Moneywise: Social Security Administration issues a statement countering Elon’s claim of a ‘huge problem’ with dead beneficiaries, says it gets roughly 3M death notices a year. But how accurate are they?

Amid widespread confusion and accusations from Elon Musk suggesting “millions of dead people” are receiving benefits, the Social Security Administration has issued a clarification.

In a recent press release, the SSA says it receives more than three million death notices every year. The release offers a glimpse behind the curtain to explain how deaths are reported to the agency and why the SSA believes that, contrary to Musk’s claims, the records on file are “highly accurate.”

“Of these millions of death reports received each year, less than one-third of 1 percent are erroneously reported deaths that need to be corrected,” the SSA states in its press release.

https://moneywise.com/news/americas-social-security-administration-issued-statement-on-devastating-erroneous-death-reports-confirms-it-gets-roughly-3m-death-notices-each-year-how-accurate-are-they

DMR News: DOGE Engineer’s Computer Infected by Malware, Leaked Data Exposed Online

The controversies surrounding the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continue as a software engineer becomes the latest victim of a data breach. A report from Dropsite News (via ArsTechnica) revealed that a DOGE software engineer’s computer was infected by info-stealing malware. The affected engineer, Kyle Schutt, is not only a staff member at DOGE but also works for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

According to the report, Schutt previously had access to a core financial management system at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which he was evaluating while working with DOGE. It is suspected that Schutt had exposure to sensitive FEMA data, which pertains to the security of civilian federal networks and the United States’ critical infrastructure.

The bad actors behind the malware attack were able to access Schutt’s computer, and the stolen data was subsequently leaked online through a “stealer logs” database. Schutt’s credentials were shared multiple times, with the first occurrence happening in 2023. The report also stated that Schutt appeared in 51 data breaches since the infection, though there’s no indication that his files were fully compromised.

Mediaite: Elon Musk’s DOGE Deletes Dozens of Claims of Cost-Cutting After Investigation Reveals They Are False

Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency deleted over 30 different government contracts from its website’s “Wall of Receipts” this week after a New York Times investigation found them to still be active.

What do you expect from F’Elon Musk?

New York Times: As White House Steers Justice Dept., Bondi [Bimbo #3] Embraces Role of TV Messenger

Attorney General Pam Bondi [Bimbo #3] has adopted a conspicuously performative approach, willing to execute White House directives with little fuss.

Pam Bondi [Bimbo #3], the attorney general of the United States, circled the Roosevelt Room in late February, handing out bulky white binders labeled “Epstein Files: Phase 1” to a conclave of Trump-allied influencers summoned to the White House for their first visit.

That Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3], the nation’s top law enforcement official, would prioritize a case of importance primarily to conspiracy theorists was telling. Anxious to appease the restive MAGA base, she hyped the disclosure as “breaking news” on Fox the night before, part of an effort to fulfill President Trump’s campaign promise to reveal new details on the financier Jeffrey Epstein’s misdeeds and death.

It was a dud. There were “no bombshells,” she said, according to one of those invited.

Later, activists on the right lashed out at Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3]. She responded by blaming others, and then dispatched F.B.I. agents and prosecutors from the Justice Department’s national security division to scour the archives, officials familiar with the situation said. They found little. No one knows when Phase 2 is coming. But it is not likely to amount to much, those people said.

Since taking office as U.S. attorney general in early February, she has adopted a conspicuously performative approach to survive inside a Trump cabinet that rewards self-promotion, ritualized public flattery and, above all, a willingness to execute White House directives with little fuss.

Over the last few days, Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3] signed off on Mr. Trump’s acceptance of a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane upgraded to serve as Air Force One donated by the Qatari royal family, which raised a host of ethical and legal questions. As a lobbyist, Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3] herself received six-figure consulting fees from Qatar.

But her approach represents a noticeable departure from that of her predecessors at the Justice Department who saw themselves, to varying degrees, as guardians of institutional independence, attentive but not beholden to the presidency.

https://archive.is/fr5Xq#selection-4629.132-4629.368

Atlanta Black Star News: ‘Let’s Look at Fraud!’: Jasmine Crockett Shreds Marjorie Taylor Greene Again, Derails Hearing With Insider Trading Accusation

The escalating feud between Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Jasmine Crockett — two outspoken political firebrands from opposite sides of the aisle — boiled over again Friday, as Crockett derailed a subcommittee hearing led by Greene with pointed accusations of insider trading.

