UPDATE: Sign the petition: Musk went on Fox News to spread lies about Social Security 13MAR25

 

NEO-NAZI, fotze fascist elon musk must be stopped before his bromance buddy (no wonder we haven't seen fotze melania in a while) NOT MY pres donald jessica drumpf / trump is able to complete the transformation of our nation from a democratic Republic to an authoritarian theocratic oligarchy. Social Security is the latest federal government agency NOT MY pres musk has placed on the sacrificial alter of greed, the magat gop / greed over people-republican party priest in congress are poised with their knives just waiting for the signal to kill it. WE THE PEOPLE have been fighting for our country since NOT MY pres drumpf's / trump's and NOT MY vice-pres Vance's inauguration and now Demand Progress is asking for us to sign this petition to the U.S. Senate telling them to stop NOT MY pres musk's and doge's destruction of Social Security. share this petition with family, friends and co-workers and if you can take the time to e mail your senators and representative telling them to save Social Security, to stop NOT MY pres drumpf / trump, NOT MY vice-pres vance, NOT MY pres musk and magats of the gop / greed over people-republican party.

UPDATE: MY E MAILS TO SEN WARNER & KAINE

I left a voice mail at your D.C. office telling you I expect you to vote against the drumpf / trump-vance and musk CR, to stand and fight for federal government employees and the programs so many depend on, especially Social Security as I just retired at the end of July 2024. The below is from Demand Progress, one of the groups I belong to that is fighting for the 99% like me. Petition to the U.S. Senate:

We urge you to protect federal agencies and federal workers from being dismantled and fired by President Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE. Don't pass legislation to empower DOGE!

On Fox Business News, Elon Musk spread more propaganda to undermine Social Security and said it was the big program to “eliminate.”1

Musk and DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) are running their playbook to gut Social Security. If DOGE receives support in the Senate, Musk will be free to destroy the program tens of millions Americans rely on for income.

The Senate can stop the Republican budget and force Musk to the negotiating table.

While Musk spreads lies about so-called fraud in Social Security, DOGE is firing employees at the Social Security Administration (SSA), closing local Social Security offices, and threatening the benefits that millions of people rely on to survive.2

“At this rate, they will break it. And they will break it fast, and there will be an interruption of benefits,” said Martin O’Malley, President Biden’s Social Security commissioner.3 And an interruption in benefits would be just the start of Musk and Trump’s efforts to destroy this critical program.

The U.S. Senate can’t simply empower DOGE because Trump and Musk say it’s what they want.

Sources:

Associated Press, “Musk eyes Social Security and benefit programs for cuts while claiming widespread fraud,” March 10, 2025.

ProPublica, “Anxiety Mounts Among Social Security Recipients as DOGE Troops Settle In,” February 22, 2025.

Washington Post, “Top Social Security official exits after clash with Musk’s DOGE over data,” February 17, 2025.

UPDATE: E MAIL SENT TO REP SUBRAMANYAM

Below is the e mail I sent to Senators Warner and Kaine after leaving voice mails at their D.C. offices today. Please contact them regarding this issue and their vote.

I left a voice mail at your D.C. office telling you I expect you to vote against the drumpf / trump-vance and musk CR, to stand and fight for federal government employees and the programs so many depend on, especially Social Security as I just retired at the end of July 2024. The below is from Demand Progress, one of the groups I belong to that is fighting for the 99% like me. Petition to the U.S. Senate:

We urge you to protect federal agencies and federal workers from being dismantled and fired by President Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE. Don't pass legislation to empower DOGE!

On Fox Business News, Elon Musk spread more propaganda to undermine Social Security and said it was the big program to “eliminate.”1

Musk and DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) are running their playbook to gut Social Security. If DOGE receives support in the Senate, Musk will be free to destroy the program tens of millions Americans rely on for income.

The Senate can stop the Republican budget and force Musk to the negotiating table.

While Musk spreads lies about so-called fraud in Social Security, DOGE is firing employees at the Social Security Administration (SSA), closing local Social Security offices, and threatening the benefits that millions of people rely on to survive.2

“At this rate, they will break it. And they will break it fast, and there will be an interruption of benefits,” said Martin O’Malley, President Biden’s Social Security commissioner.3 And an interruption in benefits would be just the start of Musk and Trump’s efforts to destroy this critical program.

