Wednesday, April 02, 2025

Idiots Chump, Musk and Jim Banks

Hot off the presses tonight, Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Make America A Pigsty Again" 


make America a pigsty again


That fat sow.  I've seen some dumb White House spokespeople in my life but she really is dumb, dumber than anyone before.  


Wisconsin did not go well for Musk and Chump and even the two Florida House wins weren't really good news.  Ha ha ha.  Erik De La Garza (RAW STORY) notes:

Two prominent GOP campaign veterans weren’t ready to take a victory lap after Republican state Sen. Randy Fine was projected as the winner of the special election to fill the congressional seat vacated by President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz.

“Republicans should be scared,” Trump 2020 campaign communications official Erin Perrine declared Tuesday. “And you want to know why? Because this is a safe district.”
She added a message for her party: “So Republicans now for the midterms, start fundraising, get moving! Because it’s going to cost a lot.”

The stark assessment for Republicans came as Tuesday’s Florida special election results have so far shown a massive shift from the 30-point lead Waltz maintained in the November general election – to the now 10-point advantage the Republican has over Democrat Josh Weil.

While CNN conservative commentator Shermichael Singleton told a CNN panel on Tuesday that “a win is a win,” he added: “I'm personally not happy with just winning by 8 or 9 points.”


The country is turning against Donald Chump.  Jill Covin (AP) reports:


A trio of elections on Tuesday provided early warning signs to Republicans and President Donald Trump at the beginning of an ambitious term, as Democrats rallied against his efforts to slash the federal government and the outsize role being played by billionaire Elon Musk.

In the marquee race for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, the conservative judge endorsed by Trump and backed by Musk and his groups to the tune of $21 million lost by a significant margin in a state Trump won in November. And while Florida Republicans held two of the most pro-Trump House districts in the country, both candidates also underperformed Trump's November margins.
The elections — the first major contests since Trump's return to power — were seen as an early measure of voter sentiment as Trump works with unprecedented speed to dramatically upend the federal government, clashing with the courts and seeking revenge as he tests the bounds of presidential power.



We want to move forward and learn and have a better world for our children but Chump just wants to destroy us and force us  into a past.   Matt Dixon (NBC NEWS) notes:

Republicans are assessing how Musk’s spotlight-stealing influence will shape key political races headed into the 2026 midterms, when Republicans will defend a narrow House majority. While turnout in Wisconsin didn’t hit presidential levels, it did come close to the number of people who voted in the 2022 midterms in the state — closer to a regular election than a low-turnout blip.

“Elon is great for Trump because he’s a shield,” said a Republican operative who advised Musk on the Wisconsin race. But, the person added, that same ability to attract so much heat is “bad for elections because he energizes the Democrats.”

The recent NBC News poll showed a majority of voters nationwide (51%) holding negative views of Musk, while 39% viewed him positively.

Let's talk about THIRD.  We had ideas for stories, we didn't get them done.  Ava and C.I. wrote a long piece that they are farming out to the gina & krista round-robin for Friday's edition.  Instead, because we couldn't pull together the other pieces, they started over last night and  wrote "Media: The intended and the unintended jokes."  We were going to make a lot of points in our other stories.  Ava and C.I. had to figure what the main points were after nothing else got completed.  They then did a quick write -- that they hate.  But they thought it would work in terms of reaching people.  And it did with Beau and my brother who both thought the points were solid and were also glad for more of an entertainment emphasis -- they cover a new sitcom on HULU and they worked that in for the candy while making the meat and bones the threats to us and the threats to those serving in the US military.  They tried to make it PEOPLE magazine ready.  

That's not an insult.  But they do big pieces and sometimes they do PEOPLE magazine pieces -- a piece that they plan to reach out to more than the usual readers that they have.  They did that a lot with Winter Soldier -- in the lead up to that, they'd put a notice in the middle of their media piece about the Winter Soldier hearings and they'd write something -- some topic -- that they thought would attract the most eye balls to get the word out on Winter Soldier.



Republican Sen. Jim Banks told a former Health and Human Services employee that he “probably deserved” to lose his job in a viral video on Tuesday, April 1.

The brief interaction between the U.S. senator from Indiana and Mack Schroeder was caught on video and shared by multiple outlets, including NBC News’ TikTok account. 

