Thousands of layoffs expected to start hitting the IRS on Thursday

The DOGE-driven job cuts are coming in the midst of the tax filing season, and some tax industry professionals fear disruptions.

Isn’t the IRS is a corporation in Puerto Rico

2/19/25

The IRS intends to begin laying off 6,000 employees, starting Thursday, as part of the job cuts slicing through the federal government.

Though it comes in the thick of tax-filing season, managers across the tax agency have been alerted to cuts targeting newer hires. That means people who have been in their jobs for less than one year or, in some cases, two years, depending on their position.

The reductions are expected to disproportionately hit those working in enforcement, partly because they represent a large share of those recently brought on board, which could hurt tax collections. The agency is also wary of reducing taxpayer-service personnel as millions of Americans started filing their taxes last month, and will continue to do so through April 15. (The guys with guns)

It’s unclear whether there will be additional waves of layoffs, a person familiar with the agency’s plans said.

In a video message to employees at the agency’s Kansas City facility, a union official said an indeterminate number of people there will be let go.

“We received notification today that employees in SB/SE who are on probation are scheduled for termination,” said Shannon Ellis, referring to the agency’s Small Business/Self Employed Division.

In another video message, Ellis said: “Our probationary employees will be removed as of tomorrow — we don’t know what time, we don’t know how it’s going to happen, we don’t even know if it includes all of our probationary employees.

“We don’t know for sure if it is going to impact other than probationary employees,” said Ellis, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 66.

A Treasury Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

The layoffs are part of a broader Trump administration initiative to shrink the overall federal workforce by shedding newer hires across agencies, who enjoy fewer workplace protections than more-senior workers.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/19/irs-doge-layoffs-begin-thursday-00205036

So the Malignant Narcissistic Force is getting fired, I wonder why? Kek

>>22618366, >>22618511 Zelensky lied to Trump about Ukraine’s mineral reserves, hasPN

He’s just proving Trump’s statement, Zelensky is a Dictator

>>22618255, >>22618935 Pravda - Zelensky has blocked Trump's Truth Social in Ukraine PN

He’s just proving Trump’s statement, Zelensky is a Dictator

Jesse Watters

@JesseBWatters

EXCLUSIVE: Commerce Secretary @howardlutnick says get ready — your tax rates, interest rates, and mortgage rates are going to come hammering down.

8:22 PM · Feb 19, 2025

·889.8K

Views

https://x.com/JesseBWatters/status/1892384272117293287

Watch Live | Democrat senators hold cryfest outside FBI headquarters. Dems rail against Kash Patel at FBI HQ ahead of confirmation vote

Fox News

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., rallies alongside Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats outside of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters building against Kash Patel’s nomination

Does anyone really care what they think at this point, except for small groups of weirdos?

https://www.youtu.be/d26fYFkDpPM

Musk Corrects Hannity on DOGE Employees’ Salaries: ‘Well, Actually…’

Kipp JonesFeb 18th, 2025, 10:22 pm

Elon Musk corrected Fox’s Sean Hannity during a joint interview with President Donald Trump when he informed him some DOGE staffers are being compensated for their time.

During the interview, which aired Tuesday but was filmed last week, the Fox News host was under the impression slashing government agencies and jobs with Musk was pro bono work.

Musk explained that was not the case as some of his software engineers were being paid as federal employees – although he said they were leaving cash on the table by working for him:

HANNITY: This is where we are as a society, and I hate to do this to you but I’m going to do it anyway. You’re doing all of these things – your DOGE. Nobody at DOGE gets paid a penny, correct?

MUSK: Well, actually, some people are federal employees.

HANNITY: Some are. Okay, they’re helping –

MUSK: But I think it’s fair to say that the software engineers at DOGE could be earning millions of dollars a year, and instead of earning a small fraction of that as federal employees.

HANNITY: Okay.

TRUMP: And they’re very committed people.

