By Chris Megerian, Associated Press
Washington (AP) – A series of decisions revealed on Friday provided an overview of the federal agencies engulfing since President Donald Trump and Elon Musk launched their disturbance campaign, upsetting the operation of the government in a large and small manner.
Certain changes seemed to be designed to increase political control over agencies that have historically worked with a certain degree of autonomy, such as requiring that those responsible for the Environmental Protection Agency are looking for the approval of the Government Ministry for any contract exceeding $ 50,000.
Other directives have increased the charges of federal workers, who have already endured insults, layoffs and threats from the president and other senior officials. For example, government credit cards issued to Pentagon civilian employees have been changed to have a $ 1 limit, stifling their ability to travel for work.
The Security Administration transport has become another target. The administration has canceled a collective agreement with 47,000 workers who filter travelers and luggage at the country’s airports, eliminating union protections in a possible prelude to layoffs or privatization.
Cascade developments are only a fraction of the upheaval that has taken place since Trump took office, but they have always reshaped how hundreds of thousands of civil servants are doing their job, with potentially lasting consequences. The current reshuffle is much more intense than the typical rabbit stroke that Washington endures when an administration gives way to another, raising fundamental questions about the functioning of the government under a president who considered civil servants as an obstacle to his program.
The White House fought with the political return on the role of Musk and the legal challenges that have tried to block or slow down its work. Republicans who are facing increasing pressure in controversial town halls started to express themselves.
“I will admit fully, I think that Elon Musk tweeted first and thought secondly,” said representative Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., During a virtual meeting with voters on Friday. “He plunged forward without necessarily knowing and understanding what he must do legally or what he will do.”
Errors are made
The redesign of the federal government occurs at the speed of lightning, reflecting years of preparation by Trump’s allies and the president’s decision to grant a scan influence on Musk on his administration. Musk, a billionaire entrepreneur without previous experience in the public service, has shown no interest in slowing down despite the admission he will make mistakes in his crusade to reduce expenses and reduce the workforce.
The government faces even more dramatic changes in the coming weeks and months. Trump has ordered agencies to prepare plans for generalized layoffs, called strength reductions, which will likely require more limited operations in agencies that provide critical services.
The Veterans Department could lose 80,000 employees, while the internal returned service and the social security administration envisage plans which would half their workforce.
Trump has promised not to reduce social security benefits, but democrats argue that layoffs would make payments more difficult to 72.5 million people, including retirees and children.
It is also feared that the policy can interfere with Social Security. Trump competed in transgender problems with Maine Janet Mills Democratic Governor, and his administration recently declared that children born in the state would no longer have a social security number awarded to birth. Instead, parents should ask one in a local office.
Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner of Social Security, canceled the order on Friday.
“Retrospectively, I realize that the end of these contracts created an undue burden for the inhabitants of Maine, which was not the intention,” he said in a statement. Dudek added that “as a leader, I admit my mistakes and do them correctly.”
A Startup state of mind sets in
More than a month after Trump has taken office, there is still confusion about Musk’s authority. In public statements and legal deposits, administration officials insisted that Musk does not really manage Doge and have no direct budget authority.
But Trump contradicted the two statements. He said on Tuesday that Doge was “directed by Elon Musk” in a speech during prime time at a joint session of the Congress, and he declared on Thursday that “Elon would cut” if the agency leaders do not reduce their expenses.
Their approach has energized people like David Sacks, a venture capital as a Trump advisor on cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, which praised the administration as moving “faster than any startup of which I was part”.
Trump denied information reporting between musk and cabinet officials, in particular Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at a meeting on Thursday.
“Elon gets along very well with Marco,” said the president. The State Department had no immediate comments.
Norm Eisen, executive president of the Fund of Defensers of State Democracy, an organization that continued the Trump administration, said that the president “clearly said that Musk and Dogi called the gunshots”.
Musk is a presidential advisor, and not an official confirmed by the Senate, which, according to Eisen, makes his role unconstitutional. He said that Trump’s comments are “the admission that the vast chaos that Musk and Doge have made without approval and appropriate documentation are illegal – and must therefore be completely unrolled.”
Trump uses decrees to reshape the government
Many changes that swept Washington were ignited by Trump’s decrees. A prescription issued last week said that agencies should develop new systems for the distribution and justification of payments so that they can be monitored by DOGE representatives.
EPA has distributed guidelines to guarantee compliance.
“Any assistance agreement, contract or transaction of contracts interinstitutions (valued at) $ 50,000 or more must receive the approval of a member of the EPA DOGE team,” said the documents obtained by the Associated Press.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the best democrat of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said that the involvement of “the inexperienced and inexperienced team of Musk raises serious concerns concerning an inappropriate external influence on the specialized decision -making of agencies”.
The Republicans avoided the town hall meetings with the voters after criticism began to use them to evacuate their frustration.
Some demonstrators gathered in front of the District Office of Huisenga in Holland, Michigan, calling on him to answer questions in person.
“I would like to ask him why he thinks that someone like Musk can enter and explode agencies without even knowing what they are doing,” said Linda Visscher, a Holland resident.
She said that the increase in government efficiency was a good idea, but she doesn’t agree with “just taking the blowtor.”
The journalists of the Associated Press Lolita Baldor, Matthew Daly, Fatima Hussein and Matthew Lee in Washington; Joey Cappelletti in Holland, Michigan; And Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.
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