The Trump Presidency 2.0

[AWP]

Federal Government is about 18 months behind Silicon Valley on this. If they're hiring for more seats than they have, they needed to not hire. This isn't the private sector. Just my opinion of course.

I work with training simulators. Our growth has been explosive in a building from the 80's. Without a massive new complex, we have no hope of seating all of our people. As training sims continue to grow, our footprint will grow accordingly. Anyone want to fund that project?

Does our Federal gov't need some trimming? Absolutely. Should we trim with a chainsaw or pruning shears? In the long run, a chainsaw will bite us in the ass. That's the problem I have with some of the EO's: we need to cut in layers, not a wholesale lopping off of trees. We need to cut our Federal workforce over time and with some targeted cuts, not this Kool Aid man approach.

Maybe that is the thing. Toss out the buyouts and RTO and see what sticks, see who leaves, and re-evaluate in 6-12 months. Maybe that's the plan and it fits Trump's MO. Trump comes across as a bull in a china shop, but I think that's more for show than anything. Like the tariffs, Trump is stick-carrot, not carrot-stick. What I fear is what we're seeing which is Musk and his acolytes, some of whom are barely out of high school, wielding extraordinary amounts of influence.

I really, really wish we had Jared Kushner as Trump's right-hand man instead of Elon. Elon's out of his depth on this one.

 

[Cookie_]

Trump is stick-carrot, not carrot-stick.

This is probably the must succinct way to put it.
Right now very few people believe the carrot is even real because of how Elon's surrogates are running things.

 

[R.Caerbannog]

I work with training simulators. Our growth has been explosive in a building from the 80's. Without a massive new complex, we have no hope of seating all of our people. As training sims continue to grow, our footprint will grow accordingly. Anyone want to fund that project?

Does our Federal gov't need some trimming? Absolutely. Should we trim with a chainsaw or pruning shears? In the long run, a chainsaw will bite us in the ass. That's the problem I have with some of the EO's: we need to cut in layers, not a wholesale lopping off of trees. We need to cut our Federal workforce over time and with some targeted cuts, not this Kool Aid man approach.

Maybe that is the thing. Toss out the buyouts and RTO and see what sticks, see who leaves, and re-evaluate in 6-12 months. Maybe that's the plan and it fits Trump's MO. Trump comes across as a bull in a china shop, but I think that's more for show than anything. Like the tariffs, Trump is stick-carrot, not carrot-stick. What I fear is what we're seeing which is Musk and his acolytes, some of whom are barely out of high school, wielding extraordinary amounts of influence.

I really, really wish we had Jared Kushner as Trump's right-hand man instead of Elon. Elon's out of his depth on this one.

Kushner was terrible. His slow poke approach is what led to Trump getting railroaded, instead of getting stuff done when he had a majority. Playing nice with the DC machine brought us a flubbed Chinese bioweapon, war in Europe, and the embarrassing debacle in the ME. Whole swaths of the forest are infested, they need to be clear cut and replanted.

Dude. We just had a team of autists uncover widescale corruption at USAID. They've been at it for two days. I can only imagine what teams of these people will uncover in the following weeks and months. The fact that some autistic kid, fresh out of high school, is helping dismantle entrenched and corrupt bureaucracies is comedic gold.

 

[ThunderHorse]

This is probably the must succinct way to put it.
Right now very few people believe the carrot is even real because of how Elon's surrogates are running things.

Stick and Carrot is clearly working on foreign policy at the moment. Part of the problem is Congress abdication of their power of the purse, they authorized this bloat, they authorized all the deficit spending. NOW...as POTUS he can audit the government and then submit a balanced budget in July.

 

[Muppet]

Beitrag von Benny Johnson

I thought the commie was out?

@RackMaster

 

[RackMaster]

Beitrag von Benny Johnson

I thought the commie was out?

@RackMaster

He's out once they pick a replacement on March 9th. Which is ironic, the 30 day reprieve is March 5th.

 

[AWP]

Kushner was terrible. His slow poke approach is what led to Trump getting railroaded, instead of getting stuff done when he had a majority. Playing nice with the DC machine brought us a flubbed Chinese bioweapon, war in Europe, and the embarrassing debacle in the ME. Whole swaths of the forest are infested, they need to clear cut and replanted.

