this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2025
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Politics

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[–] Letstakealook@lemm.ee 37 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The fact that anyone is going along with this is absurd. These people are not actually a part of the government, so these requests should just be refused outright. They have not been hired, elected, appointed, or vetted.

[–] n2burns@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

The White House has said Musk and his DOGE colleagues are "special government employees." It has yet to be seen of that arrangement is legal, but as it stands, they are part of the government workforce which is why bureaucrats are "going along with this".

[–] Midnitte 23 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

White House casually admiting they created a new department without congressional approval and oversight, violating Article II.

[–] n2burns@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

While they call it a department, it's not a new department. They renamed the "United States Digital Service" and created the "U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization" under it.

[–] Midnitte 7 points 1 week ago

This all sounds like some untested legal loopholes to create a new department without congressional approval.

[–] Bldck 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Special government employee is a specific classification that has been used by both Parties to have an advisor in the Executive Branch for brief periods (120 days at most).

That does not imply that DOGE is an official agency or department.

They are legally distinct concepts

[–] Midnitte 1 points 1 week ago

And do `special government employees' run the department of USAID?

[–] Letstakealook@lemm.ee 9 points 2 weeks ago

Advising is a far cry from allowing them to access the personal information of millions of people and alter the code of our infrastructure. This is definitely unprecedented and unacceptable.

[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 17 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Msuk is going to nuke Washington and California.

[–] Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 2 weeks ago

He has to be one of those people who poke your screen while talking about things on it. That simple to use touch screen upgrade was a poor idea.

[–] brisk@aussie.zone 14 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

...Why is the Department of Energy responsible for nuclear weapons?

[–] Forester@pawb.social 30 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Always has been.

Since back when the department of defense was the department of war.

[–] astrsk@fedia.io 19 points 2 weeks ago

The management, production / refinement, and transportation of nuclear materials are entirely monitored and controlled by DoE so it stands to reason the weapons are too.

[–] Spitzspot@lemmings.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

Liquidation to pay for billionaire tax cuts, or to funnel contracts to Tesla/SpaceX/Star Link....take your pick.

[–] Monument@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 1 week ago

Article is less bad than headline. Looks like DOE didn’t officially grant access, but someone gave the guy access anyway.
DOE caught it, and wants to know what the fuck happened.

DOE is big. They regulate all sorts of stuff and the likely target is not nukes, but personnel information. That gives them the power to fire climate researchers, replace regulators and decision makers with stooges, and ensure the DOE derails the shift to greener tech - as much as they can.
There’s currently big DOE-funded projects ongoing that will allow for Texas to connect to the national grid, and will connect giant solar and wind farms in Oklahoma and Maine to long distance lines that connect all the way to the Hoover Dam — something that makes the drought in that area less impactful should they have to shut off the turbines due to falling water levels.

[–] Midnitte 5 points 2 weeks ago
[–] blakenong@lemmings.world 2 points 1 week ago

I feel like that headline is a rhetorical question.