Thursday, August 14, 2025

Chump has brought so much shame to the office of president

Amanda Clark (COLUMBUS LEDGER-ENQUIRER) notes:

President Donald Trump has called the Jeffrey Epstein case a “hoax" pushed by Democrats, fueling concerns over his administration's handling of related documents. Comedian Jon Stewart suggested that Trump is attempting to obscure the legitimacy of the files due to possible personal implications.

We are still talking about Convicted Felon Chump and his friendship with dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and living pedophile Ghislaine Maxwell. 


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He really is the trashiest person to ever occupy the Oval Office.  I have no idea if our country will ever truly recover from his lies, crimes, hate, and greed.  Nikki McCann Ramirez (ROLLING STONE) reports:


Even before Donald Trump officially began his second term in office, his family businesses were beginning the race to milk the presidency for every cent they could. Now, a new analysis from The New Yorker has put a potential dollar figure on how much Trump's crypto ventures, real estate deals, licensing agreements, and other grifts have netted America's first family over the course of Trump's time in politics: a staggering $3.4 billion.

  The total is an estimate, as the Trump Organization and its various auxiliary companies and ventures - which are largely under the control of the president's adult children - have not been entirely transparent regarding their finances.

The New Yorker estimated that the president's various cryptocurrency had generated at least $2.37 billion in value, financial investments coordinated by Donald Jr. and Eric Trump have generated $339.6 million, and Trump's flagship Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, has raked in $125 million in extra profits.

Tack onto that $127.7 million in legal fee collection and merchandise sales and a media empire estimated to be worth $116 million, and it becomes clear that the Trumps have built themselves a corporate empire on the back of their patriarch's public office. 

Just last month, the president took a detour from a state trip to Scotland, for which millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on travel and security, to inaugurate a new Trump golf course near Aberdeen, Scotland. On that same trip, Trump hosted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his private Turnberry golf club - which (as was the practice during Trump's first term) will likely profit off of the president's choice to use it as a venue. The same week, it was reported that Trump has privately discussed hosting the G20 summit of world leaders at his Doral golf club.


He has brought so much shame to the office of president.

Sullied is too light of a term to apply to what he has done to the office. 

It is so depressing.  If you need a lift, read the group humor post from a few hours ago:

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for today:


Thursday, August 14, 2025.  Chump's efforts to cover up his Epstein connection have made things even worse for him -- politically and legally -- while Loose Lips Hegseth continues to self-embarrass and this time he might take down Joni We're All Going To Die Ernst with him.


Starting off with the never ending Epstein scandal, Travis Gettys reports:


President Donald Trump has reportedly been frantically calling aides and allies seeking a “big thing” to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, and he's purportedly considering a major geopolitical move to turn the page politically.

Trump biographer Michael Wolff told The Daily Beast's new podcast "Inside Trump's Head" that the president has been making "relentless" phone calls demanding ideas to get him past questions about his longtime relationships with the late sex offender and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Let me go back about a week or so, or 10 days, when Trump started to say to everyone who would listen — and everyone listens to Donald Trump — to staffers and on the phone calls, the relentless phone calls that he’s constantly making, he said, ‘I need a big thing, I need a big thing,'" Wolff told the podcast. ”What’s the ‘big thing?’ And everyone understood that this was code for I need a distraction from Epstein. What’s the thing that will move us beyond that?”


He's such an idiot.  He's such an idiot, in fact, that he could be Harry Enton on CNN.  This isn't going away.  The media rarely seems to get it and politicians never do.  This is the sort of event that creates a genderquake but it's so much more than that.  I'm not explaining while he's flailing -- not explaining here, I explained six weeks ago in piece for the gina & krista round-robin why this story was going to blaze like a fire.  Chump doesn't get it and I'm not going to help him by explaining it to him.  But it's not going away.  He's a good con artist but he's rather stupid when it comes to people and human nature.  