Dude. We just had a team of autists, uncover the widescale corruption of USAID. They've been at it for two days. I can only imagine what teams of these people will uncover in the following weeks and months. The fact that some autistic kid, fresh out of high school, is helping dismantle entrenched and corrupt bureaucracies is comedic gold.

Your posts on the government's inner workings are fire.

Bless your heart.

 

[R.Caerbannog]

I was bummed he barley lost his election in WA, but this is friggin awesome!

https://thepostmillennial.com/break...director-of-national-counter-terrorism-center

 

[ThunderHorse]

Ummm...all the DEI and LGBTQIAA plus shit that USAID was funding overseas...the Jill administration legitimately destroyed our soft power. The weakness that we displayed for four years? Awful

https://twitter.com/x/status/1886534183066939792

ETA: More levity

https://twitter.com/x/status/1886560887126802694

 

[Teufel]

OSD guidance is everyone returns to the office by this Friday, 7 Feb. Even situational telework is cancelled. Obviously, there are some exceptions.

Where's the funding coming from to lease additional space, purchase IT hardware, desks, chairs, etc.? This is about to get real expensive and does anyone think the salaries of those who take the buyout will go back to their old departments? Yeah, nah.

I hear USAID has some open office space.

 

[Box]

The transgender opera in Columbia was part of the Harris/Jill Biden administrations 4D-CHESS strategy at world dominatrix...
...you folks are just too blind to see it

 

[Dame]

OSD guidance is everyone returns to the office by this Friday, 7 Feb. Even situational telework is cancelled. Obviously, there are some exceptions.

Where's the funding coming from to lease additional space, purchase IT hardware, desks, chairs, etc.? This is about to get real expensive and does anyone think the salaries of those who take the buyout will go back to their old departments? Yeah, nah.

I'm with @Teufel on this. If you head to the Dept of Education now, you could squat on a teleworker's desk. I hear they may have even more space opening soon.

 

[Cookie_]

Stick and Carrot is clearly working on foreign policy at the moment. Part of the problem is Congress abdication of their power of the purse, they authorized this bloat, they authorized all the deficit spending. NOW...as POTUS he can audit the government and then submit a balanced budget in July.

I was talking specifically in relation to the issues @AWP brought up with the Fed "severance" reductions.
As an example, if 1 of our 3 logistics peeps resigns, can we backfill next FY? Nobody knows! We been told both that we'll lose the slot permanently and that we can rehire next FY. Those things can't both be true.
Stretch that issue across the entire DOD and this stick-carrot (for this paticular issue) may not cause the effects they want.

Agencies have no good communication of what the future looks like, so it's likely more people are being "exempted" than should be. Employees don't trust the phishing emails about severance, not to mention the legal issues with us only being funded until March, so fewer are taking the deal.
If the goal is reduction, this has scared people into stagnation.

They should have given agencies 30 days (26FEB) to determine exemptions. At that time, they should have announced they would offer severances with a end date of 28MAR, two weeks after a new budget has passed.

This would have allowed time for proper communication, identification of exactly where cuts can be made, and gotten much more participation from feds on the fence.

ETA: The tarrif shit was good for bargaining, which I honestly did not expect, especially the deal with Mexico, as they've been trying to negotiate that for years and have been ignored.
More "gorilla" shit as @amlove21 (?) Said a page or two back.

 

[Devildoc]

I am hearing a lot--a LOT--about how Trump can't just wholesale cut departments or agencies, which is true. His administration CAN, however, reassign, redirect, and modify how those departments and agencies are going to be run. Still I foresee a million and one lawsuits. Congress will simply refuse to cede any power.

 

[ThunderHorse]

I work with training simulators. Our growth has been explosive in a building from the 80's. Without a massive new complex, we have no hope of seating all of our people. As training sims continue to grow, our footprint will grow accordingly. Anyone want to fund that project?

Does our Federal gov't need some trimming? Absolutely. Should we trim with a chainsaw or pruning shears? In the long run, a chainsaw will bite us in the ass. That's the problem I have with some of the EO's: we need to cut in layers, not a wholesale lopping off of trees. We need to cut our Federal workforce over time and with some targeted cuts, not this Kool Aid man approach.