HANNITY: So you’re you’re committed to helping the blind see, people with spinal cord injuries recover. You’re committed to getting to Mars. You’re committed to rescue – you’re going to help rescue next month, two astronauts that I think were abandoned. They dispute that in an interview.

MUSK: At the president’s request or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts, which was postponed kind of to a ridiculous degree.

TRUMP: They got left in space.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/musk-corrects-hannity-on-doge-employees-salaries-well-actually/?cfp

Two more staffers quit John Fetterman's office as the senator carves his own lane with Trump

The imminent exits of two of Fetterman’s longest-serving staffers continues a string of departures from his office over the past year. 2/19/25

Two of Sen. John Fetterman’s longest-serving staff members are leaving his team asthe senator takes a more open approach to President Donald Trumpthan many of his Democratic colleagues are.

Charlie Hills, Fetterman’s communications director, and Tré Easton, his legislative director, are set to soon depart the Pennsylvania Democrat’s office.

Both men worked on Fetterman’s 2022 campaign and have been with him during his two-year Senate career.

“Working for John afforded me the opportunity to build a diligent policy team from scratch,” Easton said in a statement to NBC News. “Together we created a legislative body of work that I think is a blueprint for how Democrats should be governing when they have power. I’ll forever be grateful.”

The departures come one month after Carrie Adams left as Fetterman's communications director. She had garnered attention when she was quoted in a Free Press article disagreeing with the senator on Israel and the war in Gaza. That followed Fetterman losing three of his top communications staffers last March, before his chief-of-staff, Adam Jentleson, stepped down.

The senator’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Fetterman’s gradual shift from supporting Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in his 2016 presidential campaign tobecoming the Democrats’ most outspoken pro-Israel advocate and leading internal critic of what he sees as the party’s anti-Trump excesses has surprised many who worked on or supportedhis 2022 Senate campaign. But even after his shift, he was a reliable Democratic vote in passing President Joe Biden’s agenda through Congress.

Fetterman’s political evolution has won him newfound fans on the right. He was the first — and so far, only — Democratic senator to meet privatelywith Trump following his win last fall. Afterward, Trump called him “a commonsense person” in an interview with the Washington Examiner.

Fetterman also spearhead Democratic support for the Laken Riley Act, which Trump signed into law last month.The legislation allows the Department of Homeland Security to detain noncitizens who are charged with certain crimes.

Fetterman voted for a handful of Trump’s Cabinet picks who otherwise have received little Democratic support, including Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency administrator.He was also the only Democrat to vote for Pam Bondi as attorney general.

But Fetterman, who has urged Democrats to stop “freaking out” over everything Trump does, has voted against other Trump picks, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

And on Monday, Fetterman, who has been complimentary of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who is spearheading Trump’s effort to radically upend and shrink the federal government, criticized the billionaire mogul as his so-called Department of Government Efficiency seeks access to private taxpayer data.

“I want to save billions of your money and make our government more efficient,” Fetterman said on X. “Rummaging through your personal s— is not that. A party of chaos loses — always.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna192804

He’s just doing what Dems did in the 90s and decades before, they are supposed to work together

The Wrap

Where’s the Boycott? Trump’s AP Ban Spurs Calls for Media Solidarity

Sean Burch Wed, February 19, 2025 at 7:39 PM

Rather than spur boycotts and walkouts, DonaldTrump’s indefinite ban of the Associated Press from the Oval Office has mustered little more than a collective shrug from the rest of the White House press corps. And that lack of journalistic solidarity has been conspicuous — and concerning — to those who follow the media for a living.

Although former CNN anchorJim AcostaKEKhas called for reporters to protest the punitive action against AP by boycotting the White House via his Substack,there have been few signsof the press banding together from major news organizations. (Acosta still doesn’t understand how irrelevant he is and will always be.)

“If we can’t stand up to the silly stuff, what guts do we have to stand up to the important things?” Jeff Jarvis, former associate publisher of the New York Daily News and a current visiting professor at Stony Brook University, told TheWrap.

