DOGE

[Oliver the Second]

DOGE: VA Cancels $56,000 Contract to Water 8 Potted Plants



The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has uncovered and cancelled a $56,000 contract it was paying to a "plant contractor" to water eight decorative potted plants — with the Department of Government Efficiency promising to water them "free of charge" from now on.

"The VA cancelled a $56,000 contract to water 8 plants for 5 years. This is $1400/plant/year," DOGE, led by Elon Musk, said in a Thursday night X post:

"The contract has been canceled and DOGE will water the plants free of charge," the department added, along with photos of a pair of the VA's potted plants next to a sign reading "Please do not water these plants. These plants are serviced by a plant contractor."

The latest, smaller cut comes after new VA Secretary Doug Collins announced bigger slashes to wasteful spending, including $2 billion in contracts last week, Breitbart News reported.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/03/07/doge-va-cancels-56000-contract-water-8-potted-plants/

[Herman]

DOGE: VA Cancels $56,000 Contract to Water 8 Potted Plants



The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has uncovered and cancelled a $56,000 contract it was paying to a "plant contractor" to water eight decorative potted plants — with the Department of Government Efficiency promising to water them "free of charge" from now on.

"The VA cancelled a $56,000 contract to water 8 plants for 5 years. This is $1400/plant/year," DOGE, led by Elon Musk, said in a Thursday night X post:

"The contract has been canceled and DOGE will water the plants free of charge," the department added, along with photos of a pair of the VA's potted plants next to a sign reading "Please do not water these plants. These plants are serviced by a plant contractor."

The latest, smaller cut comes after new VA Secretary Doug Collins announced bigger slashes to wasteful spending, including $2 billion in contracts last week, Breitbart News reported.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/03/07/doge-va-cancels-56000-contract-water-8-potted-plants/

They aint got any respect for the folks that earned that money.

[Prof Emeritus at Fawk U]

They aint got any respect for the folks that earned that money.

It was probably some coon crackhead that did the work.

[DKG]

Elon Musk revealed that the federal government has "magic money computers" that allow it to send taxpayer funds "out of thin air" without adequate oversight.

"Every government department — I say, 'every' because we've not yet found a single exception — there are far too many software licenses and media subscriptions," Musk said.

He explained that there were often more licenses and subscriptions than the number of individuals working for the department.

"We found entire situations of software licenses or media subscriptions where there were zero logins," Musk added. "No one had ever logged in even once."

Musk was asked whether the waste stems from incompetence or fraud.

"If you say, 'What's the waste-to-fraud ratio,' in my opinion, it's like 80% waste and 20% fraud," he replied. "But you do have these sort of gray areas."

He highlighted how the federal government can send money to nonprofit organizations with little oversight and accountability. Musk explained that the so-called charities give their leadership "extremely lavish, insane salaries, expense everything to the nonprofit, buy jets and homes and all sorts of things."

[Oliver the Second]

[Thiel]

The Department of Defense is preparing to slash approximately 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs. I love it.

[DKG]

I cannot keep up with all the Democrat judge's court rulings.

Acting Social Security Chief Confirms He Won't Shut Down Agency After DOGE Court Order

Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek released a statement after suggesting he may have to close down the agency after a judge ruled against DOGE this week.

The acting Social Security Administration (SSA) head called off shutting down the agency after he previously said he would do so in the aftermath of a temporary court order that blocked Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) officials from accessing data.

In a statement on March 21, acting Commissioner Lee Dudek said that he is "not shutting down the agency" and that President Donald Trump "supports keeping Social Security offices open and getting the right check to the right person at the right time." Employees at the agency will continue their work under the judge's order, he stated.

The judge had given the agency "clarifying guidance" about the temporary order related to DOGE workers at the agency, according to his statement.

On March 20, U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander barred DOGE from accessing Social Security systems that contain personally identifiable information and accused the agency of looking for fraudulent activity that may not exist.
In the aftermath of the order, Dudek told several media outlets that he may be forced to shut down the SSA.

"My anti-fraud team would be DOGE affiliates. My IT staff would be DOGE affiliates," he told Bloomberg News last week. "As it stands, I will follow it exactly and terminate access by all SSA employees to our IT systems."

"Employees of SSA who are not involved with the DOGE Team or in the work of the DOGE Team are not subject to the Order," Hollander wrote on March 21 in a letter to attorneys involved in the case. "Moreover, any suggestion that the Order may require the delay or suspension of benefit payments is incorrect."