In the video, Schroeder, who does not appear on camera, follows and questions Banks as he is escorted to an elevator. 

“Hi, I was a worker at HHS. I was fired illegally on Feb. 14,” he said, referring to recent, mass layoffs and firings under the Trump administration.  “There are many people who are not getting social service programs, especially people with disabilities. Are you gonna do anything to stop what’s happening?”
“You probably deserved it," Banks said once inside the elevator.

The former HHS employee and a woman standing near him seem taken aback by Banks' response, both audibly exhibiting surprise.


What an ass.  And since PEOPLE's covering it, a lot of people will see it.  C.I. got two Iraq War veterans coverage in PEOPLE and, of course, called in a favor at ROLLING STONE to get Lt Ehren Watada covered.

I remember one ass that she tried to help and he went off on her after she called in a favor with a friend at ABC NEWS.  He got real and serious coverage and he was a titty baby about it.  She prepped her friend on what to say and ask of US officials so that the guy could come back and face as little consequences as possible -- he'd self-checked out of the military.  But even with it on the record of what would happen to him -- much less than they did to  others before him, he had a hissy fit and he started attacking her in e-mails.  She was like, "Okay, we're done.  I can't work with crazy so I can't help you."  But he just knew someone could.  No one did.  Now he goes around the world forever moving spot to spot to try to avoid being deported back to the US.  I can't remember what he would have gotten.  I want to say that the reporter got the US official on record for six weeks in a military facility and then the guy would be free.  But six weeks was too much for him.  So, to this day, he hops around the world thinking some day, something is going to change and they'll say, "Sure you went AWOL but that was long ago so let's forgive and forget."  That's never happening.  And the only reason they could paint the US official into a corner on the vet was because the US government was seriously concerned about the global attention the war resisters were receiving and wanted as many back in the US to kill coverage.  So they were drastically lowering the sentencing to try to get the vets to come back.


I'm pretty sure Canadian input helped him make the bad decision.  The Canadian War Resisters Support Group just used the vets to try to score political points.  The ones C.I. helped are still in Canada.  The ones that went through that group are all deported now, I believe.  C.I. got the group she worked with citizenship.  The ass I'm talking about went to Canada on his own and then got 'help' from the War Resisters Support Group.  His attorney contacted C.I. for help and C.I. was clear that she couldn't help ass the way she did the ones that had come to her.  

Ass was already a public figure and couldn't fly under the radar.  

The best she could do for ass was to get a promise on the record that he wouldn't have a long sentence if he came back.  And she got that and it wasn't good enough for him so he's screaming and yelling and harassing her and it's all her fault and blah blah blah.  And C.I.'s like, "Look, I didn't talk to you before you went to Canada.  If I had, I would've told you that if it works out, that means you're never coming back to the US.  I would've explained to you how I would get you citizenship and I would've told you to sit your ass down and blend in so that the US military doesn't feel they have something to prove with you.  You did everything wrong for someone who wanted to become a Canadian citizen and you show up after Canada announces you're being deported and you expect me to pull a miracle out of my ass.  I got a public concession that you would face only six weeks imprisonment.  Nobody else got you s**t.  I can't work with crazy, you're on your own."


Here's C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Wednesday, April 1, 2025.  Another security breach, calls for an independent investigation, administration caught lying about a deportation, and much more.



More than 30 Senate Democrats have called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to appoint a special counsel to investigate the Houthi Signal chat scandal, as the White House insists the case is closed on how a journalist was looped into high-level military discussions.

“In addition to the reckless inclusion of a journalist in the chat, we are deeply concerned about this serious breach in the proper handling of such information and deliberations,” 31 Senate Democrats wrote in a 6-page Monday letter to Bondi. 

“Given the extraordinary circumstances of this shocking incident and the significant public interests at stake, it is imperative that you immediately appoint a Special Counsel to thoroughly and impartially investigate whether any of the government officials involved violated federal criminal law,”

The lawmakers said appointing a special counsel is “appropriate” in cases where the Department of Justice (DOJ) “may have a conflict of interest or extraordinary circumstances are present, a criminal investigation is warranted, and it is in the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to investigate the matter.”  


As we noted in yesterday's snapshot, that is only one security breach.  Since yesterday's snapshot, yet another has emerged.  Adam Lynch explains:


The Washington Post broke the story on Tuesday that aides of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz have been using commercial email to share information that could pose a risk to the U.S. if revealed to adversaries.

