This is a good strategic move.  Security Clearances are the credentialed currency of those who work in the DC administrative state.  Specifically, a lawyer inside the DC machine is essentially of no value without a security clearance.

Additionally, the absence of a security clearance opens up both parties in DC to legal exposure from discussing or receiving information that is defined by the apparatus as NSI (national security information). And the cherry on the top of the proverbial cake is that Lawfare uses their definitions of NSI in an attempt to stop sunlight on their corrupt activity.

Revocation of security clearances is a win, win, win; a triple winnamin.

President Donald Trump decided Saturday to remove security clearances for several Democrats, including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom are vocal Trump critics, Fox News has learned. (more)

Additional names include, Andrew Weissmann, Norm Eisen, Lisa Monaco, Jake Sullivan and Mark Zaid, who also had their clearances revoked.

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I was interested to see how the leftist media would possibly respond to defending receipts of ridiculous government spending.

As expected, NBC’s Kirsten Welker gets eviscerated at every angle in her narrative as she attempts to defend silo after silo, policy after policy, from the sunlight of DOGE upon the corruption. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz gives example after example of waste, fraud and abuse for every issue that Welker brings up. WATCH:

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Back in 2023, when few were paying attention to the Defense Department’s inability to pass an audit, Jon Stewart highlighted exactly what happens when you start asking the right questions.

As the Dept of Govt Efficiency (DOGE) begins to engage the massive government agencies, it is well worth reminding ourselves of the institutional mindset that permeates these government silos.  The conversations between Jon Steward and Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks takes place at a symposium cohosted by the University of Chicago’s school of public policy.

Below is an excerpt of the larger conversation.  This small part shows the hubris of the DoD being questioned about the $850 billion in taxpayer funds that are given to the military.  WATCH:

The full interview is HERE on C-Span for review.

DOGE lead Elon Musk is highlighting this interview today to help people understand the mindset the DOGE team are encountering as they begin to question the spending of various agencies within the federal government.

Former Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks exemplifies the perspective and outlook of the bureaucrats within the federal government.  The arrogance and evasion on display are quite remarkable.  Now extend this attitude across the broad systems of government, and these are the people in direct opposition to President Trump and Elon Musk.

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President Trump will be interviewed by Brett Baier of Fox News shortly before the beginning of the Superbowl.  A short preview is below:

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In an interview with President Trump, the New York Post reveals President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have begun discussions. You can read the article here. However, as would be expected, it is short on details.

This is a critical dynamic because the larger question that will not be pondered by Western media, but will weigh heavily in the background of President Trump’s perspective is, “is it too late?”

Staying in close contact with friends in Russia, it is apparent to me from the reality on the ground as well as the datapoints from all political angles, that President Putin is no longer in a position to feel any impact from non-military geopolitical pressure.  Quite simply the consideration in the mind of Russian President Putin is something entirely different than it was a few years, or even a few months ago.

The Western economic sanctions against Russia have failed.  There is no outward pressure or internal concern about Western financial and economic sanctions any longer.  The Russian economy (govt) and the Russian people (civic society) in aggregate have now organized their economy and their consumer reality without further need for Western connection.

At this point, Putin almost certainly doesn’t care if the sanctions remain.  Those pressure points are now moot to Russian interest, and in many ways the outcome has been beneficial from an economic nationalist perspective.  While the most severe Western sanctions ever delivered in history, did – at first, create a problem for Russia; those problems are now resolved.

Factually, it may sound silly but McDonalds in Russia is better without McDonald’s Inc controlling it.  Starbucks in Russia is now better delivering better products, under Russian management under a new name.  The products and systems of commerce the Russian people initially missed, have all been replaced and new connections to finance have been established with commercial allies outside the zone of western influence.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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Before getting to the announcement, let me first answer a repeated question. “Why is it so easy for DOGE to identify wasteful spending?” ..in simple form.

When the trillion-dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was passed, those “shovel ready jobs” in fiscal year 2009, that was the last year of a full federal budget.  Every budget year thereafter has been a process of continuing resolutions and omnibus spending.  Within the CR process they use “baseline budgeting,” which essentially accepts all prior spending as the starting point for the next spending allotment within the Continuing Resolution process.

That means, the $1 trillion ARRA was not only spent in 2009 (Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi on behalf of Barack Obama), but it was also spent again in ever year thereafter.  Without a formally followed federal budget process, every year there is an extra trillion dollars (that’s a thousand billion) injected into federal spending.  That accounts for $16 trillion of the current debt.  Make sense now?

Elon Musk and DOGE announce the following:

To be clear, what the DOGE team and U.S Treasury have jointly agreed makes sense is the following:

– Require that all outgoing government payments have a payment categorization code, which is necessary in order to pass financial audits. This is frequently left blank, making audits almost impossible.

– All payments must also include a rationale for the payment in the comment field, which is currently left blank. Importantly, we are not yet applying ANY judgment to this rationale but simply requiring that SOME attempts be made to explain the payment more than NOTHING!

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In a stunning and sweeping emergency injunction that has even stunned the people who demanded it, a Manhattan-based District Judge has just removed Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent from his authority over the Treasury Department; blocked any political appointee from accessing records within the Treasury Department; blocked any “special appointee” of President Trump from records within Treasury; and demanded that all information previously extracted be destroyed.

The emergency injunction was signed by District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan, {Ruling pdf Here} determined without any input from the Trump administration and applies until Friday, February 14, 2025, when U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas will hear the full arguments of the lawsuit.

The emergency ruling comes as a result of 15 (Soros installed) attorneys general from New Jersey, New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Vermont, all filed suit in New York seeking to block Elon Musk and DOGE from access to information that would reveal how activist groups in their states have been funded by the U.S. government. [Link to Press Release Here]

WASHINGTON – […] The lawsuit said Musk and his team could disrupt federal funding for health clinics, preschools, climate initiatives, and other programs, and that Republican President Donald Trump could use the information to further his political agenda.

DOGE’s access to the system also “poses huge cybersecurity risks that put vast amounts of funding for the States and their residents in peril,” the state attorneys general said. They sought a temporary restraining order blocking DOGE’s access.

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Tucker Carlson sits down with Mike Benz, one of the prominent voices who was speaking out about the corruption within the USAID, NED and CIA operation.  WATCH:

Chapters:
0:00 The USAID Rabbit Hole Runs Deep
5:29 Trump Is Performing Open Heart Surgery on the Country
9:50 Is USAID Truly a Humanitarian Operation?
19:41 What Is the Point of Funding Transgender Surgeries in Foreign Countries?
27:13 How USAID Secretly Organizes Riots Around the World

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