NEW
Leon Black paid Jeffrey Epstein $158 million.
Now Leon Black’s son oversees a federal investment agency controlling more than $200 billion.
Epstein may be gone but the network he was embedded within is rapidly concentrating power. 🧵
Yesterday Donald Trump tripled the size of his personal political army inside the government. Illegally. And almost no one noticed.
Here's what happened:
He signed an order converting ~8,000 of the most senior career officials in government into employees he can fire for any reason, or no reason at all.
These aren't rando's. They're the directors, chiefs of staff, and the people who write the rules or decide who gets federal money, i.e. the lieutenants right below his political appointees.
Until yesterday, they answered to the law. Now they answer to him.
A president normally gets ~4,000 political appointees. People he can bring into government and fire at will. I was one of them at DHS. You serve at his pleasure, full stop -- so if you're gonna speak truth to power, you're prepared to quit (or get fired if he doesn't like it).
The rest of the federal government is PROTECTED from firing if they tell the truth.
But Trump just stripped those protections. Adding 8,000 more people to his personal army. Overnight. Without asking Congress.
With the stroke of a pen, those people now serve at the pleasure of the president. They're "his" people, whether they like it or not.
And the chilling effect is real. An official who can be fired this afternoon for "subversion of presidential directives" (the order's own words) doesn't need to be hand-picked to know what's expected of him or her.
The threat does all the work.
By the way, this order is illegal. The law only lets Trump reclassify jobs when "necessary" in exceptional circumstances. And this blows an 8,000-person hole in the merit hiring / firing system created by Congress.
Without permission, Trump has created a whole new category of stormtroopers inside the Executive Branch.
If this doesn't get challenged in court, you're going to see the U.S. government become a very different place.
Here's the full story: https://t.co/mJzrvzhxGR
I've added a new question to the list I consider during office hours with YC startups. As well as "Can we induce network effects?" and "Would it make sense to go full-stack?" I now ask "Can we make this AI-proof?" Can we ensure this company still exists if AIs do most work?
According to Andrew Weissmann, Blanche using sleight of hand; they’re not killing the deal. Trump still gets $1.776 billion. He still gets a sweeping civil liability shield. They only removed the J6 slush fund piece. Same jackpot. Less scrutiny. Worse than before.
Founder of lululemon on what he'd tell every 25 year old:
"I'd tell them that every person in the world is an individual with a different genetic makeup and a different upbringing and the way that you're thinking is so radically different than every other person in the world and incomparable that if you have an idea and you want to move forward with it, don't worry so much about the competition because nobody will be able to replicate you and the way you think about it."
So he has completely DESTROYED the South lawn of the White House and has KILLED old growth trees.
TRUMP DOESN'T OWN THE WHITE HOUSE he should not be ALLOWED to do this or else he should USE HIS OWN MONEY TO RESTORE IT !
The federal government just banned bison from public land in Montana.
Not cattle.
Bison.
Interior Secretary Burgum revoked grazing permits for 950 bison
on 63,000 acres of federal land in northeastern Montana.
The reason?
Bison raised for conservation don't count as livestock
under a 1934 law.
Bison raised for meat and milk? Fine.
Bison raised to restore a native species to its native land? Get out.
Meanwhile, cattle ranchers across the West keep grazing on your land.
For $1.69 a month.
One cow. One calf. Thirty days. $1.69.
On land that belongs to every American.
The Cheyenne River Sioux. The Coalition of Large Tribes —
50+ Native nations. Defenders of Wildlife.
They all filed formal protests.
They called it exactly what it is.
"DEI for cows."
The bison have until September 30 to be gone.
Who decided cattle belong on public land more than bison do?
#DemsUnited
@FloraLuzz_ smart thing to do if you have the means
Most people don’t
Me/ I hope my family goes to a free country with rule of law
But I guess I stay and fight somehow
The U.S. savings rate has fallen by more than half in 2 years.
That makes millions of Americans vulnerable to shocks like the Iran War.
My @Morning_Joe Chart.