🤥 Lie Like A DOGE

☀️ April 10, 2025 ☀️

🐾 Now Let’s Sic ‘Em! 🐾

An unsigned agreement between DOGE and the Department of Labor reveals a quiet but pricey partnership: up to $1.3 million for just four DOGE bros over 18 months. That’s more than top-tier federal salaries — a far cry from Musk’s promise that DOGE staff would cost taxpayers nothing.

More and more, it seems Musk’s claims have the hollow credibility of a politician’s campaign promise.

This internal deal lays bare how DOGE is embedding itself in federal agencies, offering services like software engineering, data architecture, and fraud safeguards — while demanding significant access to agency systems.

While the document defines strict access protocols (like 24-hour notice before DOGE operatives tap into systems), it’s unclear when the agreement will officially go into effect.

But it’s another piece in the growing puzzle of how Musk’s handpicked techies are digging deeper into federal infrastructure — often with more access, less oversight, and bigger paydays than promised. Soon the whole government will be Musk controlled. Grr.

Neutered. DOGE Nips DOJ’s Tax Division.

We’ve told you before about the DOGE bro invasion at the IRS, but DOGE isn’t just gutting the IRS — it’s quietly neutering the Department of Justice’s Tax Division too.

While DOGE can’t legally shut it down outright (since it’s a statutory office), they’re effectively putting it to sleep. So instead of killing the division directly, DOGE is starving it into irrelevance: slashing staff, scattering the remaining attorneys to U.S. Attorneys’ offices around the country, and leaving behind a barely-functioning shell in D.C.

Just a few desks, a flickering lamp, a watering dish, and enough personnel to claim it still technically exists — a legal fig leaf to avoid violating congressional statute while dismantling a key piece of the government's tax enforcement infrastructure.

This is DOGE’s standard playbook: declare a "reform," rebrand it as a "reorganization," and quietly let the watchdog bleed out.

Besides the standard operating procedure similarities, there also seems to be a pattern in who gets targeted. For example, who would benefit from the tax fraud hounds being muzzled…? Which broligarchs would benefit from having less oversight? Gee, who could we be thinking of…?

Slipping the Leash. DOGE’s Widening Agenda of Shielding & Benefitting Musk.

…In fact, let’s just take a look at a partial road map of how Musk & DOGE’s actions have benefitted him and/or his companies avoid investigations, complaints, lawsuits, and regulations.

There used to be so much oversight and constraints, but now — POOF! — the agencies, bureaus, and departments are disappearing one by one, as depicted in this troubling chart…

And this list is by no means final. Like the gutting of the DOJ’s Tax Division we just told you about, other announcements happening pretty much daily.

Not to mention that this list is focused on removing roadblocks and oversight, but there’s a whole other category where DOGE’s actions have cleared the way for Musk to install one of his companies — StarLink, SpaceX, Grok, etc — and usurp government contract after government contract.

So when you look at DOGE’s “efficiency” agenda through the lens of self-dealing, you can’t help but be suspicious. Grr.

Stolen Treats. DOGE Sabotage? Union Paycheck Deductions Yanked Overnight.

Federal unions were blindsided this week when automatic paycheck deductions for union dues were abruptly halted — without any notice. This surprise financial gut punch came right as agencies were still sorting through the legal chaos caused by Trump’s executive order last month, which stripped collective bargaining rights from two-thirds of the federal workforce, citing “national security.”

Unions only found out about the stoppage when workers started receiving paychecks with no dues withdrawn, and local chapters saw dues dry up overnight. Payroll providers servicing massive agencies like Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services pulled the plug unilaterally. One processor even withdrew dues from paychecks and then failed to pass them on—forcing refunds.

The backdrop? DOGE bros recently gained access to the Interior Department’s payroll systems, and the coincidence suggests DOGE helped coordinate this change in a deliberate effort to weaken labor.

However, union leaders think there’s a silver lining to this chaos. This kind of egregious action could be a catalyst spark a rebound in membership. “Trump’s been our best organizer.”

Bully Stick. Twitch Caves to Musk’s Conspiracy Lawsuit.

After Elon Musk bought Twitter (now called X), he sued a bunch of big advertisers, claiming they teamed up to stop buying ads and hurt the company. Well, they did… and it did… but the question is: Was it illegal?

Twitch wasn’t in the original lawsuit, but got added later, and Musk accusing them of quietly joining the ad boycott.

Now, instead of fighting back, Twitch made a behind-the-scenes deal to get out of the lawsuit — as long as they meet certain conditions by the end of 2025. The case is on pause for Twitch, and it’ll likely be dropped for them in early 2026.

Why the retreat? Musk has more political and financial power now, and some companies are choosing to play it safe rather than fight. Twitch never even responded in court — it just stepped aside quietly, tail tucked between its legs.

"Trump Demands DOJ Investigate Taylor, Krebs for ‘Treason’"
Trump just ordered the DOJ to investigate Miles Taylor, the former DHS official who wrote that infamous “Anonymous” op-ed and book trashing Trump from inside his own administration. Trump called him a traitor, accused him of treason, and signed a memo demanding answers. Same goes for Christopher Krebs, the ex-cybersecurity chief who’s guilty of the most heinous crime of all: saying that the 2020 election was legit. Trump’s now pushing for probes into both men for allegedly leaking classified info and wants their security clearances yanked.

“Judge Reinstates AP After White House Kicked It Out Over ‘Gulf’ Name”
Earlier this year, the White House blocked the Associated Press from covering key events — all because they refused to go along with calling the “Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America.” Now, a federal judge has stepped in and ruled: you can’t ban reporters just because you don’t like what they say. It’s a big win for the press, and about way more than the Gulf naming issue. However, Trump’s team is still turning back AP reporters, so stay tuned…

“Apple Airlifted iPhones Into U.S. to Beat Trump’s Tariffs”
Apple had to pull a fast one to dodge Trump’s latest tariff tantrum. Right before a new round of steep import taxes kicked in, Apple rushed five full cargo planes loaded with iPhones and other gear into the U.S. — just in time to avoid paying the massive tariffs that started on April 5. Countless stories like this happening at scale in reaction to Trump’s game of Economic Chicken.

“Trump Gives Kari Lake — Umm— Some Kind of State Department Job”
Kari Lake — the Trump loyalist who’s failed at landing just about every big job she’s ever gone after — has now been shuffled into the State Department. What she’ll actually do there is anyone’s guess, but it looks like her main task is to help gut the U.S. Agency for Global Media, including what’s left of Voice of America. Flashback to: Trump originally offered her the top job at VOA. Lake was thrilled, calling it the perfect weapon in an “information war.” But then Musk got cold feet, torched the agency himself, and Lake pivoted overnight to calling it a rotting, taxpayer-funded security threat. So now that Trump has thrown her bone, she’s kinda-sorta back in the picture.

“Trump Tariffs: Bite Me and You Pay, Roll Over and You’re Safe”
After wrecking markets and spooking global allies with massive tariffs, Trump suddenly hit the brakes — announcing a 90-day pause on new tariffs for countries that didn’t retaliate. But China is a different story. After Beijing fired back with its own 84% tariff and travel warnings for Chinese citizens headed to the U.S., Trump jacked up tariffs on Chinese goods yet again — to a whopping 125% grand total (as of now). Trump’s team now says this chaos was always the plan. According to them, the economic whiplash was part of a “strategic” performance to pressure China into making a deal.

Well, that was a lot to chew on… Again.

So as your reward, here are a few treats.

Some doggy goodness to calm your nerves… lift your spirits… and get you through to tomorrow…

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🙌 Thanks for reading. See you on Friday!  

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