The Post revealed members of President Donald Trump’s National Security Council — particularly White House national security adviser Michael Waltz — conducted government business over personal Gmail accounts, according to documents and interviews with three U.S. officials. National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes told the paperhe hadn't personally seen evidence of the national security adviser using the Gmail account as described, but he said Waltz's "legacy contacts" have occasionally emailed work-related information to accounts.

“They are so g----n stupid, dangerous and hypocritical,”wrote Democratic National Committee Chief Marketing Officer Shelby Cole on X. Cole referenced the drumbeat of GOP voices calling for the head of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during Trump’s first campaign roughly eight years ago.


They are that stupid.  And the security breaches also include access to personal data of private citizens.  They don't know what they're doing and they protect no one.   The White House is exercising a combination of gross negligence and incompetence.
 

The latest security breach was discussed on MSNBC yesterday. 












The White House has declared the controversy around a Signal chat for a military strike that inadvertently included a journalist to be “closed,” but the episode has left some in President Trump’s orbit distrustful of national security adviser Mike Waltz.

White House officials are eager to move past the controversy, in which Waltz mistakenly added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, to a group of administration officials discussing planned strikes against the Houthis. The White House has offered no specifics on any discipline handed down or protocol changes to avoid future mishaps.




Senator Tammy Duckworth's office issued the following yesterday:

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC) and U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC)—along with SVAC Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) called out the White House for declaring SignalGate—the most devastating and significant national security breach in years—“case-closed” without holding any senior Administration officials responsible for leaking classified information through an unclassified communications channel, putting the lives of our servicemembers at greater risk. In her remarks, Duckworth called on Republicans to join her in demanding congressional hearings and an independent investigation to look into the Trump officials on the Signal chat—urging her colleagues on the other side of the aisle to remember that they serve the people of this country, not Donald Trump’s ego. Full video of the presser is available on Twitter/X, Facebook and Senator Duckworth’s YouTube.

“It is outrageous that Donald Trump is trying to sweep SignalGate under the rug—declaring this egregious national security breach ‘case closed’ with absolutely no repercussions for anyone involved—after Pete Hegseth and others in the Administration put our troops—and our national security—at even greater risk,” said Senator Duckworth. “If Republicans actually care about our troops like they proclaim, they must do the bare minimum and join me in demanding an independent investigation as well as hearings looking into every official who was on that Signal chat—and Trump must fire Hegseth immediately for leaking classified information. With each second Hegseth remains Secretary of Defense, his incompetence emboldens our adversaries, weakens our national security and makes Americans less safe.”

“The Trump Administration’s reckless Signal chat security breach is appalling and chillingly dangerous to our military men and women,” said Senator Blumenthal. “This shocking and dangerous failure to maintain operational security at the highest levels of leadership demands accountability. While the White House is turning a blind eye to the Trump Cabinet’s carelessness with classified information—claiming it’s “case closed”—many questions remain and the American people deserve answers. Our Republican colleagues need to step up and face up to this breakdown in security that put our pilots at unacceptable higher risk. Until then, I will continue to call for a comprehensive criminal investigation into how this security breach occurred and demand that Secretary Hegseth and Waltz resign.”

“As someone who has planned and executed strikes off an aircraft carrier, I know there is no more sensitive information than the time on target for aircraft conducting a military strike over hostile territory,” said Senator Kelly. “The lack of accountability from those in this chat—and from the White House—isn’t just reprehensible, it’s dangerous. The American people deserve answers, and our servicemembers deserve leadership that protects them, not politics that puts them in harm’s way.” 

“The Signal chat security breach reaffirms what we have known all along—that Trump’s national security officials are fundamentally unfit to serve,” said Senator Hirono. “Sharing attack plans, timing, and targets on devices that may well be compromised by adversaries endangered the lives of our servicemembers. Despite jeopardizing our national security, no one involved in this debacle has offered any assurance that this will not happen again or taken accountability for their actions. That is unacceptable. Democrats will continue working to understand exactly how this grave security breach happened and hold those responsible for this fiasco accountable.”