Yesterday the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee issued the following:



Judiciary Democrats Demand Answers Following Trump DOJ’s Sudden Transfer of Convicted Child Abuser and Epstein Accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell After Interview with Top DOJ Official
August 13, 2025
Press Release
Democrats Seek Release of Maxwell Interview Transcript and Related Materials and Note That Trump Administration May Have Violated DOJ, BOP Policies to Transfer Epstein’s Accomplice to Minimum-Security Prison Camp

Washington, D.C. (August 13, 2025)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, led Committee Democrats in sending a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director William K. Marshall III pressing for answers regarding the unusual and abrupt transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell from a more restrictive BOP facility to a minimum security facility in Texas, amid concerns that the Trump Administration may be attempting to coax favorable testimony or strategic silence from Maxwell—Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice and co-conspirator—in order to cover up the full extent of the relationship between Trump and Epstein.  

“These actions raise substantial concerns that the Administration may now be attempting to tamper with a crucial witness, conceal President Trump’s relationship with convicted sex offenders, and coax Ms. Maxwell into providing false or misleading testimony in order to protect the President. The transfer also appears to violate both DOJ and Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policies. We write to demand DOJ and BOP provide all documents and information related to Deputy Attorney General Blanche’s interview of Ms. Maxwell and the sudden decision to transfer her to a facility with lower security and greater freedom for inmates, which was, prior to this extraordinary transfer, categorically off-limits to sex offenders,” wrote the Members.


Reports on August 1 revealed that Maxwell, who had been serving a 20-year prison sentence in Florida for exploiting and sexually abusing underage girls, was transferred to an all-women prison camp in Texas, which is listed as one of the “Best Jails in America to Serve Time.”


The unexplained transfer of Maxwell to a lower-security and more comfortable facility came amid the Trump Administration’s refusal to release the Epstein files and less than a week after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, President Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, met with Maxwell and her attorney behind closed doors with no line prosecutors present. DOJ’s decision to arrange multiple private meetings with Maxwell raises concerns of conflicts of interest, witness tampering, and suborning of false testimony.


The transfer also appears to violate BOP policy, which mandates that a person of convicted of sex trafficking, like Maxwell, universally warrant a Public Safety Factor (PSF) designation as a “Sex Offender” and are ineligible to serve their sentence at a minimum-security facility like the one in Texas that allows “access to the community.”

Judiciary Democrats demanded the DOJ and BOP provide information, documents, and communications regarding Maxwell’s transfer and her interview with Deputy Attorney General Blanche.

“It is imperative that the Administration come clean regarding the full scope of Mr. Blanche’s interview of Ms. Maxwell and the sudden decision to transfer her to a minimum-security prison camp. The Committee must have access to all documents and information regarding these actions to assess whether DOJ officials and the President have abused prosecutorial and law enforcement resources to shield the President and mislead the public,” concluded the Members.

Click here to read the letter.


That release follows one earlier this week from Senator Ruben Gallego's office:


WASHINGTON – Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) condemned the recent transfer of convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell from FCI Tallahassee, a low security federal prison, to FPC Bryan, a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.

The transfer occurred shortly after Maxwell met privately with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche – Trump’s former personal lawyer – to discuss individuals associated with Jeffrey Epstein. The Senators note that the Department of Justice has yet to provide any clear explanation for the decision, raising serious concerns about whether Maxwell is receiving preferential treatment.

“Given the serious nature of Ms. Maxwell’s crimes, which include a conviction and 20-year sentence for the sex trafficking of minors, this transfer raises deeply troubling questions,” the Senators wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. “The lack of transparency surrounding the decision, particularly following her closed-door meeting with the Deputy Attorney General, undermines public confidence in the Department’s impartiality and raises concerns about whether she is receiving preferential treatment.”

The letter cites Bureau of Prisons policy requiring that anyone who, like Maxwell, had “sexual contact with a minor,” be housed in at least a low security-level institution without exception unless granted a waiver, which there has been no indication Maxwell obtained. The Senators also note that victims were not notified of her transfer, in apparent violation of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

“Moreover, at a time when the Department has pledged greater transparency regarding Epstein-related matters, this unexplained transfer sends the opposite message,” the Senators continued. “To date, there has been no clear explanation for why the transfer was made, suggesting the administration has simply been paying lip service to repeated calls for transparency.”

The Senators are calling on the Department to produce all documents and communications related to the transfer, any records of Maxwell’s communications with DOJ officials in the 30 days preceding the move, and documentation of victim notification efforts.  

Read the full letter HERE.