The U.S. Senate can’t simply empower DOGE because Trump and Musk say it’s what they want.

Sources:

Associated Press, “Musk eyes Social Security and benefit programs for cuts while claiming widespread fraud,” March 10, 2025.

ProPublica, “Anxiet

TELL THE U.S. SENATE: Elon Musk went on Fox News to continue spreading lies about Social Security. He outright said it was the big program to “eliminate.” Musk and DOGE present an imminent threat to Social Security benefits. Sign the petition: Don’t let Musk destroy Social Security — block DOGE now! ADD YOUR NAME On Fox Business News, Elon Musk spread more propaganda to undermine Social Security and said it was the big program to “eliminate.”1 Musk and DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) are running their playbook to gut Social Security. If DOGE receives support in the Senate, Musk will be free to destroy the program tens of millions Americans rely on for income. The Senate can stop the Republican budget and force Musk to the negotiating table. Sign the petition: Tell the Senate to stop DOGE and save Social Security! ADD YOUR NAME While Musk spreads lies about so-called fraud in Social Security, DOGE is firing employees at the Social Security Administration (SSA), closing local Social Security offices, and threatening the benefits that millions of people rely on to survive.2 “At this rate, they will break it. And they will break it fast, and there will be an interruption of benefits,” said Martin O’Malley, President Biden’s Social Security commissioner.3 And an interruption in benefits would be just the start of Musk and Trump’s efforts to destroy this critical program. The U.S. Senate can’t simply empower DOGE because Trump and Musk say it’s what they want. Sign the petition: Defend Social Security and our government against Musk and DOGE! Thanks for taking action, Joey and the team at Demand Progress DONATE Sources: Associated Press, “Musk eyes Social Security and benefit programs for cuts while claiming widespread fraud,” March 10, 2025. ProPublica, “Anxiety Mounts Among Social Security Recipients as DOGE Troops Settle In,” February 22, 2025. Washington Post, “Top Social Security official exits after clash with Musk’s DOGE over data,” February 17, 2025.   Contributions to ActBlue Civics and Demand Progress Action are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Join our online community on Instagram or Twitter. Receiving too many emails from Demand Progress? You can opt to pause emails from Demand Progress for a month. And of course you can unsubscribe from this list at any time.

A Little Agency Is Standing up to Musk with a Tell-All Lawsuit 7MAR25

 MORE presidents, chairpeople, heads of federal agencies need to stiffen their spines and challenge fascist fotze musk and the neo-nazi authoritarian drumpf / trump-vance administration like US African Development Foundation President Ward Brehm did, his underlings are better off for it as is the USADF.  Fascist fotze musk, NOT MY pres drumpf / trump, and NOT MY vice-pres vance expect their quisling cabinet to give in to every illegal, immoral order they get, America be damned, there are greedy American oligarchs waiting to pillage and plunder our nation. Think this is an exaggeration? Look at the confusing, conflicting, on again off again instructions from doge, the deliberately false and misleading and deceptive information from fascist fotze musk and the neo-nazi, authoritarian NOT MY pres drumpf / trump and NOT MY vice-pres vance. This Mother Jones article shows we can stop the oligarchs, the fascist, the neo-nazis, the authoritarians. We just need to stiffen our spines and stand together.

A Little Agency Is Standing up to Musk with a Tell-All Lawsuit

Nearly two months into President Donald Trump’s lawless dismantling of the federal government, a small agency has stood up with a tell-all lawsuit. The lawsuit from the president of the United States African Development Foundation (USADF) asks the courts to spare the agency from obliteration at the hands of Elon Musk and his band of tech bros. In doing so, it lays out in detail just how Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency go about their illegal takeovers—and how one tiny agency stood up for its mission and the rule of law.

DOGE sought to take control with an outlandish series of threats, lies, and actions without legal authority.

Since the opening days of the administration, Musk and his minions have barged into agencies, including such august institutions as the Treasury Department, where they demanded access to the most sensitive systems and were handed the keys to the kingdom. Across government, career officials facing DOGE orders have resigned quietly, leaving the public to guess as to what is happening as reporters rush to share snippets.

