This is what we mean when we say DOGE lives on through Russell Vought.
A right-wing ideologue is single-handedly imposing a deadly austerity regime.
03.03.2026 14:50
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This is what we mean when we say DOGE lives on through Russell Vought.
A right-wing ideologue is single-handedly imposing a deadly austerity regime.
“The forces we are up against have made peace with mass death. They are treasonous to this world and its human and non-human inhabitants.”
Nearly 60 years ago, Ohio's Cuyahoga River was so polluted it caught fire, galvanizing the environmental movement that gave us the Clean Water Act and other lifesaving environmental laws. The AI industry's vision of our future hinges on a return to an era of unchecked industrial pollution.
Billions of dollars in federal disaster money has been tied up by Noem's $100k grant approval rule.
Now, Trump is releasing $5B in overdue aid, but not to CA, IL, MN, & CO—Democratic-led states w/ governors Trump has maligned.
Using disaster relief as a political weapon is unconscionable.
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This is OMB Director Russell Vought's DOGE in action.
And as we argued last year, it's going to kill a lot of people: prospect.org/2025/03/19/2...
“We don’t have a government that’s properly staffed,” she said. “All of these things [federal workers do] are really part of making life a little fairer, a little safer for the public. We’ve lost that.”
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/26/n...
after failed military incursion, us government responds with economic sanctions
NEW Corruption Calendar
In our latest edition, @timi-iwayemi.bsky.social analyzes into Trump’s shakedown of the IRS, his backroom deals with the Emirati government, ICE’s plans to build camps across the country, and more.
One year in, Doug Burgum’s tenure at the Department of the Interior has been an unmitigated disaster. He’s sabotaged wind energy development across the East Coast, he’s all but ignored historic fires in National Parks, he’s endeavored to censor &redefine history on public lands. tinyurl.com/3vfvnxmx
Our @toni-v-aguilar.bsky.social is out in @thenation.com today looking at Trump’s latest grift machine+the slate of far-right agitators, Christian nationalists, book banners, & more he's partnering with to takeover the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. More: tinyurl.com/vjwxbyjh
Some children in Dilley were so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide, parents told ProPublica.
They said kids lost their appetites after finding worms and mold on their food, had trouble sleeping, and were constantly sick.
Bad Bunny, the world's most streamed artist for four years in a row, is also an eloquent critic of disaster capitalism. Our newsletter delves into the climate politics of his half-time show, from the sparking utility poles to the endangered toad that represents Puerto Rico’s imperiled heritage.
Helpful piece from @revolvingdoordc.bsky.social
Trump's FEMA has gone on a denial spree this week.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' (D) appeal for Public Assistance was rejected even though a joint preliminary damage assessment validated more than $26.5 million in eligible PA disaster costs, well above the state's $11.4 million threshold.
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As Evers noted in a statement, "Efforts to rebuild will cost tens of millions" of dollars, which "local communities will be on the hook for."
He added that "it's really disappointing to see our federal leadership turn their backs on Wisconsin, our families, and our communities in our time of need."
FEMA recently denied five major disaster declaration requests/appeals that Trump had been sitting on for more than 11 weeks.
Trump rejected requests from the Pueblo of Acoma tribal government, Arizona, and Kansas following waiting periods of 108 days, 89 days, and 78 days, respectively.
Trump denied an appeal from Vermont 169 days after Gov. Phil Scott's (R) original request and despite the fact that "federal assessors identified more than $1.8 million in statewide damages, exceeding the minimum threshold for a Public Assistance disaster declaration," according to Scott’s office.
Trump also denied an appeal from Illinois 145 days after Gov. JB Pritzker's (D) original request and despite a historic damage-to-wealth ratio.
For more on the scale of the destruction, read this reporting by E&E News:
WI, VT, and IL had previously sued the Trump regime for withholding emergency preparedness funding and shuttering FEMA's foremost pre-disaster mitigation program (BRIC). AZ joined the latter lawsuit, too.
We detailed this punitive dynamic in The American Prospect: prospect.org/2025/12/05/t...
Trump lost IL and VT by 11 points and 31 points, respectively, in 2024.
Trump often boasts about his electoral victories when he (partially) approves requests for disaster aid. Such rhetoric suggests that decisions may be driven by partisan considerations.
www.nationaljournal.com/s/730377/wit...
We're keeping tabs on Trump's refusal to fairly allocate federal disaster aid in a timely manner.
NEW: Trump's first year back in the White House has been quite profitable: his presidential grift added billions to the family fortune. The self-dealing comes with a price tag, however, & working families are paying the real costs of Trump's corruption.
"DOGE’s objective was never to save taxpayer dollars. Musk did not 'fail'...DOGE was—and remains, through Vought’s OMB—an effort to extinguish the existing government and create a new one in the image of oligarchs and far-right ideologues."
DOGE isn't really gone, it's just become the way that the Office of Management and Budget operates, writes our friends at @revolvingdoordc.bsky.social.
prospect.org/2026/02/05/d...
NEWSLETTER
The ongoing measles outbreak in South Carolina threatens to reestablish the formerly-eradicated disease as a national public health threat. For our latest edition of Watchdog Weekly, Julian Scoffield uncovers Trump's playbook to make measles endemic again.
NEW: Elon Musk's DOGE team officially disbanded last year, but its reactionary mission was being carried out in parallel—and continues to be executed today—by OMB Director Russell Vought, a far quieter, but no less villainous, figure.
We explain in @prospect.org
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Tax season is officially upon us. Thanks to DOGE, the IRS is completely unprepared.
"The divisions in IRS that process tax returns and provide telephonic and in-person customer service, as well as other duties related to filing season, have lost 8,300 workers, or 17% of their staff, the IG found."
The Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights is holding a hearing to "examine the competitive impact" of the Netflix/Warner Bros. merger.
The two witnesses? Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. exec Bruce Campbell. This is not serious oversight.
NEW Corruption Calendar: Trump used tariffs to bully foreign governments into regulating Big Tech on Big Tech's terms, and the EPA will no longer consider the value of a human life as it hands corporations a huge win at the literal cost of our health.
NEW: Our @jeffhauser.bsky.social on Kevin Warsh, Trump's Fed chair nominee with ties to a would-be Greenland profiteer.
"Warsh’s record suggests commitment to class and personal self-interest, not a broader dedication to an intellectually consistent view of the public interest."
Full statement: