🧳 Get Outta DOGE

☀️ April 4, 2025 ☀️

🐾 Now Let’s Sic ‘Em! 🐾

In another bone-crushing blow to the Arts, DOGE has abruptly terminated millions in previously awarded humanities grants across all 50 states.

These grants—meant to support local libraries, museums, arts programs, educators, and historic preservation—had already been awarded but not disbursed. So those $175 million in undisbursed funds are able to be clawed back, with no new awards planned for 2025.

The abrupt about-face has left state humanities councils and cultural nonprofits scrambling. The impact will affect programs in all 50 states — even in deeply red states. For example, the Alabama Humanities Alliance was granted $1.2 million in federal funds, which represents roughly 65% of its overall budget, but now it’s in peril.

While some organizations may survive a few more months with reserve funds, many say they’ll be forced to slash programming or even shut down entirely. Grr.

Screwed the Pooch (Again). DOGE Must Correct The Inaccurate USAID Firing Notices They Sent.

USAID is still in the news… This time, because DOGE botched thousands of termination notices it had sent to USAID staff, with errors so severe they could jeopardize pensions, severance, and even retirement eligibility.

The notices were rushed out as part of the DOGE’s aggressive dismantling of the foreign aid agency and contained wrong dates, inaccurate salary histories, and wildly incorrect service records.

Some employees even received three separate conflicting letters, all wrong in different ways. One letter shaved six years off an employee’s government tenure. Another gave a 25-year veteran credit for just three. And despite formal requests from overseas workers asking for extra time to relocate or finish the school year with their kids, those accommodations were ignored.

The result? Countless staff members stuck in limbo with no clarity on when—or how—this will be fixed. DOGE can’t even do wrong right.

Snoop DOGE. DOGE Gained Access to Migrant Children’s Sensitive Data.

DOGE bro Kyle Schutt got access to a highly sensitive federal database tracking unaccompanied immigrant children—including their mental health records, reports of trauma and abuse, and family details.

The portal, part of HHS, is designed to ensure children’s care—not to flag fraud or cut costs, so critics say there’s no legitimate reason for DOGE to be snooping and sniffing around. Former officials call the access deeply troubling, especially as the Trump administration slashes child protections and legal aid for migrant minors.

The court filing revealed Schutt’s access came just days after DOGE gutted the HHS watchdog office and followed the administration’s pattern of targeting vulnerable groups under the guise of “efficiency.”

DOGE and administration officials claim that no records were changed or shared — but given their dismal track record on transparency and truthfulness, those words carry no weight.

Grrrifter. Musk Only Pays $1 a Year to Lease a $959M Factory Thanks to Sweetheart Subsidy.

Elon Musk, the self-appointed watchdog of government “waste and fraud,” is now in the hot seat himself over a jaw-dropping rent deal: Tesla leases a $959 million New York factory for just $1 per year.

Built with public money as part of the "Buffalo Billion" project, the plant was originally pitched as a solar panel hub but now mostly churns out Tesla chargers—and controversy.

New York lawmakers just introduced the DOGE Act (“Determining Obligations and Guaranteeing Enforcement”), a bill aimed at auditing the deal and potentially ending the lease if it turns out taxpayers got taken for a ride.

The lawmakers are rabid: “It’s the height of hypocrisy,” said State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, slamming Musk for preaching austerity while cashing in on one of the “shadiest subsidy deals of all time.”

Maybe it’s time for DOGE to audit their pack leader.

Get Outta DOGE. More Talk About Musk (Not Yet) Stepping Down.

Co-President Trump confirmed Thursday that fellow Co-President Musk is expected to leave his role in the administration “in a few months.” While Trump praised Musk as a “patriot” doing a “great job,” he acknowledged the billionaire has other companies to run.

Musk’s 130-day limit as a Special Government Employee is fast approaching—May 30 would hit that mark since Trump’s January inauguration. Even though Trump and others have repeatedly called Musk the head of DOGE, Musk has to maintain the SGE ruse so that he can skirt federal guidelines which require financial disclosures among other things.

Meanwhile, JD Vance shed more light on what might potentially happen after this timeline. In an interview on Fox, Vance said Musk will continue to be a "friend and an adviser" to Co-President Trump after he formally leaves government.

So… sounds like Trump & Musk are going to try a long-distance relationship.

"GOP Senators Whimper as Trump Unleashes Tariffs"
Liberation Liquidation Day was… well… RUFF. Trump’s new round of “reciprocal” tariffs slapped on dozens of U.S. trading partners and allies even has Republicans uneasy, especially when the markets took an historic nosedive. Even “Fat Wolverine” Ted Cruz called tariffs a “tax on the American people,” and Rand Paul pointed to “millions” of investors panicking. Others like Ron Johnson and Cynthia Lummis said: “I hope he’s right… I don’t know.” Yet, so far they aren’t backing the bipartisan bill from Chuck Grassley and Maria Cantwell which would require that tariffs to have Congressional approval.

“Social Security Chief Slammed for Political Retaliation Against Maine”
Emails revealed that Acting head of Social Security, Leland Dudek, yanked Maine’s newborn registration contracts as an act of political payback against Governor Janet Mills. The move would’ve forced Maine parents to apply for their babies' Social Security numbers at federal offices instead of hospitals—a major disruption to a decades-old system known as Enumeration at Birth. Mills recently defied Trump to his face, in public, and on camera. So naturally, this pierced Trump’s thin-skinned orange rind, and so he sicced Dudek on her in a petty retaliation.

“‘Fertilization President’ Cuts the Very Team That Tracks IVF Safety”
Just days after Trump called himself the “fertilization president” (Again: Eww.), DOGE eliminated the CDC’s IVF tracking team—the only federal group monitoring clinic success rates and safety. Experts say the six-person team was vital for patients making informed decisions, holding clinics accountable, and shaping reproductive policy. There should be a public outcry against these cuts — if for no other reason than ensuring that we never have to hear Trump say the word “fertilization” again.

“FCC Chair Threatens ABC’s broadcast license over Disney DEI Practices”
The FCC is threatening to pull ABC’s broadcast license as part of a broader crackdown on (DEI) policies. FCC Chair Brendan Carr announced a formal investigation into Disney—ABC’s parent company—claiming early evidence suggests the company may have used race and gender in hiring decisions, which would violate FCC equal employment opportunity rules. The FCC has also launched a similar investigation into Comcast, NBCUniversal’s parent company, for comparable DEI-related practices.

“Trump Fires National Security Officials After Meeting With Laura Loomer”
Co-President Trump fired at least three National Security Council officials after far-right “White Advocate” and 9/11 Truther Laura Loomer personally handed him a hit list of staff she deemed disloyal. The firings followed an Oval Office meeting where Loomer, a conspiracy-spouting provocateur from Trump’s inner MAGA circle, accused officials of being “Never Trumpers.” If Alex Jones gets a meeting, we’re all truly doomed.

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

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🙌 Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend. See you on Monday.  

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