56% of Republicans think that Chump "knew some or a lot about the sex crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein," explained Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC last night.  The number jumps to 71% when you bring in non-Republicans.




Lawrence O'Donnell: 71% of Americans think Donald Trump knew some or a lot about the sex crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein against children before the investigations into Epstein even began.  We've had 45 presidents of the United States and only one -- only one of them was friends with a rapist of children  who claimed to be that president's best friend for ten years. 

In the video above, Lawrence discusses the issue with US House Rep Jamie Raskin and, of course, the sweetheart deal that administration has made with convicted pedophile Ghislaine Maxwell is only the freshest layer of Chump's crimes.  

Yesterday's snapshot noted that Senator Sheldon Whitehouse discussed Maxwell with Lawrence on Tuesday night's show but that MSNBC hadn't posted it to YOUTUBE.  It's now posted on the senator's YOUTUBE channel




 

The timeline of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump’s friendship is not adding up.

Despite doing everything within his power to distance himself from the pedophilic financier, interviews conducted prior to Epstein’s death suggest that the pair were close long after Trump claimed to have thrown him out of Mar-a-Lago for being a “creep.” A new timeline compiled by CNN reveals just how long the two men were entwined.
Their friendship spanned three decades, but in a 2019 interview, Epstein described Trump as his “closest friend for 10 years.” That would have been 15 years after they had a falling out over a bidding war on a Palm Springs oceanfront mansion, and 11 years after Epstein was first convicted on child sex offenses.

Three other individuals who knew the men have also described them as best buds. They include Maria Farmer, a visual artist hired by Epstein who provided the first criminal complaint of sex abuse to law enforcement; Stacey Williams, a model who referred to Trump as Epstein’s “wing man” after the Manhattan real estate mogul allegedly groped her: and Jack O’Donnell, the former president and chief operating officer of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, who recalled scolding Trump in the late 1980s after he arrived at the gambling floor with Epstein and three underaged girls.


His lies -- his many, many lies -- don't kill the story or the interest.  In fact, it's just adding kindling to the fire.  

Meanwhile, FOX "NEWS" harridan Jeanine Pirro was slurry beside Chump this week (were her dentures slipping?) and railing against DC and what she saw as the injustice of not trying 14 year olds as adults and later she whined on TV about people being "rehabilitated with ice cream socials and yoga."  Sarah K. Burris explains the problem with Pirro's ranting in a semi-lucid state:

Pirro's comments come at an awkward time for the Trump administration after the Justice Department intervened to change the rules for Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was recently moved to what some describe as a kind of "country club" prison.

Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of "facilitating and participating in the sexual abuse of children" and other crimes, the DOJ said in a 2021 release.
Due to the severity of the crimes, Maxwell was ineligible to serve her 20-year sentence in the minimum-security camp, Federal Prison Camp Bryan, near Houston, Texas. However, after speaking with Trump's former personal attorney, Maxwell got to move.

Legal analyst and podcaster Allison Gill was the first to report a Bureau of Prisons source who called the move "such obvious corruption."

Gill questioned whether it was part of a deal made between Trump's ex-attorney, Todd Blanche, and Maxwell.

"The unit that approves waivers for sex offenders to be moved to minimum security camps is the Designation and Sentence Computation Center near Dallas. Currently, the senior deputy assistant director is Rick Stover, a career BOP employee who speaks frequently with White House officials," Gill wrote.

Maxwell's new home doesn't require the typical orange jumpsuit. Instead, inmates are given "khaki pants and a khaki shirt," the BBC reported. The women can use a gym facility and take yoga classes, the Daily Telegraph said in one report. Some are also allowed to participate in a puppy training program for service animals, but the program's leader barred Maxwell.


That's the kind of scandal that gives meaning to the phrase: It's not the crime, it's the cover up.

A sitting president made a deal with a convicted felon.  The deal was to give her what she wanted.  Didn't matter that she exploited and assaulted thousands of girls and young women.  

Chump gave her what she wanted and lied about it.  Lied to the American people.  He didn't talk to Todd Blanche about what Maxwell was offering.  He didn't know why Maxwell got a prison transfer.

He's a liar whose actions on this alone rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors and, yes, are impeachable offense.