But the lawsuit offers something that has been generally lacking—an example of top agency officials who not only fought DOGE’s attacks, but are sharing with the public exactly how these attacks are taking place.

USADF and its president Ward Brehm has something going for him that some larger agency leaders do not, in that it operates outside the purview of any Trump-appointed cabinet official. By blocking DOGE’s access to their systems, despite threats, and then filing a lawsuit, USADF demonstrates how smaller agencies and officials can stand up against Musk. After all, as the lawsuit points out, Musk and his staff do not have actual authority to do what they are doing. At least in this case, they just have bravado. While DOGE personnel were escorted into the USADF headquarters by federal marshals on Friday, if the agency’ lawsuit succeeds, its resistance could fend off annihilation at the hands of DOGE.

The allegations in the complaint lay bare how DOGE operates. First, Trump issued an executive order targeting several agencies as “unnecessary,” including USADF. Next, DOGE staff attempted to penetrate USADF’s internal networks “under the false pretenses of modernizing and streamlining USADF’s computer systems.” When USADF leadership were later told the real reason DOGE sought access was to essentially shut USADF down, they refused them access.

What followed was an increasingly outlandish series of threats, lies, and actions without any legal authority on the part of DOGE as they sought to take control at USADF.

“DOGE employees began threatening members of the Board—telling them that unless they carried out DOGE’s plans to strip USADF to its core, the Board would be fired,” the complaint alleges. “When that didn’t work, USADF was told that President Trump did not need to follow the required process for advice and consent of the Senate and instead had appointed Pete Marocco as the sole board member (despite there still being four properly appointed board members, none of whom had received any notification of termination).”

On March 5 DOGE staffers tried to physically force their way into USADF’s offices. Denied access by Brehm, Marocco and DOGE staffers threatened the building’s property manager with a lawsuit and warned they would bring in U.S. Marshals and Secret Service agents.

Had Brehm and USADF capitulated, we already know what would have happened, because it already happened to its sister agency, the Inter-American Foundation. As the complaint lays out, IAF experienced the kind of hostile takeover you’d expect in a dictatorship, not a functioning democracy that operates under the law:

Using the same bullying tactics, they attempted to get access to IAF’s grants and contracts. When that failed, they purported to fire IAF’s President and then announced by fiat that Marocco had been appointed sole board member (despite the IAF board also not having been fired). In a closed-door board meeting last Friday, February 28—which consisted of just Marocco in the IAF lobby—Marocco appointed himself acting President of IAF. That night, at Marocco’s direction, Treasury cancelled all but a handful of IAF’s contracts. And two days ago, Case 1:25-cv-00660 Document 1 Filed 03/06/25 Page 3 of 26 4 purporting to act as both President and sole board member, Marocco directed DOGE to cancel all but a few of IAF’s grants, shut employees out of the IT systems, laid off almost the entire IAF staff, and shut down IAF’s website.

Brehm’s lawsuit hits upon the lawless absurdity of these developments: the legally unfounded DOGE is seizing a congressionally approved and funded agency, with leadership appointed according to the law, and destroying it without any legal justification or authority. (According to the complaint, DOGE’s goal is to reduce the agency to its core statutory function, which it assessed could be carried out with one or two contracts.) It underlines how much of what has happened since January 20 is not a legal reorganization or assessment, but rather an hostile takeover on the part of Musk and his henchmen. (Musk, the de facto head of DOGE is not named in the lawsuit, but the titular head, Amy Gleason, is.)  

Republicans have for decades complained that government is wasteful, inefficient, even evil. DOGE plays on these fears to justify its evisceration of government. But even where there is truth to these complaints, the USADF’s lawsuit demonstrates that what is being undertaken by Trump and Musk is not an orderly downsizing—but a destructive rampage that trades the laborious work of following bureaucratic rules with a rule-less rule by thugs.

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And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

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VIDEO: Historian analyzes devolving relations between U.S. and Ukraine after Oval Office spat 28FEB25

Historian analyzes devolving relations between U.S. and Ukraine after Oval Office spat

Feb 28, 2025 President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy argued in the Oval Office in a stunning public display of devolving relations. Geoff Bennett discussed the developments with Timothy Snyder, one of the country's leading historians of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union who has written widely on Ukraine, Russia and the war.