Jarvis said there is an “infantile silliness” to what the president is doing — but that it should have still served as a rallying cry to fellow journalists. Instead, there has been little pushback among the mainstream press.

“We’re seeing no resistance,” Jarvis said. “Shouldn’t journalists stand up for each other? I think the strongest action would be for the entire decent press corps to walk out of the press room.”

The AP-Trump conflict started Feb. 11, when the White House press team banned the outlet from a press conference that included the president and Elon Musk. The reason? The AP has declined to use the term “Gulf of America” following President Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico on government contracts, maps and other documents. Days later, the AP was indefinitely banned for not acquiescing to the gulf’s new government name.

Politico’s Eugene Daniels, who is the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, called the ban “unacceptable” last week, adding that it was a “textbook violation of the First Amendment.” The WHCA and Daniels did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Update:But a new report on Wednesday suggested that in fact the WHCA is quietly lobbying Trump rather than making a public stand. Oliver Darcy reported in his newsletter that 40 news organizations – notably including the pro-Trump Fox News and Newsmax – signed a confidential letter calling for an immediate end to the ban.

“The decision to exclude The Associated Press from covering the president aboard Air Force One and in the Oval Office is an escalation of a dispute that does not serve the presidency or the public,” said the letter, obtained by Darcy. “We once again ask the White House to lift this ban on the AP immediately and to underscore its support for press freedom.”

A few voices have individually spoken out. CNN’s Abby Phillip publicly backed the AP, saying the outlet “can do whatever they want,” and Acosta proposed “refusing to cover” the president until he stands down from his decision.

Current White House reporters, though, have not had much to say in support of the AP.Some are privately saying it does not concern them.

“I don’t care that much,” one White House reporter, who works for a smaller, non-legacy outlet — told TheWrap when asked about the ban. “This beat is dog eat dog.”

Others are voicing their opinion publicly. Perhaps not surprisingly, Natalie Winters, one of the “new media” faces ushered into the White House briefing room and an outspoken Trump supporter, is not sad to see the AP go. “Good riddance,” she told TheWrap.

“Associated Press, like so many other outlets in that room, parade [around] as nonpartisan. But they’re hardcore left-wing activists looking for every opportunity to snub Trump,” Winters said. “Since Democrats got horrifically destroyed last election, their only hope for resistance is through the mainstream media, and it’s quite apparent in how desperately they’re attacking President Trump. It’s the primal scream of a dying regime.”….

The Press Had 4 years of No Press under Bidan, except for his bloopers, they appreciate how many times a day Trump and WH makes news, 4-5x a day. interviews etc. They are not going to fuck with a good thing

If the press stopped lying, they’d get more access.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/where-boycott-trump-ap-ban-003931344.html?guccounter=1

>>22619252

Brilliant move by Trump and Leavitt to allow non legacy media in, it shows the legacy press they are not that important and can’t disrespect the President like they did in first four years

Citizen Free Press

@CitizenFreePres

STEPHEN MILLER PERFECT MOCKING OF BRIANNA KEILAR.

Start watching at 2:40 for the one liner from Miller.

From Collin Rugg

11:20 AM · Feb 19, 2025

37.7K

Views

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1892247873850401064

>>22619316

Miller is not holding back with any of the fake press that wants to make “all things Trump” a crisis.

A look at the 8 Latin American crime groups designated as terrorist organizations by the US

The United States government is formally designating eight Latin American organized crime groups that also operate in the U_S_ to be “foreign terrorist organizations.”

ByMARÍA VERZA AP February 19, 20251/2

International headlines from ABC NewsCatch up on the developing stories from around the globe making headlines.The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY – The United States government is formally designating eight Latin American organized crime groups that also operate in the U.S. to be “foreign terrorist organizations.” They are involved in drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and extend their territory through violence.

The Trump administration is applying a “terrorist” designation that’s normally reserved for groups like the Islamic State group or al-Qaida that use violence for political ends — not for money-focused crime rings such as the Latin American cartels. The aim is to increase pressure on the groups and anyone who the U.S. sees as aiding them. The designation will be published in Thursday’s edition of the Federal Register, according to a notice Wednesday.

