Robert Reich: Ineptitude, incompetence, stupidity, and chaos

Trump is fundamentally incapable of governing. That’s the theme that unites everything.

Some Democrats fear they’re playing into Trump’s hands by fighting his mass deportations rather than focusing on his failures on bread-and-butter issues like the cost of living.

But it’s not either-or. The theme that unites Trump’s inept handling of deportations, his trampling on human and civil rights, his rejection of the rule of law, his dictatorial centralization of power, and his utterly inept handling of the economy is the ineptness itself.

In his first term, not only did his advisers and Cabinet officials put guardrails around his crazier tendencies, but they also provided his first administration a degree of stability and focus. Now, it’s mayhem.

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/ineptitude-incompetence-stupidity

Mediaite: FDA Staffers Dish on Unhinged Meeting With RFK Jr.: ‘The Deep State is Real’

A meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Food and Drug Administration was intended to be an introduction between Kennedy and the agency staffers he oversees, but his remarks were so shocking that several people walked out, according to a report by Politico on Friday.

According to Politico, Kennedy delivered “largely off-the-cuff remarks” in a 40-minute meeting with FDA staffers Friday. Two employees who attended the meeting spoke anonymously to the reporters, who were provided with a transcript and audio of Kennedy’s comments.

“President Trump always talks about the Deep State, and the media, you know, disparages him and says that he’s paranoid,” Kennedy said. “But the Deep State is real. And it’s not, you know, just George Soros and Bill Gates and a bunch of nefarious individuals sitting together in a room and plotting the, you know, the destruction of humanity.”

Kennedy also accused FDA staffers of being swayed by “agency capture” and acting as a “sock puppet” for the industries subject to their regulatory oversight. He referenced human mind control experiments like the CIA’s Project MKUltra and the Milgram experiment, which tested participants’ willingness to inflict what they were told were painful, possibly fatal, electric shocks to others if an authority figure ordered them to do so — as part of a discussion that Politico described as “an apparent effort to encourage FDA employees to stay true to their mission of making Americans healthier.”

These comments from the boss “alarmed and disheartened” FDA staffers and several of them walked out of the rooms where Kennedy’s speech was being aired, according to the sources who spoke to Politico.

Business Insider: The same badge-scan strategy used in Tesla layoffs has hit federal workers

Employees at the Department of Health and Human Services showed up to their offices on Tuesday to learn their fate: If their badges worked, they still had a job. If they didn’t, they had to clean out their desks.

“I was crying the entire drive to work today,” an HHS employee told Business Insider as they waited in line.

The employee said they saw a man walk past, wheeling out his personal belongings on a desk chair after being terminated.

“I’ve seen three people who went in, and then came back out and left with tears in their eyes,” said the employee, who was eventually let into the building. “People behind me are sniffling.”

The same badge-scan strategy used in Tesla layoffs has hit federal workers

People: FDA’s Top Vaccine Scientist Resigns Due to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ‘Misinformation and Lies’

Dr. Peter Marks, one of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) top vaccine officials, has resigned.

In a resignation letter dated Friday, March 28, which was obtained by KFF reporter Stephanie Armour and shared on X, Marks cited the work done by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as one of the reasons for his resignation. 

“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” the physician wrote.

FDA’s Top Vaccine Scientist Resigns Due to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ‘Misinformation and Lies’

Patch: Trump Admin Pulls Vaccine Funding, Forcing Minneapolis To Halt Clinics

While the full ramifications are still unfolding, the Minneapolis Health Department announced it must immediately shut down its free vaccination clinics and halt all immunization outreach.

The local impact includes canceling five free vaccine clinics scheduled for April and halting partnerships with providers like M Health Fairview, Odam Medical Clinic, and Neighborhood HealthSource, city officials said.

The funding doesn’t just affect COVID-19; it halts access to routine immunizations like polio, MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), and other childhood vaccines.

Trump Admin Pulls Vaccine Funding, Forcing Minneapolis To Halt Clinics