Maxwell is someone who, when she gets out of prison, will be required to register as a sex offender.  And she has been moved to Camp Fed where, as we noted yesterday, she apparently will be able to come and go on a 'work' release program as well.  That's the kind of sweetheart deal that Alex Acosta gave Jeffrey Epstein remember.  And then Chump brought Acosta into his cabinet.  And when news of the sweetheart deal emerged, Acosta had to resign. WIKIPEDIA:


In 2007–2008, as U.S. attorney, Acosta approved a plea deal that allowed child-trafficking ring-leader Jeffrey Epstein to plead guilty to a single state charge of solicitation, in exchange for a federal non-prosecution agreement.[2] After Epstein's arrest in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges, Acosta faced renewed and harsher criticism for his role in the 2008 non-prosecution agreement, as well as criticism and calls for his resignation as Secretary of Labor; he resigned on July 19 and was replaced by Eugene Scalia. 

So Chump knew this deal with Maxwell was wrong -- grasp that.  He knew.  He knew because it's so similar to the deal Acosta made which, when exposed, forced Acosta to resign from Chump's first administration.   Chump knew this was wrong but he gave it to her and betrayed everyone when he did.  He betrayed the survivors, he betrayed the legal system, he betrayed his office, he betrayed the MAGA delirious who saw him as someone fighting against the abuse of children and he betrayed all the American people by lying to us and pretending that (a) nothing out of the norm happened and that (b) he wasn't involved in any of it (when, in fact, he had to sign off on these things with at least verbal consent).

And Acosta isn't the only one in Chump's orbit that worked to give Epstein a sweetheart deal.  There's Attorney General Pam Bondi.  Last month, Holly Baltz (PALM BEACH POST) noted:

When U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi was the chief legal officer for Florida, could she have prosecuted fellow resident Jeffrey Epstein for child sex crimes?

Legally, yes, she could have, legal experts say. The bigger question, however, is whether she should have felt compelled to do so.




 A Florida Republican serving on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform insists a key figure in the Jeffrey Epstein prosecution scandal can still "be called to testify" on Capitol Hill.

U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who represents a St. Petersburg district, said the fact that former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta is not among those presently on the panel's witness list does not rule him out.

"This does not take Alex Acosta off the table," said Luna, one of three Floridians on the high-profile congressional committee, in a statement emailed to The Palm Beach Post. "At any time, he can be called to testify."


At any time?  Why not right now?  Because there's far too much to hide.   Jack Royston (NEWSWEEK) reports:

Ghislaine Maxwell's transfer to a minimum security prison "reeks of a coordinated protection racket run at taxpayer expense to shield the president," a senator said.

Maxwell was jailed for 20 years in 2022 for various crimes related to sex trafficking over her role in grooming girls for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse.
Questions have been asked after she was moved to a minimum security prison in Texas shortly after meetings with the Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche over two days in July.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, former Rhode Island attorney general, asked for all documents relating to the transfer as he raised concerns about Maxwell's potential "access to the community" from a minimum security facility despite being a convicted sex offender.


Some (liars) are insisting that Maxwell isn't going to be eligible for a 'work release.'  But just being at Club Fed means she is eligible.  Laerke Christensen (SNOPES) explains:

  • In August 2025, a claim circulated online that a federal prison in Texas cleared Jeffrey Epstein associate and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell to leave the facility on work release. The claim came from a Substack blog post by Allison Gill, the owner of an independent podcast network and a former government employee.

  • Gill's blog post included screenshots of what she claimed was Maxwell's Bureau of Prisons (BOP) record that showed a "custody level" that implied Maxwell was allowed to leave prison to work. Snopes could not independently verify Gill's screenshots because the blog post used an anonymous source. A BOP spokesperson said the agency could not vouch for the screenshots' authenticity..

  • However, according to BOP guidelines, minimum security prisons like FPC Bryan, to which Maxwell transferred on Aug. 1, 2025, can only house inmates with custody levels that allow them to leave the facility's secure perimeter for work. Therefore, according to the BOP's own guidelines, Maxwell would have such a custody level.


Stacy M. Brown (SACREMENTO OBSERVER) points out the latest findings in THE ECONOMIST-YOUGOV poll,  "The recent transfer of Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security Texas prison is opposed by 47 percent of Americans, with just 14 percent in favor and 38 percent unsure. Nearly half say they are not sure whether Trump ordered the move; 36 percent believe he did."

