I LOVE THIS POTUS!!!

Trump: Fire Employees Who Don't Answer DOGE Email

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/firings-doge-donald-trump/2025/02/24/id/1200268/

Monday, 24 February 2025 01:51 PM EST

President Donald Trump warned federal employees that if they don't respond to an email saying what they do for work, they will be fired.

An email was sent out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by tech mogul Elon Musk, asking federal employees to list five things they have accomplished in the past week, though many department heads told employees not to answer it.

"We have people who don't show up to work, and nobody even knows if they work for the government, so by asking the question 'Tell us what you did this week,' what [Elon's] doing is saying, 'Are you actually working?'" Trump said while sitting with French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron. "If you don't answer … you're fired."

Trump said people are not answering because they don't even exist.

"That's how badly various parts of our government were run," Trump said. "They're trying to find out who is working for the government. We have found hundreds of billions of fraud, and we just started. We're trying to find out if people are working. If people don't respond, it's very possible there is no such person, or they're not working."

Some push back by the FDA…this could get interesting.

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FDA Moves to Rehire Medical Device Staffers Fired Only Days Earlier

https://www.newsmax.com/us/fda-firings-doge/2025/02/24/id/1200257/

Monday, 24 February 2025 12:59 PM EST

Roughly a week after mass firings at the Food and Drug Administration, some probationary staffers received unexpected news over the weekend: The government wants them back.

Beginning Friday night, FDA employees overseeing medical devices and other key areas received calls and emails notifying them that their recent terminations had been "rescinded effective immediately," according to messages viewed by The Associated Press.

Three FDA staffers impacted by the decisions spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity because they planned to continue working for the agency and weren't authorized to discuss its internal procedures.

The reversal is the latest in President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's cost-cutting efforts, which have resulted in several agencies firing and then rehiring employees responsible for nuclear weapons, national parks, and other government services.

The FDA reinstatements followed pushbackby lobbyistsfor the medical device industry, which pays the agency hundreds of millions of dollars annually to hire extra scientists to promptly review products. The industry's leading trade group said Monday "a sizable number" of device reviewers would apparently be returning to the FDA.

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"This would be welcome news, and I appreciate the administration for acting quickly," AdvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker said in an emailed statement. "We all share the same goal — an efficient, effective FDA review process that helps advance the medical technologies American patients depend on."

FDA staffers said entire teams of five or more medical device reviewers had been reinstated. There did not appear to be a similar effort to rehire staffers in other parts of the agency, including its food and tobacco centers.

The agency hasn't released official numbers on the terminations, but former FDA officials have pegged the number at roughly 700, with more than 220 coming from the medical device center. That would represent roughly 10% of the program's total staffing.

The FDA did not respond to requests Monday about how many employees were being reinstated.

Like other agencies, the FDA terminations went to employees in their probationary period, typically the first two years of federal employment. But that approach resulted in the terminations across key areas where the agency has been working to beef up staffing, including rapidly evolving fields like artificial intelligence and digital health. The cuts also included agency leaders who were recently hired for senior roles.

Many reviewers have advanced degrees in specialized medical and technological fields. They can typically earn more in the private sector than in government.

Last week, the lobbying group AdvaMed pushed back on the firings, calling on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reverse course. The group warned that the cuts would result in slower approvals for companies and fewer new treatment options for patients.

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"FDA will lose hundreds of new employees, the best and most innovative hires under our most recent agreement," Whitaker wrote in a statement posted online. He noted that the hiring of FDA device reviewers is largely financed through an ongoing five-year agreement between the FDA and medical device companies.

More than half the device program's $791 million budget last year came from industry fees, according to federal figures. In return, the FDA is obligated to meet certain benchmarks for quickly and predictably reviewing applications for new and updated devices.

FDA staffers who were reinstated said their immediate supervisors received no explanation or advance notice on the decisions. Instead, staffers received calls or emails from the FDA's "Office of Talent Solutions," informing them that their access to FDA computer systems and offices had been restored.

"We are so grateful to still have you working for the FDA and serving the American public!" the emails concluded.

A week earlier, the same employees received emails stating that they were "not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge, and skills do not fit the agency's current needs."

Nearly half the FDA's budget, or about $3.3 billion, comes from fees paid by drugmakers and device and tobacco companies. The result is that broad cuts to those programs won't add much toward Musk's stated goal of shrinking the federal budget.

But the financial support of industry fees did not appear to help staffers in other parts of the agency.

The agency's tobacco center — which reviews new products like electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches — is 100% funded by industry fees. But there did not appear to be an effort to rehire any of the estimated 100 or so employees fired from that center.

Similarly, the recalls did not appear to apply to the agency's food program, which recently went though a major restructuring to better oversee essential products like infant formula and baby food.

Last week, the FDA's deputy commissioner for foods, Jim Jones resigned, citing "the indiscriminate firing" of nearly 90 staffers in his division, according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by the AP. The employees fired included those with "highly technical expertise in nutrition, infant formula, food safety response," and chemical safety, Jones said.

Sen. Blackburn Urges Patel to Release Epstein Info

https://www.newsmax.com/us/marshablackburn-patel-jeffreyepstein/2025/02/24/id/1200252/

Monday, 24 February 2025 11:56 AM EST

Sen. Marsha Blackburn urged newly inaugurated FBI Director Kash Patel on Monday to release the agency's "complete, unredacted records" on sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, the New York Post has reported.

The Tennessee Republican, who has made the same request of acting IRS Commissioner Douglas O'Donnell to release the service's records on the matter, wrote in a letter to Patel that "this critical information identifying every individual who could have participated in Jeffrey Epstein's abhorrent conduct is long overdue."

The senator added that "the survivors of Mr. Epstein's horrific crimes want transparency and accountability, and they — and the American people — deserve nothing less."

During his confirmation hearing, Patel told Blackburn that he would "absolutely" work with her to increase transparency on those files, according to the Post.

Epstein, a financier who was well-connected in elite circles, died in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on child sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

Blackburn is demanding the FBI turn over the complete flight logs from Epstein's jet and helicopter, as well as records from his convicted associate Ghislaine Maxwell — including her "little black book" containing the names and contact info of the rich and famous.

Although redacted versions of the black book and flight logs have leaked online or appeared in past lawsuits, Blackburn wants the full version to be made public, the Post reported.

"Since Mr. Epstein's death in 2019, there is still much about this tragic case that is not known — including the names of his associates that are listed in the flight logs of his private jet and in Ghislaine Maxwell's 'little black book,'" Blackburn wrote. "It is paramount that the FBI provide full transparency to the American people and immediately release the complete, unredacted records in this case."

The senator also wants the IRS to produce "any and all" documents that "reveal the names of individuals and entities that held any kind of financial relationship" with Epstein or Maxwell, along with all IRS files on the pair.

But there are concerns about releasing personal information of individuals who met with Epstein but did not commit any criminal conduct.

Blackburn has long battled for access to the records, having also pressed Patel's predecessor, Christopher Wray, to turn over the material.

Blackburn noted to Patel that, despite more than a year passing, "Wray never provided any such follow-up information" after he told the Senate Judiciary Committee in December 2023 that his team would "figure out if there's more information we can provide" on Epstein.

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Citizenship revoked.