Public Comment

Donald Trumps third week in the oval office was characterized by three major failures: tariffs, foreign policy, and negative court orders. The number of Trump executive orders diminished as Trump focused on shoving his cabinet nominees through Congress and letting his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have open access to all federal computer systems. Trump continues to fire or “surplus” thousands of federal employees. 

Tariffs: On February 1^st, Trump levied 25 percent tariffs on goods coming from Canada and Mexico. On February 3^rd, Trump reached agreements with Canada and Mexico and paused their tariffs for one month. Canada and Mexico escaped tariffs because they agreed to do more to stop border crossings and fentanyl distribution.  

Trump abandoned these tariffs without any mention of the possible effects on the economy. That is, Trump has stopped referring to tariffs as a method to bring down inflation. (Trump doesn’t have a plan to deal with inflation and avoids talking about it.) 

Gaza: On February 4^th, Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and offered a novel solution to the Gaza problem: all Gaza residents would move out – to either Egypt and Jordan – and Israel would hand over Gaza to the United States. We would clear it of rubble and explosives and then oversee the redevelopment. 

This is more evidence that Trump is abandoning the “two-state solution” for Israel. He hasn’t formally endorsed turning the west bank over to Israel, but the writing is on the wall. 

Court Orders: Trump had a rough week in court. Another judge shut down his attempt to block the “birthright citizenship” guaranteed by the 14^th amendment. Trump’s attempt to totally shut down USAID was blocked as was his “buyout” of federal employees. A court also blocked DOGE’s access to vital Treasury Department files. 

Immigration: Trump has declared a state of emergency and shut down all immigration. Trump continues to send troops to the southern border. There were raids throughout the country, staffed by ICE personnel supplemented by members of the FBI, DEA, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Indications are that these raids have not resulted in the results that Trump expected. On February 6^th, Dara Kerr ( https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/06/ice-us-immigration-deportations-google )wrote in the Guardian that the Trump Administration is waging a massive disinformation campaign regarding these deportations to make the numbers look good. 

Nominees: Senate Republicans moved Trump’s most controversial nominees towards formal contribution. On January 24^th, Pete Hegseth was confirmed as Secretary of Defense. The vote was 50-50 with Vice President Vance breaking the tie. Hegseth is the first of four deplorable cabinet picks: Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, Kennedy for Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Patel for FBI Director. This week Gabbard and Kennedy were voted out of committee on a straight party-line vote. These actions suggests that Gabbard and Kennedy will be confirmed by the full Senate. (Trump has been actively lobbying for his picks and his arm twisting has eradicated all Republican opposition.) 

Gabbard and Patel are disturbing choices because they are another indication that Trump is determined to weaken US intelligence agencies. Trump has also authorized the firing of top intelligence staff and offered buyouts to hundreds of experienced employees. 

Federal Buyout Order: On Thursday, a federal judge blocked Trump and Musk’s “fork in the road” buyout memo from implementation until there is a hearing on February 10^th. ( https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-request-block-trumps-federal-government-employee-buyout/story?id=118535508 ) Nonetheless, roughly 40,000 employees have agree to voluntary separation. 

DOGE intrusion: On February 1st, a member of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team seized control of the Treasury Department’s payment system, gaining access to the US checkbook which conveys $6 trillion each year. On February 7^th, Senator Ron Wyden demanded answers from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after reports contradicted the department's narrative about the level of payment system access granted to Musk’s lieutenant. Wyden pointed to a February 6^th, Wired magazine story that the DOGE operative had "write access" to critical Treasury payment systems, despite the Treasury Department and Trump White House's insistence to the contrary. According to Wired, 25-year-old Marko Elez "was granted privileges including the ability to not just read but write code on two of the most sensitive systems in the U.S. government." 

In the meantime, DOGE has gained access to financial systems at Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, Veterans Affairs, FAA, and other agencies. 

What’s Happening? Donald Trump is assaulting the pillars of the federal infrastructure by either ordering a department to be abolished (Education, USAID) or weakening its leadership, reducing its workforce, and letting Musk’s DOGE hackers seize control of departmental computer systems.  

It may be that Trump simply wants to reduce the size of the Federal government. Or it may be that Trump plans to tear down the Federal infrastructure and rebuild it according to his and Musk’s design. 

We don’t know for sure what Trump’s intent is. What we do know is that there are real world consequences of these actions. Each of the federal departments has a purpose and mandate and, therefore, citizens who depend upon their services. Weakening the federal government makes the US less safe. 

On January 29^th, there was a tragic plane crash at Washington’s Reagan airport. Hillary Clinton observed: “[Until January 29^th] US airlines had gone 16 years without fatal crashes. Then [Donald Trump] fired the FAA chief, gutted the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, and threatened air traffic controllers with layoffs. [Since then] there have been two fatal crashes.” Trump’s FAA actions made airline travel less safe. 

The Opposition: This was a week when the resistance to Trump 2.0 began to make its presence felt. Trump lost several court cases. Senate Democrats realized that Trump was going to ram his nominees down their throats and began to throw procedural roadblocks into their paths. 

This week, House Democrats figured out that Trump does not have enough resources to accomplish his immigration objectives. Trump must ask Congress for additional funds, and he does not have enough Republican House votes to secure the money he needs. House Republicans have been working on a massive budget package but, so far, have been unable to find an approach that does not require Democratic votes. The time will come when Trump must ask House Democrats to vote for legislation; he will have to make a deal. What should Democrats ask for in return? 

Grassroots organizations began to organize to resist Trump 2.0. Groups such as Indivisible and MoveOn had massive organizing calls. The initial thrust was twofold: protect endangered local groups, such as undocumented individuals, and lobby elected officials to stand up to Trump 2.0, 

Legal groups have been effective blocking Trump 2.0. Groups such as ACLU, Brennan Center, Protect Democracy, and Public Citizen have launched successful initiatives. 

It’s important to remind Trump voters that Donald has yet to “fix” the economy. This week Senate Democrats elected Cory Booker to oversee messaging. On CNN, Booker said: “Donald Trump has promised America, I will bring down your costs and I'll make you safer. He clearly is doing the opposite. In addition to that, he's opening the floodgates for corruption in our system.”