Here’s a look at the eight Latin American drug cartels labeled as foreign terrorist organizations:

Sinaloa Cartel — Mexico

The Sinaloa Cartel, through various incarnations, is Mexico’s oldest criminal group – dating to the 1970s. It is a criminal conglomerate, an umbrella of sorts for various groups, based in the mountains of the state by the same name in northwest Mexico. It holds firm control of the western portion of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Sinaloa moves all sorts of drugs across continents using boats, planes, migrants and cross-border tunnels. It’s considered the most corrupting criminal organization in Mexico. A former security chief was convicted of helping them.

One of their most lucrative businesses in recent years has been the production of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year in the U.S. Sinaloa imports the precursor chemicals from China, produces the drug and smuggles it across the border.

The arrest of Sinaloa’s eldest leader, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in July set off months of internal jockeying for power between Zambada loyalists and sons of the cartel’s best known former leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, already serving a life sentence in the U.S.

Jalisco New Generation Cartel — Mexico

The gruesome discovery of some thirty dismembered bodies dumped in the hotel zone of Veracruz in 2011 announced the arrival of the “Zeta Killers,” who soon established themselves as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a hyper-violent and fast-growing group that spread through sort of franchise agreements with local gangs.

Jalisco, named for a west-central Mexican state where it’s based, has aggressively attacked Mexican authorities, including military helicopters, using explosive-dropping drones and improvised explosive devices. It even attempted a spectacular assassination of the then-Mexico City police chief — now Mexico’s security director — in the heart of the capital.

Led by Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says Jalisco distributes tons of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl in all 50 states.

Gulf Cartel and Northeast Cartel — Mexico

Both the Gulf Cartel and Northeast Cartel operate along the eastern end of the U.S.-Mexico border, moving drugs, immigrants, guns and money in what is the most direct route to the U.S. from Central and South America.

The Gulf Cartel has a long history in Mexico, but has fractured in recent years spurring frequent clashes between factions.

Its former leader, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén (now imprisoned in Mexico after serving a sentence in the U.S.), recruited members of Mexico's military in the late 1990s to form a fearsome element known as the Zetas that eventually split and became their own drug trafficking organization.

The Northeast Cartel is a remnant of the Zetas.

The Northeast cartel has retained a relatively small portion of what the Zetas once ruled through relentless violence. Their base is Nuevo Laredo, the busiest commercial port on the U.S.-Mexico border.

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/International/wireStory/8-latin-american-crime-groups-designated-terrorist-organizations-118973051

>>22619370

2/2

La Nueva Familia Michoacana and United Cartels — Mexico

These local organized crime groups, operating in west-central Mexico, produce synthetic drugs, but they are a concern to the U.S. because of something else: avocados.

Security analyst David Saucedo points out that the state of Michoacan exports $2.8 billion of avocados, a trade threatened by local criminal groups. U.S. inspectors working in Michoacan checking for pests have been threatened on multiple occasions by these groups, which control production and, to an extent, the price of avocados through extortion and threats to growers.

Tren de Aragua — Venezuela

This organized crime group emerged from a prison in central Venezuela more than a decade ago. In recent years, it has spread from Chile to the United States, capitalizing on the exodus of some 8 million Venezuelans escaping their country’s political and economic crises.

While its origins are in drug trafficking, its main businesses are migrant smuggling, human trafficking, sexual exploitation and forced labor. It’s known for extreme violence — decapitations and burying victims alive — that has generated panic in countries across the hemisphere.

U.S. authorities say Tren de Aragua insinuated itself into criminal networks in South America, launders its proceeds through crypto currencies and now poses a threat in various U.S. cities. Trump and his allies have seized on the gang’s presence and made it the face of the alleged threat posed by undocumented immigrants.

