ridiculed the ever-ridiculable Navarro’s economic credentials and dismissed his tariff logic, saying the Harvard-educated adviser had a “brains/ego ratio problem” and that he “ain’t built shit.”

Navarro then hit back, accusing Musk of looking out for his own wallet and foreign supply chains.

Despite the very public nature of this feuding, Navarro insists “there’s no rift” — even while Musk continued promoting free trade ideals abroad. The spat comes as Musk’s Tesla takes a sales hit in Europe and the U.S. stock market reels from Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.

Who knows… With all the talk about Musk’s official time at DOGE perhaps-maybe-possibly winding down, this may mark the start of a freer, more unleashed Elon, and also might signal that his honeymoon with Trump could be ending.

Space DOGE. Alabama’s “Rocket City” Braces for Downsizing and Potential SpaceX Takeover.

Huntsville, Alabama — nicknamed “Rocket City” — is home to the Marshall Space Flight Center, which is the second-largest NASA facility in the U.S. and also the historic birthplace of the Saturn V rocket that launched Apollo astronauts to the moon. Thousands of federal employees work there, as well as contractors tied to defense, aerospace, and space exploration work.

However, DOGE has sparked deep anxiety after mass layoffs and reorganization orders hit NASA, with reports that half of the agency’s $7.4 billion science budget could be slashed.

Local engineers fear the crown jewel of Huntsville’s economy — the Space Launch System (SLS) — is next on the chopping block, which would devastate countless families and businesses.

Not only that, but based on recent history, this plan could also clear a path for Musk’s own SpaceX to dominate federal space contracts and takeover the programs in Huntsville.

Under DOGE. Museum Refuses to Cave to Trump & DOGE’s Demands.

In another poignantly timed display of resistance, the Japanese American National Museum is defying demands from DOGE & Trump, who abruptly slashed federal funding at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The Museum lost a $175,000 grant for its landmark civics education program and faces the clawback of up to $2 million in funds — which had formerly been pre-approved by the NEH and IMLS (which we told you about last week).

The Museum’s leaders say they’re not going to cave and will not be complying with the administration’s absurd demands to erase references to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from their mission. On top of that, they’re actually pursuing legal action alongside so many other impacted organizations across the country.

“Hands Off! Paws Off!”

Byte Me. DOGE Launches IRS Hackathon for Taxpayer Data Access.

DOGE is planning a high-stakes “hackathon” at the IRS this week to build a central “mega API” that could give sweeping access to all taxpayer data.

The project—led by DOGE bros Sam Corcos and Gavin Kliger—aims to collapse the IRS’s compartmentalized systems into one cloud-based platform, potentially managed by Palantir, a company cofounded by Musk ally and Tech Queen Peter Thiel.

DOGE has already halted modernization projects and laid off over 50 of IRS tech technologists, leaving only a skeleton crew. Critics warn — once again — that this is yet another DOGE scheme that could endanger privacy and cripple an agency’s operations.

"DOJ Lawyer Benched After Admitting Frustration Over Botched Deportation"
This case just keeps more dogawful…. Now, a top Justice Department immigration attorney has been placed on leave after publicly expressing frustration over the government's handling of a mistaken deportation. Erez Reuveni was representing DOJ in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia—who, if you recall, is the Maryland father wrongly deported to a gulag in El Salvador, despite a court order forbidding it. Reuveni told the judge he couldn’t get answers from the government and then made the mistake of (gasp!) speaking the truth. He admitted the deportation never should’ve happened. So for that, he got the axe. And yet, Garcia still sits in that hellhole without access to legal representation. Grr.

“Another Child Dies in Texas Measles Outbreak as RFK Jr. Arrives to Save Face”
A second unvaccinated child has died in Texas from measles, intensifying a fast-moving outbreak that has spread across four states. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrived in West Texas Sunday, attempting a quiet visit amid mounting backlash over his agency’s slow response and his own long history of vaccine skepticism. Texas alone has seen 481 cases so far—nearly all in unvaccinated people, most of them kids. Now get ready for this spit-take: Kennedy said: “The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles.” Lookout, RFK… speaking the truth just got a lawyer axed, so your head might soon be on the chopping block too.

“Harriet Tubman Erased from National Park’s ‘Underground Railroad’ Page”
Reminder: If you get rid of DEI, then you can’t spell “dickheads.” And that word will most definitely come in handy for this next news item. Because, in one of the more egregious examples of Trump’s whole DEI-mongering, The National Park Service quietly removed Harriet Tubman’s image and quotes from its “Underground Railroad” webpage. References to slavery, the Fugitive Slave Act, and Tubman’s leadership have been replaced with vague nods to “liberty and freedom” and a visual of commemorative stamps. Needless to say, Historians and educators slammed the change as offensive, reductive, and a political whitewash.

“Some House GOP Voice Opposition to Senate's newly adopted budget”
House Republicans are barking mad about the Senate’s version of Trump’s budget, with members of the Freedom Caucus and Budget Committee saying it isn’t aggressive enough. The Senate narrowly passed a plan with $4B in cuts, far far FAR less than the $2T target the House version aimed for (uh, yeah, good luck with that). Internal GOP divides are have splintered in several directions lately — over Medicaid cuts, Trump’s tariffs, and also the fuzzy math behind extending his 2017 tax cuts. While Trump demands party unity to pass his agenda, key factions are digging in their heels over missing deductions and rising debt.

“USAID Team Fired While in Myanmar Earthquake Zone”
Three U.S. aid workers were fired on the ground in Myanmar while helping earthquake survivors, marking another grim milestone in DOGE’s dismantling of America’s foreign aid apparatus. The workers, deployed to assist after a devastating 7.7 magnitude quake killed over 3,300 people, were told they were out of a job—while sleeping in the disaster zone. Call the Inhumane Society. Grr.

Ok ok… Before you go… Just one more puppy protestor…

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Howl It From The Rooftops!

🙌 Thanks for reading. See you on Tuesday. 

🐾 And until then, do your best to stay pawsitive!