News Round-Up

Checking the news, I noticed multiple interesting stories, including ongoing dramas.

Many headlines, as Greg Olear notes, would read as well or better if we replace "Trump" with "Kremlin." 

"Fraud" 

The ongoing Elon/DOGE drama includes Trump first saying in the joint speech that Musk was the head of DOGE and then telling the Cabinet they have the final decision when the deputy president "recommends" things. Wink wink. Nod nod.

A common approach is to accuse agencies and programs of "fraud." Musk knows fraud. He settled an SEC allegation of fraud in 2018 and stepped down as Tesla's board chairman. His claims of fraud? Iffy.

The linked article shows how "fraud" is often based on either confused information or claims of "waste," which is again repeatedly confused with opposition to the merits of the agencies/programs. 

Also, the true fraud is not their main concern:

There is indeed fraudulent spending across the government — perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars per year, according to analysis by the Government Accountability Office. Inspectors general and the Justice Department have investigated fraud rings seeking to bilk health programs such as Medicare or Medicaid, and contractors who bribed officials to win government business.

Finally, bottom line, fraud is not a big part (one expert cites less than 10%) of the problem. There will be some fraud and abuse. It's the cost of doing business on a basic level. Going after it too often harms good people and programs. See, e.g., "voting fraud."  

Results of Disorder

The helter-skelter nature of Trump's actions, including apparent day or so long tariffs, has resulted in something of a mess. For instance, one article shows how federal workers fired are in a gray zone. Are they "truly" fired? Were they fired for cause? Could they get new jobs?  We are talking thousands of people.  

Trump Goes After the Lawyers

Steve Vladeck has a good Substack about Trump's attack on law firms. Trump has so far gone after two firms in executive orders and is aiming for more. 

The concerns are not only that some members (including those no longer there) worked with Trump's political opponents. It is the new stand: attack on DEI. What is involved here? 

The executive order demands that the federal government suspend the security clearances of at least some people working at Perkins Coie, according to a fact sheet distributed by the Trump administration. The firm represented Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential race.

The order also banned federal agencies from hiring Perkins Coie employees unless they receive special permission to do so, and declared that the government would not pay for contractors represented by the law firm.

They are also going after educational institutions that have diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, which include a range of benign things. Orwellian. 

The whole thing has multiple First Amendment problems, including going after free speech, education, certain organizations (freedom of association), and lawyers who help people oppose the government. It also hurts those who use firms to obtain other civil and constitutional rights. 

Finally, to toss it in, going after DEIA (“a” for accessibility) generally harms valid efforts (however creaky they might be in certain instances) to promote equality and access to many different groups. 

Eric Adams Goes To Washington

Huh. Looks like when Eric Adams went to a House hearing about sanctuary cities, the Republicans mostly went easy on him. I wonder why. Trump puppet?

Meanwhile, with Eric Adams's re-election looking dim, new candidates in an already (too) crowded (we saw this game in 2021) race are arising. Mind you, there were already some promising options, if no one (here's the rub) that was a true front runner. 

First, we have the specter of Andrew Cuomo. Then, the city council speaker, a black woman confusingly also named Adams, has entered the race. She might arise as the favored anti-Cuomo option.  

The primary is in June.