Maybe that is the thing. Toss out the buyouts and RTO and see what sticks, see who leaves, and re-evaluate in 6-12 months. Maybe that's the plan and it fits Trump's MO. Trump comes across as a bull in a china shop, but I think that's more for show than anything. Like the tariffs, Trump is stick-carrot, not carrot-stick. What I fear is what we're seeing which is Musk and his acolytes, some of whom are barely out of high school, wielding extraordinary amounts of influence.

I really, really wish we had Jared Kushner as Trump's right-hand man instead of Elon. Elon's out of his depth on this one.

So I'm reading through all of this stuff and I would bet dollars to donuts the government has more chairs than it has bodies or at least the amount of bodies doesn't far exceed chairs. BUT where those chairs are allocated is the problem. There are ton of agencies that have leased office space that don't even have a single employee to walk in and utilize that lease. Which should not be a surprise I guess.

 

[AWP]

I am hearing a lot--a LOT--about how Trump can't just wholesale cut departments or agencies, which is true. His administration CAN, however, reassign, redirect, and modify how those departments and agencies are going to be run. Still I foresee a million and one lawsuits. Congress will simply refuse to cede any power.

I'll post the link when I get home, but one website is tracking all of the lawsuits against Trump and Elon right now.

 

[DA SWO]

I was talking specifically in relation to the issues @AWP brought up with the Fed "severance" reductions.


They should have given agencies 30 days (26FEB) to determine exemptions. At that time, they should have announced they would offer severances with a end date of 28MAR, two weeks after a new budget has passed.

Letting agencies decide which positions are critical would result in minimal (if any) reductions.

Easier solution, cut all the contractors who were added after 2001.

 

[Marauder06]

Letting agencies decide which positions are critical would result in minimal (if any) reductions.

Easier solution, cut all the contractors who were added after 2001.

Me: <looks around nervously> nah, I mean... that's CRAZY TALK, right? ;)

 

[Cookie_]

Letting agencies decide which positions are critical would result in minimal (if any) reductions.

Easier solution, cut all the contractors who were added after 2001.

Part of this current process already allows agencies to determine where exemptions are.
They get less than a week to make this determination. Subtract the days lost for the communication confusion and it's even less time.

Do you think they're going to do a good analysis for cuts, or just going overestimate how many positions are excluded from severance?

 

[Box]

The "more people than seats thing" ain't a problem were I am - in part because we are shorthanded to begin with - but we can't resist the chance to talk about cuts and drawdowns and grade plate changes.
We spend TONS of money on horse shit - then complain that we are broke.
We cut "CIVPAY" and authorizations - then complain that we are shorthanded.
Then we buy MORE horseshit that nobody asked for as we restart the cycle of failure.

The thing is; government sucks - ALL government sucks - it doesn't matter what color tie they wear to the press conference - they all suck. They dont all want to suck - but they can't help it. Government, by design, is a burden on the governed.

They've all always sucked forever and will continue to do so. Those who govern "think" they are doing the peoples work but the truth is and will always be, the purpose and essence of the politician is to govern. It's the nature of a governed civilization...
...some folks are going to exploit other folks under the mantle of "helping"

Personally - I just want to be left alone. The problem is, I also like to have stuff.
I love a good steak - but don't know shit about ranching - so I gotta a pay a mother fucker to grow my steaks.

I also don't have access to the raw materials, technology, and equipment to build my own BBQ grill...
...so I gotta pay a mother fucker at Weber to build one for me.
...so I can cook my steak on it.

I'm pretty fucking self sustaining when I need to be - but I like to have stuff
I like modern conveniences.
I've got bills to pay.
...and THAT ladies and gentlemen is why I am so cynical and sarcastic.

Trump is not the solution.
The bigger problem is getting ALL Americans to understand that Trump also is NOT the problem.
...but the flavor of bullshit he is marketing is far more palatable that the stale unflavored outdated overpriced governed subsidized bullshit that was being foisted upon us by BOTH of the con men that he replaced.


Just my two cents on the matter - I could be wrong.