Tag Archives: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Raw Story: ‘Lightning fast’: House lawmakers get a stern directive from Trump

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President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Wednesday to demand that the House immediately act on a new package of cryptocurrency laws passed by the Senate.

“The Senate just passed an incredible Bill that is going to make America the UNDISPUTED Leader in Digital Assets — Nobody will do it better, it is pure GENIUS!” wrote Trump. “Digital Assets are the future, and our Nation is going to own it. We are talking about MASSIVE Investment, and Big Innovation. The House will hopefully move LIGHTNING FAST, and pass a ‘clean’ GENIUS Act.”

“Get it to my desk, ASAP — NO DELAYS, NO ADD ONS,” Trump added. “This is American Brilliance at its best, and we are going to show the World how to WIN with Digital Assets like never before!”

The GENIUS Act is the first legislation aimed at regulating so-called stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency intended to remain stable in price as opposed to typical coins that can fluctuate wildly in value.

However, its passage in the Senate was fraught, as Democrats initially blocked the bill over a variety of concerns, including a lack of consumer protections, the potential domination of the space by tech companies, and the fact that the bill had a loophole that could be exploited by the Trump family to continue profiting off crypto ventures personally, a massive potential conflict of interest.

“A loophole that could be exploited by the Trump family”? A loophole for our Grifter-in-Chief? I’m shocked! Not!

Critics of the bill still fear it would be a giveaway to Trump ….

The king wants his due!

‘Lightning fast’: House lawmakers get a stern directive from Trump

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-genius-act

MSNBC: Musk’s influence won’t fade just because he says he’s pulling back on political spending

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He’s still the world’s richest person, he still has a relationship with the world’s most powerful man, and he can still do a lot more damage.

Not too long ago, Musk was working to position himself as the kingmaker of the Republican Party. Members of Congress were terrified of his money and influence — and the possibility of a primary challenge. For now, that fear may be over, or at least diminished, but don’t underestimate the damage that Musk has done and will continue to do behind the scenes.

While Musk’s efforts to eliminate waste and fraud in the federal government have been nothing short of a disaster, he has still managed to bank some big wins during the first few months of the Trump administration — at least for himself.

As NBC News reports, Musk’s “regulatory problems have started to fade into the past.” At the Agriculture Department, Trump fired the person who had been investigating Musk’s company Neuralink. At the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, DOGE cuts have potentially hobbled regulators’ ability to enforce the law against Tesla and X. Trump’s Justice Department has also dropped a case against Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX.

Musk also appears to have succeeded in using his clout and government access to get his companies more business. His ventures are set to rake in billions in new government contracts.

So, while Musk says he is taking a step back from political spending, that does not mean we’ve seen the last of his influence in government. It’s too late for that. He’s still the world’s richest man, he still has a relationship with the world’s most powerful man, and he can still do a lot more damage.

Charlie Sykes: Musk’s influence won’t fade just because he says he’s pulling back on political spending
He’s still the world’s richest person, he still has a relationship with the world’s most powerful man, and he can still do a lot more damage.

https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/elon-musk-political-spending-trump-influence-rcna208261

USA Today: ‘We have to try lifting ourselves’: USAID workers fired months ago are still scrambling for jobs

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They were among the first of the federal employees to lose their jobs, and months later, laid off workers for the U.S. Agency for International Development are still struggling to regain their footing.

…

Roughly 95% said they had lost savings and retirement funds, 60% lost access to health care, and 37% have already lost their housing. Many said they will have trouble paying their bills in the coming months. 

‘We have to try lifting ourselves’: USAID workers fired months ago are still scrambling for jobs
USAID’s former workers are used to helping people and projects around the world – but now they’re turning inward to support each other.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/19/usaid-workers-next-job/83332416007

Musk Watch: Musk promised budget cuts. He delivered a panopticon.

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The Department of Government Efficiency, the secretive White House initiative founded by Elon Musk, was sold to the American public under the guise of cost-cutting. In this regard it has failed. After more than 110 days of austerity theater, DOGE has shaved just a few billion dollars from annual federal spending. Musk, who is poised to “significantly” reduce his involvement in the project, had promised $2 trillion.

DOGE has had much more success expanding the executive branch’s domestic surveillance capacity.

Citing whistleblower complaints, Rep. Gerald Connolly divulged last month that DOGE is building a “master database,” a single exhaustive repository containing personal data held by numerous federal agencies, including the IRS, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

“The DOGE team is reportedly engaged in an unprecedented effort to build a massive database using data from SSA and across the federal government,” the Democratic lawmaker wrote in a letter to the SSA Office of the Inspector General.

Efforts to build the database are part of a Trump executive order dictating the elimination of the federal government’s “information silos.” In signing the executive order in March, Trump tied it to DOGE’s nominal mission of “stopping waste, fraud, and abuse.”

But in action, amalgamating federal data is part of the White House’s push to deport and intimidate undocumented immigrants, including by falsifying SSA death records to prevent undocumented immigrants from accessing housing and banking services. DOGE employees are also using data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to remove undocumented immigrants from housing, even if they are living with family members who are legal residents.

The DOGE master database is being built and housed at the Department of Homeland Security and includes the use of biometric data to track immigrants, according to Wired. “They are already cross-referencing immigration [data] with SSA and IRS as well as voter data,” one DHS official told the outlet. FedScoop reported last week that members of DOGE have been spotted at a DHS border security office that houses fingerprint, facial, and iris records.

China would be so proud!

Musk promised budget cuts. He delivered a panopticon.
The Department of Government Efficiency, the secretive White House initiative founded by Elon Musk, was sold to the American public under the guise of cost-cutting.

https://www.muskwatch.com/p/musk-promised-budget-cuts-he-delivered