Timothy Snyder has no problem pointing out in very polite terms just how poorly NOT MY pres drumpf / trump, NOT MY vice-pres vance and little marco rubio performed in this meeting in the Oval Office with Ukrainian Pres Zelensky. Watch the video, his analysis is fascinating and also a warning of  the damage being done to America on the World stage because of drumpf's / trump's and vance's kow-towing to putin. I know Mr Snyder will never say this but I will. NOT MY pres drumpf / trump, fascist fotze musk, NOT MY vice-pres vance, their entire cabinet and the vast majority of the gop / greed over people-republican party in congress are drippings, the best part of each and every one of them ran down somebody's leg. Transcript is below.

TRANSCRIPT

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's turn now to one of the  country's leading historians on Eastern Europe  

0:03

and the former Soviet Union, who has written  widely on Ukraine, Russia, and this war.

0:09

Timothy Snyder is the Richard C. Levin  professor of history at Yale University.

0:13

Thank you for being with us.

0:15

From your perspective, as one who  has written extensively on Ukraine,  

0:19

its struggle for independence,  its role in European geopolitics,  

0:23

what did you see in that spectacle  in the Oval Office earlier today?

0:29

TIMOTHY SNYDER, Yale Historian: Well, what you  see is that the president of the United States  

0:32

has a little bit of trouble controlling political  reality once he gets beyond the United States.

0:39

The premise was that we are working  towards a peace arrangement between  

0:44

Russia and Ukraine. But, thus far,  all we have done is make concessions  

0:51

to Russia. That's all we have done. And  then the second thing we have done now is,  

0:55

we brought the Ukrainian president to the  White House and tried to humiliate him.

0:59

So we have created a situation where we have  favored the aggressor and weakened the defender.  

1:06

You can't really get to peace on that logic.  You have to do exactly the opposite. There's  

1:12

a lot of wisdom in what Representative  Lawler just said, but in order to have  

1:17

the right people at the table, though, you  have to have the right balance of strength.

1:20

And encouraging the aggressor and attacking the  

1:24

country that's trying to defend  itself is not going to get you.

1:27

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, after the meeting,  the White House put out a press release  

1:30

with the subject line: "President Trump and  V.P. Vance are standing up for Americans."

1:35

To hear White House officials tell it, they  got what they wanted out of this meeting.  

1:39

From their view, it was a projection  of strength and that Trump and Vance  

1:44

castigating Zelenskyy is what it looks  like to stand up for American interests.

1:49

I know you have a different  view. How do you see it?

1:53

TIMOTHY SNYDER: Well, I mean, I think you're  setting a pretty low bar for yourself when  

1:57

you think that yelling across the room  at your guest is a show of strength,  

2:02

regardless of whether it's the Oval Office or not.

2:04

And I think you're setting a pretty low bar  for yourself internationally if you think  

2:08

that doing things that please countries that  wish to destroy you is a show of strength,  

2:15

which is, of course, what just happened.

2:17

Strategically, what we are doing, what the United  States is doing, is trading a set of Western  

2:22

alliances for an alliance with Russia. Now, the  main way Russia engages with us is by stealing our  

2:28

technology and by hacking into our infrastructure.  The Russian economy is smaller than Canada's,  

2:34

but we are nevertheless going to trade 80 years  of alliance with reliable partners that are 15,  

2:40

16, 17 times bigger than Russia as an  economy for an alliance with Russia.

2:46

There is no way that that is a show of  strength, in any other than perhaps some  

2:50

kind of distant psychological way that  I'm afraid I can't really understand.

2:54

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let's talk more about that,  

2:55

because we saw European leaders today side  with Ukraine in tweets and written statements.

3:00

Our Nick Schifrin reports that European leaders  are coming up now with security guarantees. What  

3:05

are the real-world implications for the U.S. if  Europe no longer sees us as a reliable partner?

3:13

TIMOTHY SNYDER: I think there's a sort of mode  here, which is very important to understand.

3:17

In domestic politics, Trump has gone a long way  by bullying people and by bluffing. And that when  

3:24

it comes to our allies only works negatively. They  just draw the conclusion that we can't be trusted.  