Since he was first nominated, Duckworth has made it clear that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is unqualified to lead our men and women in uniform. During Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, Duckworth demonstrated some of the areas where he lacks the experience or knowledge that any serious Defense Secretary nominee should have, grilling him on basic questions that he failed to answer. She asked him if he ever led an audit, and he would not confirm. She asked him to describe at least one of the main international security agreements a Secretary of Defense is responsible for leading, and he could not name any. She asked him to name at least one nation that is a part of ASEAN, an organization with several member states that have mutual defense treaties, alliances or enhanced defense cooperation agreements with the US, but none of the three countries he named are part of the organization.

After The Atlantic reported that Hegseth sent classified war plans in a Signal group chat with other Trump Administration officials, putting the lives of our men and women in uniform at greater risk and undermining the effectiveness of the mission, Duckworth released a statement demanding his resignation and calling him a “f*cking liar.”

Last week, Duckworth joined fellow SASC member Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and 14 other Senate colleagues in calling on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), SASC and SFRC to hold hearings to investigate why members of President Trump’s national security team were recklessly discussing classified military operations on unsecured devices. In the letter, the Senators also criticized the incompetence and carelessness of how these Trump officials mishandled the situation and inadvertently added a journalist to the group chat. Additionally, Duckworth joined Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and 12 of her colleagues in demanding answers from President Trump about what disciplinary action will be taken in response to SignalGate and emphasized that the Administration is in direct violation of the Presidential Records Act.

-30-


There needs to be a full investigation and there needs to be accountability.  


Turning to the topic of immigration, Kilmar Armado Abrego-Garcia.  Remember the name.  He is one of many targeted by Donald Chump.  He is one of many who was deported for no real reason.  He was part of the 300 Venezuelans.  Chump lied but he always lies.  He used an 18th century wartime law to justify the deportations  and he did so despite an order from US  District Judge James E. Boasberg blocking the deportation.  Propaganda Pig Karoline Leavitt insisted the court order had "no lawful basis."  Kilmar had a lawful basis to have his deportation considered by a judge before he was thrown out of this country. 


  After JD Vance last year played perhaps the most prominent role of anyone in spreading a baseless claim about Haitian migrants in Ohio eating people’s pets — a claim that drew strong rebukes even from some fellow Republicans — he explained himself thusly.

“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Vance said.

[. . .]


Monday brought some long-anticipated news about the evidence against recently deported migrants. The administration two weeks ago rapidly deported hundreds of them to a prison in El Salvador, many without due process because they were allegedly gang members. It relied on a rarely invoked power that had only been used in wartime. But lawyers and family members for several of the migrants have claimed that their tattoos and other evidence were misconstrued and that they didn’t belong to gangs. That raised the possibility that this lack of due process had landed the wrong people in a notorious foreign prison.

   Well, we’ve now quickly learned that at least one person was indeed sent there in error. The Trump Justice Department on Monday cited an “administrative error” for including on the deportation flights a man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who legally couldn’t be deported to El Salvador.

This proves the administration’s hasty deportation process was indeed prone to the types of errors avoidable through the due process the administration cast aside. It has been just two weeks, and the government has already been forced to admit that a person was wrongfully deported to a foreign prison, while saying he can’t be returned. What are the odds he’s the only one? 




Vice President JD Vance has reacted defiantly to news that a government department deported a man in "error," commenting that it was "gross to get fired up" about the case.
[. . .]
Kilmer Armado Abrego-Garcia, who has a United States citizen wife and a 5-year-old child, was stopped by ICE officers and sent to the prison CECOT in El Salvador, according to legal filings.

Abrego-Garcia, who came to the U.S. at age 16 in 2011 after fleeing gang threats in El Salvador, according to filings, had been detained by ICE in March over his alleged affiliation with the gang MS-13.

This suspected affiliation came from a 2019 incident, according to his attorneys, when an informant made the claim he was linked to gangs. Abrego-Garcia had already filed for asylum, and a judge had withheld his removal to the country, which was a protected status. The judge ruled he could be targeted by gangs if deported.

His lawyers said Abrego-Garcia was not affiliated with gangs and that the government had not produced evidence to prove otherwise.

After Jon Favreau, Barack Obama's former director of speechwriting turned podcast host, called on Vance and other Trump administration figures to comment on X, formerly Twitter, the vice president said that it was "gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported."



