Elect a Clown, Expect the Circus

lousubcap

Monday Clown Show summary:

"The Department of Veteran Affairs plans to cut as many as 35,000 health care positions this month, according to an internal memo and U.S. officials. The agency hopes that the cuts will reduce the health care workforce by around 10 per cent, according to the memo. A VA spokesperson said that the “move will have no effect on VA operations or the way the department delivers care to Veterans, we are simply eliminating open and unfilled [positions].” Thomas Dargon Jr., deputy general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees, said the union had not been consulted by the agency about the cuts, adding that “the VA has been chronically understaffed for years, and employees are obviously going to be facing the brunt of any further job cuts.” Meryl Kornfield, Hannah Natanson, and Lisa Rein report for the Washington Post.

The Trump administration ordered the National Park Service to remove any merchandise related to diversity, equity, and inclusion from its gift shops by Dec.19, according to an Interior Department memo last month. The memo did not provide any examples of which merchandise should be removed. The Interior Department said in a statement on Friday that the review of retail items would “ensure our gift shops remain neutral spaces that serve all visitors” and “do not promote specific viewpoints.” Ashley Ahn reports for the New York Times."

lousubcap

Tuesday Clown Show summary:

"Trump yesterday signed an executive order classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. The order cites the lethality of the drug and that the sale of fentanyl by Foreign Terrorist Organizations threatens national security. Speaking as he signed the order, Trump said that the amount of drugs coming into the United States by sea has decreased by 94 per cent, adding that drug flows are “a direct military threat to the United States of America.” Erica Bazail-Eimil and Jack Detsch report for POLITICO. 

Senior Pentagon officials are preparing to downgrade several of the U.S. military’s major headquarters and shift the balance of power among its top generals, according to sources. The plans would reduce the prominence of U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command by placing them under the control of a new organization known as U.S. International Command, five sources said. The plan also calls for realigning U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Northern Command under a new headquarters to be known as U.S. Americas Command, or Americom. Dan Lamothe, Tara Copp, Noah Robertson, and Alex Horton report for the Washington Post.  

The Pentagon is escalating its preliminary review into Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) over a recent video where he and five other Democratic lawmakers told U.S. troops to defy illegal orders to an official command investigation, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office told The Hill. Filip Timotija reports."

lousubcap

Wednesday Clown Show summary:

"“The [Vanity Fair]  article published early this morning is a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history,” White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles wrote yesterday. Wiles and other administration officials came out to criticize the articles, with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance offering explanations of Wiles’ comments as reported, defending both her and the administration. Isaac Arnsdorf and Maegan Vazquez report for the Washington Post.

Trump has nominated Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd, a career Special Forces officer and current deputy commander of Indo-Pacific Command, to be the next head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command,according to two sources. Rudd would formally replace Gen. Timothy Haugh, who was fired by Trump in April. Speaking in general terms about Rudd’s nomination, a former U.S. official said, “Why would we think it’s a good idea to make someone without cyber experience head of Cyber Command?” Ellen Nakashima and Alex Horton report for the Washington Post."

lousubcap

Thursday Clown Show summary:

"FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said yesterday that he plans to step down from the bureau in January. After Bongino's announcement, FBI Director Kash Patel called him "the best partner I could’ve asked for in helping restore this FBI." Ryan Lucas reports for NPR; Dareh Gregorian reports for NBC  News."

lousubcap

Friday Clown Show summary:

"Trump yesterday signed into law the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes $901 billion in annual military spending. The White House announced that Trump had signed it, but no Oval Office ceremony with reporters was held. Patricia Zengerle reports for Reuters.

The U.S. Coast Guard yesterday deleted language from its new workplace harassment policy that had downgraded the definition of swastikas and nooses from hate symbols to “potentially divisive.” In a message to all Coast Guard personnel, Adm. Kevin Lunday, the Coast Guard’s acting commandant, said those revisions had been “completely removed” from the policy manual. Lunday also said that a separate directive he issued last month prohibiting swastikas and nooses “remains in full effect.” Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Jack Rosen (D-NV) said that they had lifted their holds on Lunday’s nomination to lead the Coast Guard following his announcement. Tara Copp and Marianne LeVine report for the Washington Post.

The Trump administration will repurpose $2.6 billion in military housing assistance to pay $1,776 “warrior dividend” bonuses to service members, according to a senior administration official. Roughly 1.45 million service members, including 174,000 reservists, will receive the bonuses. Trump said on Wednesday that the money for the bonuses came from tariffs, but this was incorrect as Trump does not have the authority to spend the money from tariffs without authorization from Congress. Jacob Bogage, Noah Robertson, and Riley Beggin report for the Washington Post."