I can't wait to see what Doge will do when the government is shut down. If the government shuts down. The amount of things that you can do, that where the traps just open up, where they can just cut even further than they already are, just you'll find out. And it's going to be a lot of fun. [00:00:15] - How many people are enough. - For you to get fired? What's your goal? How many tens of thousands do you want? - Just fired. - Can we, can we can we start with half? Okay, so back in March, when the government was facing a government shutdown, Ben Domenech rejoiced over the possibility of Doge firing [00:00:35] as much as half of the federal workforce. Three months later, the Trump administration is figuring out how to get those people back, because of course they are. Here are some of the details from the Washington Post. So across the government, the Trump administration is scrambling [00:00:51] to rehire many federal employees dismissed under DOJ's staff, slashing initiatives after wiping out entire offices, in some cases imperiling key services such as weather forecasting and the drug approval process. And this effort isn't just because that Musk and Trump had a fallout last night. [00:01:10] The administration has been working to undo DOJ's damage for a while now. So Trump officials are trying to recover not only people who they fired, but also thousands of experienced senior staffers who are opting for a voluntary exit as the administration rolls out a second resignation offer. [00:01:29] Thousands more staff are returning in fits and starts as a conflicting patchwork of court decisions overturn some of Trump's large scale firings, especially this Valentine's Day dismissal of all probationary workers, those with 1 or 2 years of government service, and fewer job protections. [00:01:49] However, now some former federal employees are reluctant to return. And who can blame them? Many of them have moved on with their lives, either into retirement or they got other jobs. Some of them don't want to work under such. Volatile conditions and uncertainty, and some feel as though their lives [00:02:06] and livelihoods are just being. You know, political game pieces for billionaire politicians to manipulate. So what then, is the way forward for the government? So the administration is seeking workarounds and stopgaps, including asking remaining staff to serve in new roles, work overtime [00:02:23] or volunteer to fill vacancies, according to interviews with 18 federal workers across eight agencies and messages obtained by the Washington Post. And again, who can blame these workers for not wanting to go back? As we've previously reported, speaking of volatility, many of these cuts were bad, [00:02:41] but they were so bad that they had to be fixed or completely reversed almost as soon as they were implemented. So back in February, the Agriculture Department launched a campaign to rehire bird flu response workers after avian influenza sent egg prices soaring. [00:02:58] That same month, the Trump administration fired nearly 17% of the National Nuclear Security Administration's workforce, temporarily imperiling the safety and security of America's 5000 nuclear warheads before hiring them back after an outcry. [00:03:15] So, similarly, rehiring have been rough within the FDA, the IRS, the State Department, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. There have also been issues at US aid. The National Weather Service and the Social Security Administration dosage has crippled the United States government to the point [00:03:33] that it has been unable to function. And part of the narrative that we were fed was that these workers were all lazy and ineffective, and that their jobs could easily be replaced with AI, which costs far less than human labor, which in the name of government efficiency [00:03:48] was supposed to be a good thing. We've certainly heard that line when it comes to things like air traffic control, and we all see how that went. You know, none of this made any sense from the very beginning, not even really in theory. And then once we saw the ways in which Doge was going about shutting [00:04:05] things down and letting people go, the whole operation just kind of reeked of incompetence and poor planning. And the only way that Doge and the Trump administration can claim really any modicum of success here is if they admit that the goal all along was to create chaos and disruption, [00:04:21] because that is really what they've achieved. And also, even if they are able to hire back some, let alone all of the employees that were let go. This says nothing of all the programs and the departments that got defunded during the all the Doge rampages, so are those going to come back in any real capacity? [00:04:39] So two things. Do you see a way forward here as far as getting our government back to a functional place, not even asking for optimization at this point, just functionality. And what can we expect from Doge in the future, assuming it will still be a thing in the future? [00:04:55] No, it won't be a thing and they'll stop doing this. So let me explain why. So first, these guys come in like jackasses and fire all of the probationary workers. Were they on probation because they did something wrong? No. That's just what they call it in your first year or your first two [00:05:13] years, depending on the department. So they're new workers. Why? Because they needed workers. So they hired some. So they just came in, they're like, You're all fired. But wait. They hired them for a reason. They were doing something. Don't you want to check what they were doing before you fire them? [00:05:31] You morons. And then they come in and they go, oh, okay, we'll do buyouts too. For the older workers. You can just leave now and then. So what happened was air traffic controllers started taking the buyouts and then we started. Wait. No no no. [00:05:47] Don't go, don't go. We need way more air traffic controllers. We don't have enough. Oh, duh. Maybe you shouldn't have done that, you morons. And you know, there's a couple. There's a whole bunch nuclear security guys. You fired them. They're like sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Come back, come back, come back. Right. [00:06:04] Why did the egg prices go up? It turns out the idiots fired the people tracking bird flu. Then we got bird flu, and then the egg prices went up because of that. It's directly because of their dumb ass actions. Guys, it's not like you can't cut the government. [00:06:19] There's giant corporate subsidies everywhere. I, Elon Musk pointed this out just yesterday. He's like, if we're cutting the electric vehicle subsidy, how come we don't cut the oil and gas subsidies? God damn right. How come we don't cut that $30 billion a year every year? [00:06:37] No one ever talks about it. And we take money out of our pocket and give it to ExxonMobil and Chevron and these companies for no reason other than deep corruption. But, oh. Oh, Doge couldn't find any of that. Doge couldn't find any of the subsidies going to Elon. [00:06:53] Doge couldn't find the subsidies going to any other corporation. Those are supposed to cut the Pentagon, right? Honestly, I started that conversation. Ellen and Don junior and all these guys jumped in. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We're going to cut the Pentagon. And then did they know they added 150 billion to the Pentagon? [00:07:09] These weren't about cuts. This is all about optics. And if people so why do they fire all these people that without thinking about it. Well number one, Trump's a moron. That's why he never thinks through anything. He never does his homework. He never reads. He's no one knew healthcare was this complicated, brother. [00:07:26] Everyone knew healthcare was complicated except you. Right. So, like a child, he comes in. Okay, we're getting rid of the weather guys. And then a guy goes on TV the other day, by the way, in South Florida and goes. Yeah, we can't track the hurricanes anymore. [00:07:42] They fired the people tracking the hurricanes. So good luck to you guys. Hurricane season is about to come. - Here. - Yeah. Yeah, it is here. Yeah. Can't wait. Looking forward to it here on the Gulf Coast. Yeah. And by the way, a lot of Republicans on the Gulf Coast, I know they don't care [00:07:57] about the rest of us, right. And also a lot of Republicans in tornado areas. Oops. They're not able to track the tornadoes anymore because they cut like morons. And they did it so that everybody would talk about the cuts. Was it because they really wanted to have a more efficient government? [00:08:14] No, it was so they could pretend they didn't have cuts to give away $4 trillion to the rich. That's what this budget bill is about. That's what all the what was why the maniacal tariffs. Okay. So that Trump could say, oh don't worry because the tariffs because of Doge, [00:08:31] we already raised so much money, you won't have to pay attention as we give 4 trillion to the rich. Right. So that's what this was about. So to be more specific in my answer to, yes, Doge and and even the tariffs after the tax cut bill passes, [00:08:48] you won't hear about them again. They'll have you served their purpose and and they'll put them away and you'll never hear of it again. Brett, what do you think? Yeah, you've been saying that for a while. Yeah. So here's the other thing. Yeah, I agree with all the stuff you said. [00:09:03] The other thing is, like he says, how Trump shows up, as you say and says, like, no one knew that this stuff was this complicated. Fine. On your first day, hell, your first term. But, bro, this is your second term. How do you still not know how this stuff works? [00:09:21] Like, no. They said that Hillary Clinton was the was the most experienced person running for president in the modern era. Well, Trump had already been president when he ran this time. So everything that he's messing up, he has the least excuse [00:09:37] of everyone in the world. So everybody, everything he said the first time is like, oh, it's so unfair. I can't believe people are being unfair. No, no, no, buddy, unfair is out the window. This is your second go around. You're back at your old job. How do you still not know how this stuff works? And then the only other thing I'll say with the subsidies [00:09:54] that they're trying to cut, like the thing that you haven't mentioned yet, we haven't mentioned yet, is like, we're also subsidizing like, Walmart and McDonald's. Like we're we're handing out subsidies to. And that's the stuff that they want to cut the subsidies. It's like the untold subsidies that we have to Walmart. [00:10:11] Right. So like we pay Snap benefits to Walmart workers. That is our way of subsidizing Walmart because they don't pay those workers enough for them to, like, eat food with even the falling of prices. [00:10:27] Right. So the the crazy thing is, rather than cutting subsidies to to industries that can afford it, what they're doing is, is cutting subsidies that help their they want to cut subsidies that, help the workers of Walmart who aren't getting paid because Walmart's [00:10:46] so goddamn greedy that they're not going to pay you a living wage. I find that absolutely reprehensible. That is the one government subsidy they are willing to cut that that helps corporations only because it it goes directly into the pockets of consumers. [00:11:01] Yeah. Yeah. And like here in Texas, like, I'm not going to lie, like my biggest concern right now is the weather stuff. We've had already some very crazy weather this year. It's been a very active spring for us. They're predicting that it's going to be a very active hurricane season. [00:11:17] And I really just don't know what to expect. And that in and of itself is unacceptable. Right. We should have a better idea of what's coming because we have that technology, because those experts are out there, because the people who are supposed to be doing those jobs want to do those jobs, [00:11:34] but they just said, no, just go home and sit there and do nothing instead. It's really unacceptable. It's doing a disservice to so many people. It's going to cost so much money also. And they're already, you know, they've already made cuts not just to NOAA and the NWS, but also to FEMA. [00:11:51] So the whole Gulf Coast, the East Coast, we're all in for a hell of a time this summer and into next year, and hope I don't know if things can or will get resolved before any meaningful disaster happens, but I mean, I really, really hope it does. [00:12:06] Last thing. So they also cut the staffers at the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration. Then they realize, oh, now we don't know if the food and drugs are safe. Oops. So we're the richest country on earth, and we can't afford to check the food and drugs to make sure they're safe. [00:12:23] We can't figure out, the whether things as basic as that, but we have enough money for $30 billion for oil companies that comes out of your check. You see how deep the corruption is and how Doge was never about waste, [00:12:39] fraud and abuse. It was just a marketing trick to get more tax cuts for the rich. 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