The soul-less Miss Sassy fails to grasp that first-in-line on being fired up over Kilmer's deportation is Miss Sassy himself.  As Vice President, he should be outraged by what happened.  Instead, he takes no ownership and he offers no apology.  It goes to the fact that he has no soul.  He has no integrity and he is not fit for public office.  After acknowledging this grave error (which he has still not done), Miss Sassy should have immediately informed the country that the administration was working on securing Kilmer's release from the prison in El Salvador this country put him in and returning him to the United States.

Again, Miss Sassy is not suited to be Vice President.  His refusal to do what now needs to be done goes to his immaturity and his hatred of others.  Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) observes of Miss Sassy's refusal to take accountability:

Vance also attacked Politico legal reporter Kyle Cheney, who was covering the story, as "unable or unwilling to look at the facts," adding that "in 2019, an Immigration Judge (under the Biden administration) determined that the deported man was, in fact, a member of the MS-13 gang."

Trump, not Biden, was president in 2019.

"Vance is badly wrong here," wrote attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council. "In 2019, a police informant alleged the guy was in MS-13. He spent a year in ICE detention as a result, then won his case. He’s been out for the last five years, married to a U.S. citizen, has two kids, and STILL has no criminal record at all."

"JD Vance needs to work on his reading comprehension because the court document says HE WAS NEVER CONVICTED OF BEING A GANG MEMBER and the Trump administration itself admits he was only deported due to an ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR," wrote political analyst Judd Legum. "This is cruelty and incompetence resulting in moral catastrophe."

"Vance is such a strange breed of liar because it's precisely his appeal to facts and his desire to appear in command of them that trips him up and allows him to be caught," wrote former New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff.



Propaganda Pig Karoline, faced with reality, just continued to lie and squeal as she wallowed in her own slop:


On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the deportation by claiming Kilmar Abrego Garcia was a leader of the notorious MS-13 gang who had engaged in human trafficking. 

“Foreign terrorists do not have legal protections in the United States of America anymore, and it is within the President's executive authority and power to deport these heinous individuals from American communities,” she said.

Just a day earlier, Justice Department lawyers admitted in a court filing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had mistakenly arrested and deported Abrego Garcia, despite being aware that he had been granted a form of protected legal status called “withholding of removal” in 2019 after an immigration judge found he would likely be targeted by gangs for persecution and torture if sent back to El Salvador, the place he’d fled when he came to the U.S. in 2011.


  
We'll wind down with this press release from Senator Patty Murray's office:

ICYMI: Senator Murray, VA Researchers, Employees, Contractors in WA State Slam Trump & Elon’s Plans to Decimate VA With Further Mass Layoffs, Harm Services Veterans Rely On

ICYMI: Murray Statement on Trump & Elon Plans to Decimate the VA, Firing 80,000 Employees and Putting Veterans’ Care in Grave Danger

*** VIDEO of Senator Murray’s Remarks and Questioning HERE***

Washington, D.C. — Today, at a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing to consider pending nominations, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, questioned Lieutenant Colonel James Baehr, nominee to be the General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and Captain Richard Topping, nominee to be Chief Financial Officer at VA. Senator Murray pressed the nominees on the Trump administration’s plans to fire over 80,000 VA employees, and how those cuts will harm veterans’ earned benefits and services. Senator Murray also underscored her concern with how this administration is picking and choosing which laws to follow instead of reviewing compliance with every law Congress passed to ensure care for veterans.

Senator Murray began by emphasizing the sacred oath we make to our veterans, that we will take care of them when they return home, and questioning Mr. Baehr on the impact of mass firing tens of thousands of employees at VA. “I, and many of us, are very concerned about Trump’s plan now to fire over 80,000 VA employees and how that would seriously disrupt veterans being able to access not just their obviously, education benefits, but their disability benefits, their home loan benefits, all that they’ve earned.”

“Do you support those widespread cuts to VA’s workforce?,” Murray asked Mr. Baehr.

Mr. Baehr dodged the question, saying: “I’m not at the VA and have no role in any of those choices or decisions. As an individual who uses VA myself, of course I want to ensure we have the best services and benefits—I also as a veteran want to see the VA improve and I think this entire committee does as well. So, I would review the law, and I would advise the Secretary on following a legal path and pursuing his vision for putting the veteran at the center of all that we do, if confirmed.”