It's not going away and there's so much more coming.  Rhian Lubin (INDEPENDENT) reports:


GOP rebel Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna plan to bring survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse to Washington, D.C., in a bipartisan push to get Congress to release the controversial “files” in the case.

Massie of Kentucky, who has created a headache for President Donald Trump this year after rebelling against the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” said that he will host a joint press conference at the Capitol with the California congressman, several survivors and their attorneys.
“I will be hosting a press conference at the Capitol, joined by survivors of Epstein and Maxwell's abuse — several of whom will be speaking out for the first time,” Massie and Khanna announced Monday in a post on X. “The survivors deserve justice and Americans deserve transparency.”

The Epstein case engulfed the Trump administration in controversy for weeks following a Justice Department and FBI memo in early July that said no further files in the case would be released, contrary to the president’s previous pledges to do so. That sparked fury among the Trump base, which has long sought their release. Trump has defended the move even as politicians on both sides of the aisle call for their release.



To rebuild trust, we need transparency, accountability, and a bold anti-corruption agenda. Progressives must lead the way and show Americans that our government can be good and effective.

One place to start is calling for the release of the Epstein files. The administration’s refusal to release them is just the latest example of how a lack of transparency fuels distrust.

For at least a decade, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked and abused young women and children. There are more than 1,000 victims, according to the Justice Department. Lawsuits allege Epstein’s criminal abuse of minors spanned over 30 years. These victims deserve justice, and the public deserves to know who was involved and who is still being shielded today.
Americans on both the left and the right are outraged by the government’s failure to fully release this information; 79 percent of the public wants the files to be released, and a majority thinks the government is covering up evidence.

Releasing the full Epstein files -- while protecting the privacy and safety of victims -- must be a top priority. It is a simple question of whether our leaders stand with America’s children and victims of abuse or with the wealthy and powerful who are being protected.

That is why I have spoken out since 2019 about this issue and supported then–House Oversight Committee chairman Elijah Cummings’s investigation into Epstein’s death. It’s also why I am leading the current effort in Congress to release the files, first with an amendment that was blocked in the House Rules Committee and now with a bipartisan bill being co-led by Representative Thomas Massie.


Let's move over to Loose Lips Hegseth.  The TV personality who now plays Secretary of Defense just can't seem to do his job.  Carla Babb (NAVY TIMES) reports:


Democratic congresswomen, including several military veterans, are demanding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth apologize and resign after reposting a video about a Christian nationalist church with pastors who advocate for the repeal of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, and feel women should not serve in certain combat and leadership positions.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Army helicopter pilot who lost both of her legs during combat in Iraq, told Military Times, "these views are antiquated, flat out wrong and - more dangerously - designed to justify discrimination and mistreatment of women, including those who sacrifice in uniform to defend Americans."

"He is the least qualified secretary of defense in our nation's history - despite commanding tens of thousands of women who actually are qualified and earned their jobs, unlike him," she added. "Hegseth's incompetence and outright idiocy continue to put our troops and national security at greater risk every day he remains in office, and he should resign in disgrace immediately."

In the CNN video, the pastors also said they want the United States to be a Christian republic. They call for the criminalization of homosexuality and expect women to submit to their husbands.
[. . .]
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Penn.), an Air Force veteran who has called for Hegseth's resignation before, told Military Times that Hegseth's "recent post promoting a Christian Nationalist theology that is opposed to women's suffrage and calls for homosexuality to be criminalized is unacceptable political-religious advocacy for a cabinet member."

"Sadly it is just one more example of the many ways he and the Trump administration are undermining and sidelining women and the LGBTQ community, erasing their accomplishments and stripping rights that were hard-fought and fully deserved," she added.


When I saw the headline, my immediate thought was, "What's Phoney Joni going to say?"  

Turns out nothing.  Joni Ernst did not provide a comment when asked.  If you've forgotten, the We're All Going To Die Senator was initially not going to vote for Loose Lips Hegseth to become Secretary of Defense; however, all it took were a few threats to frighten Phoney Joni and she was all on board.

She betrayed her belief system, she betrayed her constituents.