Mara Salvatrucha — El Salvador

Also known as MS-13, this violent street gang was one that Trump seized on during his first presidency as the threat posed by immigration, much like he’s using Tren de Aragua now. What he failed to mention was that it originated in Los Angeles in the 1980s in communities made up largely of refugees from El Salvador’s civil war and other immigrants, but grew to include many U.S. citizens in its ranks.

In the U.S. the gang is known for brutal violenceand street-level drug drug sales.

Deported Salvadorans spread the gang to El Salvador where it quickly grew, corrupting and overwhelming local authorities. The gang and its rivals controlled swaths of territory, forcibly recruiting and extorting residents.

The gang has been severely weakened in El Salvador since President Nayib Bukele launched an all-out assault on it and other street gangs nearly three years ago. His administration has arrested more than 80,000 people during that time for alleged gang ties, though civil rights groups say there has been little due process.

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/International/wireStory/8-latin-american-crime-groups-designated-terrorist-organizations-118973051

Trump Media sues Brazil Supreme Court justice who once crossed Musk

PUBLISHED WED, FEB 19 20259:24 AM =

KEY POINTS

• Trump Media and fellow social media company Rumble sued a Brazil Supreme Court justice who clashed with Elon Musk last year over Musk’s own social media firm, X.

• The lawsuit accuses Justice Alexandre de Moraes of allegedly illegal attempts to censor a “well-known politically outspoken user” of Rumble.

• The Tesla CEO Musk has been tasked by President Donald Trump to oversee a wide-ranging effort to cut federal government suspending and employee headcount.

• Trump in December transferred his entire stake of DJT shares to a revocable trust of which he is the sole beneficiary.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/19/trump-media-brazil-supreme-court-lawsuit-elon-musk.html

'TONE IT DOWN': Zelenskyy warned over Trump criticism

National security advisor Mike Waltz joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss the latest on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's feud with President Donald Trump as the media accuses the president of siding with Russian President Putin

9:14

https://youtu.be/_K6UgYwp-ww

>>22619402

Kilmeade repeats lies that Ukraine spread. Russia was saving orphaned children left in the war zones. Kilmeade is a parrot

Stacey Abrams in DOGE crosshairs over $2B to nonprofit

Fox News correspondent Mark Meredith reports on the latest DOGE cuts. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., joins ‘America’s Newsroom’ to discuss missing taxpayer funds earmarked for a group connected to Stacey Abrams.

$4 million cut from HUD for DEI

7:50

>>22619464

Being a citizen of GA, I cannot wait till Stacy is taken to jail, that way, all the Kentucky Fried Chicken stores will have chicken to buy. They are always sold out. Long John Silvers fish has very few locations. KEK

Really, it’s my extreme disgust of listening or looking at her, and she as a known criminal for 10-20 years, she’s still liked by democrats and gets money from unknown places.

Gutfeld: Dems send out a 'billionaire bat signal' to find their own Joe Rogan

Fox News host Greg Gutfeld and the panel discuss liberals trying to find a new slogan and podcast star on 'Gutfeld!'

Gutfeld believe it or not, has a deep understanding of psychology and motivations of democrats. This is very interesting to listen to.

16:24

20 Feb, 2025 13:56

Kremlin comments on Trump-Zelensky dispute

The Ukrainian leader has accused the US president of believing Russian “disinformation”

Ukrainian officialsincluding Vladimir Zelensky are making increasingly “unacceptable”statements about other countries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. His comments come after Zelensky accused US President Donald Trump of believing Russian “disinformation.”

Trump and Zelensky are locked in a public feud which escalated this week when the US president claimed that the Ukrainian leader was “a dictator without elections” and accused him of funneling US aid into a “war that couldn’t be won.” Trump also suggested that Zelensky wouldn’t win an election in Ukraine due to what he claimed was an approval rating of 4%.

Zelensky responded on Wednesday by alleging that Trump was “living in a disinformation space”supposedly created by Moscow. He also dismissed Trump’s assessment of his approval rating, claiming that he is actually supported by over 50% of the Ukrainian population. “If somebody wants to replace me right now, it will not happen,” he said.