Senator Murray followed up, “Do you think that firing 80,000 people will make it more or less difficult for veterans to get access?”

“I have not looked at the situation myself,” Mr. Baher replied, dodging again. “And I don’t know—I have just read the public reporting on it. I understand there is some exempt positions. The Secretary said that he is focused on care for veterans and making sure veterans don’t lose care or benefits. So, I don’t know where those opportunities for efficiency, or not, exist in this system. My role, if confirmed, would be to ensure that everything we do is lawful and compliant with Title V, Title 38, and other rules and regulations.”

Senator Murray continued, asking Mr. Topping and Mr. Baehr on the ability of DOGE and the Trump administration to pick and choose which laws to follow: “I would just remind all of us that this is a people organization and if we fire 80,000 people, it’s going to be really challenging and difficult—if not impossible—for our veterans to get the care and benefits that they’ve earned… This Committee has worked to pass a lot of really important pieces of legislation that require vital changes at the VA. That includes the Caregivers Program that passed when I was chair of the Committee, as well as the Deborah Sampson Act and of course the PACT Act, which just passed recently. During Secretary Collins’ nomination hearing, he testified that he agreed with providing vital health care and benefits to veterans, and that we have to get it right.”

“However, I just have to say—I have really serious concerns that this administration now is picking and choosing which laws to follow, which means not living up to the promises we have made our veterans and really ignoring the intent of Congress. For example, we know that VA is doing a review to determine whether it is fully compliant with the MISSION Act, but not reviewing compliance with any other piece of legislation. Mr. Topping let me just start with you, is the PACT Act less important that the MISSION Act?”

Mr. Topping responded, “Senator, I think all the legislation passed by this Congress is important.”

“Should VA pick and choose which laws to follow?” Senator Murray pressed.

Mr. Topping replied, “Senator, I think like any organization with limited resources, time, and capabilities, there is always a prioritization, none is more or less important. But I think what the Secretary said he’s doing is—he’s focused on maximizing efficiency, redeploying those resources so they’re front-facing and essential of veterans, and ensuring that the veteran remains at the center of everything that we do. I am not there, I am not exactly sure how the prioritization works, but I understand what the Secretary has articulated his goals to be.”

Senator Murray turned the same question to Mr. Baehr, to which he replied: “I believe that the VA should follow all the laws, and if confirmed I would advise the Secretary on how he can fulfill his role in the best course of action with all the laws and regulations that are passed by Congress.”

“I just have a few seconds left and I just want to ask you, Mr. Baehr, do you think it’s legal for DOGE to have access to veterans’ personal information?” Senator Murray followed up.  

Mr. Baehr responded, “Senator, again, I am not at VA, and I am not familiar with what is going on. I’m just operating with what I have read in the public news. And there are… significant protections for veterans’ information. All three veterans before you, our information is in VA, so we are certainly sympathetic. I don’t want anyone looking at my podiatry records or other…”

“Personal, financial, health, all of that,” Senator Murray interjected. “So, if the Department is given directives by DOGE, or by the White House, that you believe are illegal, will you follow those directives?”

“I will always pursue the Constitution and follow the laws. I don’t believe I will be given illegal directives, but I will always follow the law,” Mr. Baehr replied.

Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee—as the daughter of a World War II veteran, supporting veterans and their families has always been an important priority for her. Senator Murray has been a leading voice in the Seante speaking out forcefully against President Trump and Elon Musk’s mass firing of VA employees and VA researchers across the country and Elon Musk and DOGE’s infiltration of the VA, including accessing veterans’ sensitive personal information. In recent weeks, Senator Murray and her colleagues sent letters to VA Secretary Doug Collins demanding that the VA swiftly reverse moves to cut VA researchers, as well as multiple letters pressing Secretary Collins to sever Elon Musk and DOGE’s access to any VA or other government system with information about veterans, and protect veterans, their families, and VA staff from unprecedented access to sensitive information. Senator Murray grilled Trump’s nominee for VA Deputy Secretary, Dr. Paul Lawrence, on the mass firings of VA employees and VA researchers, and voted against Doug Collins’s nomination to be VA Secretary in early February, sounding the alarm over reports of DOGE at the VA and making clear that the Trump administration’s lawlessness was putting our national security and our veterans at risk.

A fact sheet outlining how Trump and Musk are endangering Veterans’ care is HERE.

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