Breaking the Government

At the end of 1968’s Planet of the Apes, there is an iconic scene in which Astronaut George Taylor (no relation) encounters the dilapidated Statue of Liberty and realizes that he has been on Earth the whole time (sorry: spoilers!). He falls to his knees in anguish and mutters, “You finally, really did it,” before shouting, “You Maniacs! You blew it up!”

Watching the Trump administration on a daily basis feels like watching them blow it all up in slow motion, and makes me want to yell at the maniacs who are blowing it all up (and, quite frankly, those who voted to give the keys of the federal government to an obvious maniac).

I could choose a number of items as the basis of this post. For example, Trump’s attempt to subvert the entire structure of the Federal Reserve system is high on the list. We have already seen USAID, a clearly important foreign policy and humanitarian tool, utterly destroyed.

Or, this story in today’s WaPo fits: Trump, Gabbard fired top CIA Russia expert days after Alaska summit.

In the days leading up to President Donald Trump’s Aug. 15 Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, one of the CIA’s senior-most Russia experts worked grueling hours, helping Trump and his team prepare for high-stakes diplomacy over Ukraine and making sure they were adequately briefed, according to a former agency colleague.

Four days later, the CIA officer — whom The Washington Post is not naming for her protection — was at work at the spy agency’s Langley headquarters when she was abruptly ordered to report to the security office. She was informed that her clearance to look at classified material was being stripped. In a span of minutes, her 29-year career in public service was essentially over.

[…]

The memo, posted on X, listed no specific infractions, but to many current and former officials it looked to be a revenge-driven loyalty purge. Among the 37 people whose clearances Gabbard publicly revoked were senior U.S. intelligence officials, including the CIA officer.

Since I am a reasonable person, I will grant that any given individual might be worthy of dismissal. After all, I don’t know all the facts. However, the public removal of 37 intelligence officers is a signal that people in government had better watch out, or they might lose their jobs. And almost certainly, these people were removed because they have said, or are willing to say, things that Trump doesn’t like.

This administration would rather blow up expertise and capacity to ensure the right kinds of silence and compliance.

Or, I could note this story from earlier this year this week from the NYT: FEMA Suspends Staff Who Signed a Letter Criticizing Trump.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday suspended around 30 employees after those workers wrote to Congress warning that the Trump administration had gutted the nation’s ability to handle hurricanes, floods and other extreme weather disasters.

Of the 182 FEMA employees who signed the letter to Congress, 36 attached their names, while the rest withheld their identities for fear of retaliation.

Those who used their names received emails on Tuesday night saying they had been placed on paid administrative leave “effective immediately, and continuing until further notice,” according to copies of the emails reviewed by The New York Times.

The emails did not provide a reason for the decision. Representatives for FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The signal is clear: this administration would rather punish people who criticize Dear Leader than be prepared for hurricane season.

You know, this guy.

Here’s the text.

After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I also will sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. 
 
Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents — something I know something about.  We will not allow that to happen.  It will not happen again.

Speech will never be used against political opponents, unless, of course, they criticize Trump.

Back to the NYT article.

The Trump administration has taken other actions against employees who have spoken out.

In July, the Environmental Protection Agency placed 144 staff members on administrative leave after the workers signed a letter accusing the administration of politicizing the agency. The E.P.A. also opened an investigation into whether the workers signed the letter while on the job using government equipment.

And the Homeland Security Department, the parent agency of FEMA, has ordered some employees to take polygraph tests to help determine whether they leaked information to the news media, according to two people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retribution.

But the most proximate cause of this post is the following, as reported by the NYT: White House Says New C.D.C. Director Is Fired, but She Refuses to Leave.

The White House said late Wednesday that it had fired Susan Monarez, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after a tense confrontation in which Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to remove her from her position. A lawyer for Dr. Monarez said in response that she was refusing to step down.

Dr. Monarez, an infectious disease researcher, was sworn in just a month ago by Mr. Kennedy, but had clashed with the secretary over vaccine policy, people familiar with the events said. Four other high-profile C.D.C. officials quit en masse, apparently in frustration over vaccine policy and Mr. Kennedy’s leadership.

[…]

The four high-ranking agency officials who did resign are Dr. Debra Houry, the C.D.C.’s chief medical officer; Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who ran the center that issues vaccine recommendations; Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who oversaw the center that oversees vaccine safety; and Dr. Jennifer Layden, who led the office of public health data.

Some cited an increasingly tense environment within the Trump administration that had become intolerable.

“I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponization of public health,” Dr. Daskalakis wrote in an email to colleagues, adding that they “continue to shine despite this dark cloud over the agency and our profession.”

Dr. Jernigan was deeply involved in the agency’s response to anthrax, swine flu and Covid; Dr. Daskalakis helped the nation cope with an mpox outbreak; Dr. Layden established the Covid strategic science unit; and Dr. Houry built the agency’s opioid response program.

Former C.D.C. leaders said the departures would harm the agency and the nation.

All of this is because Trump put an unqualified conspiracy theorist in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Mandy Cohen, who ran the agency during the second half of the Biden administration, called the officials “exceptional leaders who have served over many decades and many administrations,” and warned that “the weakening of the C.D.C. leaves us less safe and more vulnerable as a country.”

Dr. Anne Schuchat, the C.D.C.’s principal deputy director until her retirement in May 2021, called them “the best of the best.”

“These individuals are physician-scientist public health superstars,” she said. “I think we should all be scared about the nation’s health security.”

None of this is making us safer or healthier.

Instead, Kennedy has caused the new COVID vaccines to be of limited availability. See the following from PBS: Looking to get a COVID shot this fall? Here’s why it’s likely to be more complicated. For what it is worth, I am open to expert advice on which shot to take or not to take. Under normal times, if the federal government had made these recommendations, I would have likely accepted and moved on. But I do not trust the RFK, Jr.-led HHS.

Late last week, H.H.S. confirmed that a vocal Covid vaccine opponent had been appointed to lead a subcommittee reviewing the safety of the shots, upsetting public health experts.

And he continues his baseless crusade concerning autism.

In addition, Mr. Kennedy has gone against the consensus of many scientists and public health experts by announcing new efforts and funding for research into whether there is a link between vaccines and autism, despite years of studies that have not found evidence to support his belief.

In recent weeks, the C.D.C. has been under pressure from Mr. Kennedy’s allies to grant access to a large database called the Vaccine Safety Datalink that is managed in part by large health systems around the United States.

Mr. Kennedy brought in David Geier, a widely discredited researcher who has published studies using the database and purporting to show a link between vaccines and autism.

Mr. Geier’s team has been seeking the data from the C.D.C. and other corners of the federal health bureaucracy for the work seeking a tie between vaccines and autism.

Mr. Kennedy previously complained that officials were blocking his access to federal data. But in a presidential cabinet meeting on Tuesday, he suggested that his staff was likely to have a preliminary answer to the cause of autism soon.

The maniacs are blowing it up right in front of our faces.