I guess if I were her, I'd try to slither away and hope no one noticed.  But people will notice and this is a really time for Phoney Joni.  Malcolm Ferguson (THE NEW REPUBLIC) reports:

Two-time Paralympic gold medalist and Iowa State Representative Josh Turek used current Iowa Senator Joni Ernst’s infamous “Well, we’re all going to die” comment against her in a new ad announcing his candidacy for her Senate seat.

Turek uses a wheelchair full-time after his father’s exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War caused him to develop spina bifida, forcing him to get 21 surgeries before the age of 12. He received gold medals in wheelchair basketball in 2016 and 2020. 

“I wouldn’t have gotten that far without VA health coverage for my dad’s service, free summer lunch programs when my parents were struggling, and the local AEA that made sure that I had access to a good education. When I was a kid, it was a Senator from Iowa that made sure that the doors were open for kids like me,” Turek said. “Now the senator from Iowa is just closing doors, taking away health care, making it harder for parents to feed their kids—all just to give tax breaks to billionaires. And her explanation? ‘Well, we are all going to die.’”

The clip cuts to footage of the town hall in which Ernst made her cruel, fateful comments.

“I’m tired of Iowans being taken for granted. I wasn’t supposed to be able to win a state House seat that Trump won twice, but I campaigned just like I played basketball: outworking everyone,” Turek continued. “A whole lotta folks are gonna look at a guy like me and say, ‘Man, that is a real long shot.’ Well, in Iowa, we love an underdog. So if you are ready to push for change, join me.”

Ernst’s comments have seriously tainted her political reputation, and while she’s yet to confirm or deny her 2026 reelection campaign, a slew of challengers have already arisen from both sides of the aisle (for what it’s worth, Ernst has hired a campaign manager). Republican Jim Carlin and former Libertarian presidential candidate Joshua Smith have already declared, while Ernst and Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson are still deliberating. Meanwhile Turek joins a crowded Democratic primary field including state Senator Zach Wahls, state Representative J.D. Scholten, Des Moines school board chair Jackie Norris, and local radio station market director Nathan Sage. 


Let's note Ben breaking down the morning on MEIDASTOUCH.



And let's wind down with this from Senator Mazie Hirono's office:


WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced four bills that would institute a moratorium on reductions in force (RIF) at federal science agencies under the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s jurisdiction, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

This comes after President Trump’s mass layoffs of over 3,000 employees at federal science agencies, including over 2,000 employees at NASA last month, over 150 employees at NSF in February, around 800 employees at NOAA, and over 70 employees at NIST.

“Our federal science agencies do critical work to keep our communities safe, while also promoting and fostering innovation, conducting important research, and encouraging exploration in various fields,” said Senator Hirono. “These reductions in our federal workforce will cause irreparable damage to this country and this regime’s blatant disregard for these agencies, as well as the well-being of the federal workers employed by them, is unacceptable. I am proud to introduce these bills to help protect our federal workforce and the crucial work that these agencies do.”

“The Trump Administration’s purge of federal employees from our science agencies is not only hurting thousands of hard-working public servants, it is threatening key engines of innovation that benefit the American people and our economy. With this legislation, we’re fighting to stop Trump from laying waste to our federal science agencies and their workforce as Congress works to fund their missions for the next year – and ensure they can continue making life-changing discoveries,” said Senator Van Hollen.

Trump has claimed that these mass layoffs are part of his administration’s agenda to cut “government waste.” Meanwhile, he has taken advantage of these cuts to give his political appointees preferred treatment. In June, the administration made an abrupt decision to move the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) into the NSF’s office building in Alexandria, Virginia, without giving NSF’s 1,833 employees advanced notice or presenting a plan for where these employees would relocate to accommodate HUD workers.

Specifically, Senator Hirono and Van Hollen’s bills would prevent RIFs at these four agencies, essentially pausing mass layoffs or demotions, until Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations for those agencies are signed into law.

The full text of the legislation for the Saving NIST’s Workforce Act is available here.

The full text of the legislation for the Saving NASA’s Workforce Act is available here.

The full text of the legislation for the Saving NOAA’s Workforce Act is available here.

The full text of the legislation for the Saving NSF’s Workforce Act is available here.

 

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The following sites updated:




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