On Friday, Crockett, assisted by Texas congressman Greg Casar, threw a wrench into a Department of Government Efficiency subcommittee hearing on transgender athletes competing in fencing and other sports as they attempted to breathe new life into an old allegation of insider trading leveled against Greene, the committee’s chair.

But are the accusations without merit?

Greene purchased tens of thousands of dollars in stock in a number of struggling companies between April 2 and 9, when President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement and subsequent pause led to large shifts in the stock market. Greene insisted the trades were conducted by an independent financial adviser.

Proving what Greene knew and when she knew it would require an investigation that probably isn’t going to happen.

Alternet: ‘A flagrant violation of the law’: Michigan AG blasts ’embarrassing and disturbing’ Trump admin

Public health and infectious diseases know no borders, Nessel said, warning that the decision to shutter regional health programs, close CDC labs and close all 10 of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services’ regional offices jeopardizes public health in every community.

“Also it’s just a flagrant violation of the law. Disregards the separation of powers, and it places this new burden now, of course, on the states, because there are certain things that you rely upon the federal government to do, especially in terms of coordinating efforts between the states,” Nessel said.

In addition to their case on the mass firings, Nessel and 23 other attorneys general filed suit against Kennedy and the DHHS for terminating almost $11 billion in critical public health grants across the country.

https://www.alternet.org/a-flagrant-violation-of-the-law-michigan-ag-blasts-trump-admin

Alternet: ‘A way for Mar-A-Lago to get paid’: Don Jr.’s role in ‘anti-woke’ firm ‘raises serious questions’

In November 2024, Donald Trump Jr. became a partner in a Palm Beach, Florida-based investment firm startup named 1789 Capital. And its stated goal was to invest in “anti-woke” businesses.

The company has grown since then. And according to Business Insider reporter Bethany McLean, 1789 is raising questions about the possibility of President Donald Trump’s family “improperly making money by funneling government business to the companies it invests in.”

In an article published on May 12, McLean reports, “It’s not just legal experts who have concerns about the money flowing to Don Jr. One veteran Wall Street investor, who has personally reviewed 1789’s deals, says they enable the president’s son to profit from the (Trump) Administration’s actions — even if no contractors are given preferential treatment.”

https://www.alternet.org/don-jr-1789-musk

Musk Watch: 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. 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!

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

Reuters: Judge orders temporary halt to Trump administration’s government overhaul

President Donald Trump’s administration must temporarily halt its sweeping government overhaul because Congress did not authorize it to carry out large-scale staffing cuts and the restructuring of agencies, a federal judge said on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco sided with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments, and blocked large-scale mass layoffs known as “reductions in force” for 14 days.

“As history demonstrates, the President may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress,” said Illston.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/judge-orders-temporary-halt-trump-administrations-mass-layoff-plans-2025-05-10

Rolling Stone: Elon Musk’s Regulatory Woes Are Conveniently Vanishing Under Trump

The Trump administration has been a boon for Elon Musk’s companies’ regulatory issues. The billionaire who has run the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) responsible for gutting certain federal agencies is now enjoying less scrutiny over his businesses since Donald Trump took office, NBC News reported.

An NBC News review of regulatory matters that involve Musk’s companies revealed that in more than 40 cases, regulators have not taken any public action in their investigations for many months.

Since Trump took office, the Justice Department has dropped a case against SpaceX that accused the company of refusing to hire asylum recipients and refugee immigrants to the U.S. A Labor Department probe into workforce discrimination at Tesla ended after Trump signed an executive order that gutted the office conducting the investigation. And the National Labor Relations Board has opened settlement talks over SpaceX firings of employees who criticized Musk. The U.S. Department of Agriculture was leading an investigation into Neuralink, which Musk owns, for potential animal welfare violations until one of Trump’s first executive orders fired inspectors general from USDA and 16 other agencies. The former inspectors generals are suing.

Corruption at its finest!

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-regulatory-matters-under-trump-1235336699