3:30

And then, when it comes to our  enemies, like Russia and China,  

3:33

or countries within which we're in a rivalry,  

3:36

it doesn't work at all. It simply has no effect  on them because they are not afraid of Trump.

3:41

They have no reason to be afraid of Trump  until he can marshal some kind of American  

3:44

policy instrument, which he doesn't seem  to be able to do with respect to them. So,  

3:49

where we are now is that we have created  the world very quickly, four or five weeks,  

3:53

in which the level of American strength is  incomparably lower than it was in late 2024,  

3:59

and in which it's hard to imagine how we  would get that level of strength back up.

4:03

Because it's very easy to have --  it's very easy to break relationships,  

4:08

but it's very hard to build them back up  again. And it's very easy to fantasize  

4:12

about some kind of wonderful relationship  with a country like Russia, but it's very  

4:15

hard to imagine how that relationship, in fact  could benefit the United States as a whole.

4:20

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's talk about what might come  next, because, after the meeting, President  

4:24

Trump posted on social media that Zelenskyy  can come back when he is ready for peace.

4:29

The president, when he was leaving for  Florida earlier tonight, he told reporters:  

4:32

"I want anybody that's going to make peace."

4:34

Is it possible that cooler heads  could prevail and that Trump and  

4:38

Zelenskyy could arrive at some sort of  wary agreement, or is the damage done here?

4:46

TIMOTHY SNYDER: Well, I mean, I would like to  -- I would disagree with Representative Lawler,  

4:49

I'm sure, about many, many things, but there  was something important about what he said.

4:54

The only way you can get to peace is  to have the Ukrainians at the table,  

4:59

because they're the country that is  being attacked. You have to create a  

5:02

situation in which the Ukrainians believe  that Russia might, in fact, stop killing  

5:07

them. That can be done. American power could  be applied. European power could be applied.

5:13

We could change the structure of the situation  such that Russia wouldn't just pretend, which they  

5:18

have done numerous times already, as President  Zelenskyy, by the way, quite rightly said in  

5:23

the White House to J.D. Vance, who I'm afraid  just doesn't know his history of these things.

5:27

We could do that, and it would be the  right thing to do, and it's, of course,  

5:31

not unimaginable. But I'm afraid what it  requires is that the leadership of our country,  

5:37

of the United States, get away from these very  predictable psychological vulnerabilities,  

5:44

where we can be goaded on and prodded and provoked  by one another, or by the Russians, or whatever  

5:50

it might be into doing things that don't make  sense for us, let alone for the world as a whole.

5:55

And that's what we saw today. We saw a lot  of psychological vulnerability. We saw a  

5:59

lot of people not able to maintain  any kind of poise. We saw people  

6:02

who were representing their momentary  impulses or their feelings of strength,  

6:07

rather than the interests of  the United States of America.

6:10

And it's easy to criticize other  countries and other people, but,  

6:12

frankly, we're going to have to  have a much better game if we're  

6:15

going to do the sorts of things that you're  talking about, like bringing about peace.

6:19

GEOFF BENNETT: A final question about President  Zelenskyy's role and responsibility in all of  

6:23

this, because Lindsey Graham, who has spoken in  support of Ukraine in the past, said that he spoke  

6:28

to Zelenskyy this morning, told him, don't take  the bait. Donald Trump is in a mood to do a deal.

6:34

President Zelenskyy is a wartime leader  who clearly did not take kindly to being  

6:37

lectured and lied to in the Oval Office.  But what responsibility does he have to  

6:42

make sure that future meetings don't  go off the rails? Donald Trump is a  

6:46

known quantity. It's clear to many people  what angers him and what animates him.

6:51

TIMOTHY SNYDER: A deal which is a result of  being intimidated and the precedent of being  

6:55

publicly humiliated can't be in the interest,  not only of the president, but of the country.

7:02

Of course, President Zelenskyy should be open  to peace process led by the United States,  

7:07

but if we are leading it by openly  humiliating him, that is a bad sign,  

7:12

which a wise leader can't fail to recognize.

7:16

GEOFF BENNETT: Timothy Snyder, our thanks to you  for joining us this evening. We appreciate it.