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leeannserio.bsky.social
@leeannserio.bsky.social
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marisakabas.bsky.social
SCOOP: Now that Linda McMahon is confirmed/sworn in as secretary, Trump will be imminently issuing an executive order eliminating the Department of Education.

I’ve obtained a draft of an email that McMahon will be sending to staff re: the EO and the department’s “final mission”.

Here is a portion:
After President Trump's inauguration last month, he has steadily signed a slate of executive orders to keep these education promises: combatting critical race theory, DEl, gender ideology extremism, and discrimination in admissions. President Trump has also been focused on eliminating wasteful bureaucracy and harmful programs in the federal government. To that end, today he signed [Executive Order XYZ, entitled "Eliminating the Department of Education,] which has given us a clear and final mission. We are to identify which of the Department's functions, programs, and offices are not mandated by statute, and eliminate them. This reorganization will impact staff, budgets, reporting, and more —and in coming months, we will determine how it can be accomplished with minimal delay and disruption. The President further tasked us with creating a plan to reallocate and reassign functions of the Department of Education that would be more effectively managed by other agencies. This plan will offer Congress a road map toward fulfilling the expectations of the President and the American people. The new vision—which I hope each of you will embrace going forward—can be expressed as four main convictions: Parents are the primary decision makers in their children's education. Students deserve to be protected from physical violence, racial discrimination, medical tyranny, and gender extremism ideology on campus. Postsecondary education should be a path to a well-paying career aligned with workforce needs. Taxpayer-funded education should refocus on meaningful learning: proficiency in math, reading, and core subjects, and patriotism in American history and civics. As we move to reduce the Department's middleman role in education, these four convictions must guide us toward conscientious and pragmatic action. The elimination of bureaucracy should free us, not limit us, in our pursuit of these goals Removing red tape and bureaucratic barriers will empower parents to make th
March 4, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted
wyden.senate.gov
Most people probably aren’t tracking this but Senate Republicans just started an all-night voting marathon that will allow them to gut Medicaid and increase child hunger while giving handouts to billionaires like Elon Musk.
February 21, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Reposted
crockett.house.gov
In 2019, RFK Jr visited Samoa to spread anti-vax lies, spurring a measles outbreak that led to the deaths of 83 people - mostly children.

We can’t let that tragedy repeat in Texas. The MMR vaccine is 97% effective at preventing measles. Let’s stop the spread.

www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-m...
Measles outbreak in Texas rises to at least 58 cases — the state's worst in over 30 years
A measles outbreak in Texas​ has led to 58 confirmed cases, making it the state's worst in over 30 years — and local health officials say additional cases​ are likely to occur.
www.cbsnews.com
February 18, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted
altusfs.altgov.info
Flooding swept parts of an interstate into the Pigeon River Gorge in Pisgah and Cherokee National Forests last year.

North Carolina is in talks to quarry rock from USFS land, for repairs.

This USFS employee was on the job Thursday, helping.

Gone, Friday.

✍️: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...
Terminated, Effective Immediately At the risk of exposing what a nerd I am, I'll tell you that when I first opened my Forest Service uniform, I held my badge and cried. I was so proud to be part of the agency whose mission is "caring for the land and serving people". I thought about how proud my dad would be. He instilled in me a sense of duty, patriotism, and a strong desire to do what's right, especially when people need it most. For the past 19.5 months, I've been working in disaster recovery for the National Forests in North Carolina. I worked on 6 hurricanes or major storms and a dozen or more wildfires during that time, including deployments to western states. I also took a temp promotion as the District Ranger for the Grandfather Ranger District two weeks before Hurricane Helene ravaged Pisgah National Forest, western NC, and other states. While my own family didn't have power or a way to keep food and medication cold, I went in and worked 19 days straight before someone made me take a break. I led the District to the best of my ability through something none of us signed up for. I had to. People needed us. Our first focus was clearing a path to get to 35 kids and their teachers who were trapped in a facility behind several landslides and giant piles of debris. After that, we focused on supporting search and rescue, clearing roads for emergency access, and helping everywhere we could. I returned to my normal role on the disaster recovery team in January and started working towards long-term recovery for the Forest and our local communities. On Thursday, I stood on the ruined part of I-40 with a team planning how to stick an interstate back on the side of a mountain. People probably don't realize that portion sits on National Forest land and cannot be fixed without Forest Service employees. That afternoon we got word that 14 of our employees were indiscriminately fired. All of them were actively working on hurricane recovery. Yesterday, I received the call that I was being fired. We've lost 17 in total from the National Forests in North Carolina. Every single one was working on hurricane recovery projects. The majority of them hold firefighter or incident management qualifications and actively support wildfire operations. The US Forest Service has reportedly lost more than 4000 employees at this point. More than 10% of the agency. My termination letter said it was "based on performance". The supervisor that called me said I was the best hire they had ever made. My performance reviews have always been excellent. I love what I do and, like so many of my colleagues, I care about getting it right to meet our mission. In my time working for this agency, I think I've made a difference. Besides growing personally and professionally, l've tried to be an example of a strong, caring woman for my daughters. I talk with them about how we can do hard things and we should always "do what we can, with what we have, where we're at." When I told them that I wasn't allowed to do my job anymore, they cried with me. We have all sacrificed for my work. I've taught them to believe it matters. It still matters.
February 18, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Reposted
david.stanaway.net
It’s a few days old but a great long sit down interview with @hcrichardson.bsky.social

youtu.be/f-78R0monV4?...
“Democracy Is Fragile” and Trump’s Threat to Us All, With Heather Cox Richardson
YouTube video by Katie Couric
youtu.be
February 17, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Reposted
climatologist49.bsky.social
Devastating. Hard to overstate how bad this FIRST STEP is. Here in Alaska, there is an outsized proportion of federal workers in their probationary period. Alaska is often the first stop in a career in federal service and typically has a large fraction of probationary workers.
jsweetli.bsky.social Jacqueline Sweet @jsweetli.bsky.social · Feb 13
Probationary layoffs hitting USGS, NOAA and NPS soon, per source at DOI
February 14, 2025 at 1:17 AM