Hollander stated that her order "applies only to SSA employees working on the DOGE agenda" and doesn't have any impact on SSA operations.

"In fact, if others at SSA are involved with DOGE, as Mr. Dudek seems to claim," she said, "then I was misled by counsel for the government."
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/acting-social-security-chief-confirms-he-wont-shut-down-agency-after-doge-court-order-5830023?utm_source=morningbriefnoe&src_src=morningbriefnoe&utm_campaign=mb-2025-03-24&src_cmp=mb-2025-03-24&utm_medium=email&est=O3goNE%2FyYosWsjCchU%2FWPUuMY2tl%2BQaBYGAkrcu6xKodameFZzzVSUrzeyv2609%2FQg%3D%3D

[Biggie Smiles]

At this point the US should just admit that it is the lower courts that rule the country.

[DKG]

At this point the US should just admit that it is the lower courts that rule the country.

The AG has to find a way around appointed judges blocking an elected president's agenda.

[DKG]

On the subject of Democratic activist judges, of all the federal court injunctions that have been issued so far in the 21st century, about 70% of them have been issued by 92% Democrat-appointed justices and specifically against President Trump.

[DKG]

Donald Trump shared an update on the future of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after its chief architect, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, revealed last week that he plans to step down from his role as a special government employee by the end of May.

The Context
Musk is a special government employee, a category for temporary federal workers who are only supposed to work 130 days out of 365 in their roles.

On Thursday, he told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier that he believes he can complete DOGE's stated goal of slashing $1 trillion in government spending "within that time frame," which would be by the end of May.
https://x.com/Acyn/status/1906839519929991545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1906839519929991545%7Ctwgr%5E1b783634521c9455c358248bc87df7493eaff2d7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.msn.com%2Fen-us%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fdonald-trump-gives-doge-update-as-elon-musk-says-he-ll-step-down-in-may%2Far-AA1C25Yo%3Focid%3Dhpmsncvid%3D9e0fc07e8dc749cfa4b8430e268d9294ei%3D13

What Happens Next
Musk and his DOGE employees are forging ahead in the months leading up to when he'll step down from his role as a special government employee. Most recently, the SpaceX CEO announced that he's setting his sights on members of Congress who he said are "strangely wealthy."

"It doesn't go directly, but let's just say that there's a lot of strangely wealthy members of Congress where I'm trying to connect the dots of, 'How do they become rich?'

[Prof Emeritus at Fawk U]

How do they become rich?  Let's see if they become rich if lobbyists, PACs, and the Fortune 500 are forbidden from being involved in politics. 

If Congress stops becoming rich after that, well, problem solved.

[Herman]

Donald Trump shared an update on the future of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after its chief architect, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, revealed last week that he plans to step down from his role as a special government employee by the end of May.

The Context
Musk is a special government employee, a category for temporary federal workers who are only supposed to work 130 days out of 365 in their roles.

On Thursday, he told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier that he believes he can complete DOGE's stated goal of slashing $1 trillion in government spending "within that time frame," which would be by the end of May.
https://x.com/Acyn/status/1906839519929991545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1906839519929991545%7Ctwgr%5E1b783634521c9455c358248bc87df7493eaff2d7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.msn.com%2Fen-us%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fdonald-trump-gives-doge-update-as-elon-musk-says-he-ll-step-down-in-may%2Far-AA1C25Yo%3Focid%3Dhpmsncvid%3D9e0fc07e8dc749cfa4b8430e268d9294ei%3D13

What Happens Next
Musk and his DOGE employees are forging ahead in the months leading up to when he'll step down from his role as a special government employee. Most recently, the SpaceX CEO announced that he's setting his sights on members of Congress who he said are "strangely wealthy."

"It doesn't go directly, but let's just say that there's a lot of strangely wealthy members of Congress where I'm trying to connect the dots of, 'How do they become rich?'

I hope DOGE becomes permanent. Canada needs a DOGE too.

[DKG]

The White House has not disclosed any clear timeline for closing down DOGE. The government cost-cutting organization was never intended to become a permanent fixture in Washington. It was originally intended to operate until July 4, 2026.

[Herman]

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a group of unions and granted an emergency request from the Trump administration to allow them to fire thousands of probationary federal workers as a part of the president's plan to cut government spending.

The administration had appealed a ruling from a San Francisco judge ordering it to rehire 16,000 probationary workers from the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, and Treasury.

"Courts do not have license to block federal workplace reforms at the behest of anyone who wishes to retain particular levels of general government services," argued government attorney John Sauer in court.