Commenting on Zelensky’s remarks,Peskov said the rhetoric of the Ukrainian leader and other officials in Kiev “leaves much to be desired in general.”

Ukrainian officials have increasingly made “absolutely unacceptable statements about other states,” Peskov stated.

The Kremlin spokesman also supported Trump’s assessment of Zelensky’s popularity,stating it is an “absolutely obvious trend” that this is dwindling. The spokesman refused, however, to comment on the particular figures cited by Trump.

Commenting on Trump’s accusations that Ukraine has wasted US taxpayer money, Peskov said Kiev “likes the money of foreign taxpayers and likes the uncontrolled use of this money.” The spokesmanalso claimed that it is “an indisputable fact” that Zelensky’s government “doesn’t like to report” on how and where it has spentthe money received from its foreign backers.

Tensions between Trump and Zelensky escalated following the US president’s recent phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian leader saidhe was disappointed that Washington had not advised or sought permission from Kievbefore engaging with Moscow.

The Trump-Putin call was followed by a meeting of Russian and US delegations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia earlier this week. The talks have also prompted a backlash from Ukraine as well as EU leaders, who have complained about being sidelined.

(Kek the Kremlin are trying to stay in the middle, I’m sure they know a lot more. Zelenskyy can intimidate the EU fools but not Trump.)

https://www.rt.com/russia/613068-kremlin-zelensky-trump-feud/

20 Feb, 2025 14:53

Ceasefire with Russia possible this year – Ukraine’s top spy

The effectiveness of a potential truce is uncertain, but peacekeepers are unlikely to guarantee Kiev’s security, Kirill Budanov has said

A ceasefire in Ukraine could be reached this year despite the “diametrically opposed”positions of both sides, the country’s top military spy, Kirill Budanov, has claimed.

While hostilities could be halted, peacekeepers are unlikely to serve as a reliable security guarantee, Budanov, the chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), stated. He added that he could not recall a single conflict in which the deployment of peacekeepers has proven effective. Several NATO members have declared their willingness to send troops to a post-wear Ukraine, though Moscow has dismissed the possibility outright.

Budanov’s remarks followed high-level US-Russia talks in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Tuesday, which centered on restoring relations and exploring potential peace talks. Ukraine and the EU had no representation at the meeting, with Kiev insisting it would not recognize any outcome without its involvement.

“This is a paradoxical situation: despite the diametrically opposed starting positions of both sides, I believe that we will reach a ceasefire this year. How long it will last and how effective it will be is another question,” Budanov told Hromadske news outlet on Thursday.

Last month, media reports suggested that Budanov said a during a closed-door meeting in parliament that Ukraine might not survive unless negotiations with Russia begin by this summer. The HUR has refuted the claims, saying the purported statements were false and taken out of context.

According to Budanov, there is no framework, other than NATO membership, (N’yet means N’yet) that can be considered a true security guarantee for Ukraine. In his view, all other options should be regarded merely as “commitments to support.”

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky earlier suggested that at least 200,000 foreign troops would be needed for a sufficient security guarantee. However, European NATO allies are reportedly considering a much smaller force – an approach that, in Zelensky’s words, would amount to “nothing.”

Meanwhile,the US has ruled out any involvement of its military or NATOas an organization in any potential peacekeeping arrangement.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had previously warned that Moscow views any European peacekeeping contingent in Ukraine as a provocative step that could further escalate the conflict.

Moscow has also insisted that any peace settlement must address the root causes of the conflict, including Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO. Ukraine must renounce its plans to join the military bloc and abandon its claims to Crimea, as well as four other regions that are now part of Russia. The formerly Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye joined Russia following a series of referendums in 2022. Crimea previously voted to join Russia in 2014.

https://www.rt.com/russia/613069-ukraine-top-spy-russia-ceasefire/

This guy always looks and vibes like an evil villain.