April 12, 2025

Up to this point, the SSA has communicated about policy and service changes via press releases and “Dear Colleague” letters. Now it will be exclusively releasing that information on X (Twitter). Couple of problems: only 6 percent of U.S. adults over 65 use the platform. This shift will leave the enormous majority of Social Security beneficiaries in the dark about policy changes – and those policies are changing fast. Furthermore, government employees cannot access social media platforms on government computers without special permission. SSA employees rely on the “Dear Colleague” letters to stay up to date on policies impacting things like identity verification procedures. If they can’t access the platform where those updates are being announced, they can’t do their jobs. And, of course, this represents another flagrant conflict of interest from Elon Musk, who has been busily using this coup to line his pockets with taxpayer money at every opportunity.

Prior to the current administration, SSA regional offices had about 700 employees who handled questions about policy changes, managed IT support, gave guidance on reasonable accommodations for beneficiaries, and more. By the time DOGE is done, that number is expected to be about 70. The administration is trying to spin this as them reassigning staff to provide more front-line, public facing positions. But (even assuming those jobs get reassigned instead of cut) those workers aren’t going to be able to do their jobs without support from the regional offices. Even SSA Regional Commissioner Linda Kerr-Davis has said that this change is going to break things, increase fraud, and cripple the field offices.

They’re alive and living and working in the United States and paying taxes. But by declaring them dead, the SSA can make those people’s Social Security numbers defunct. Without an SSN, you cannot open a bank account, apply for a credit card, get a(n above-board) job, or pay taxes. This “financial murder” of legal immigrants is terrifying for a wide variety of reasons. To begin, the SSA has never played a role in immigration enforcement. It’s designed as a social support service, not a branch of law enforcement, and this new development is an alarming shift toward a broad-scale police state. In addition, the “death master file” has only ever been used to retire SSNs for people who have died – not people the government has deemed undesirable. This opens the possibility of American citizens being placed on this list not only by mistake, but also in retaliation for standing up to 47 and his administration. 47 is claiming that illegal immigrants are being given SSNs and receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits. This claim has absolutely zero basis in fact. He is also claiming that these 6,300 immigrants are on the terrorist watch list and have criminal records with the FBI. One of the people on this list is 13 years old, and there is no clear evidence that everyone else added has any history of criminal activity.

Currently, this information sharing is (allegedly) limited to undocumented immigrants, but keep in mind that every one of the people on the list the IRS will share is on the list because they pay taxes. Undocumented immigrants can register for a Taxpayer Identification Number that allows them to pay income tax but does not afford the same benefits as an SSN. These people pay billions of dollars in taxes every year. The IRS has previously assured immigrants that this information would remain confidential and they would not face threat of arrest or deportation as a result of paying taxes. The administration is now betraying those promises in yet another move to corrupt a public institution into a police state weapon.

In a move I would call heavy-handed if I read it in a book, DOGE has hired Palantir – a government data analytics company named for the spying stones that were corrupted by Sauron in JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings – to build “one API to rule them all.” The goal of this project is to build a tool that will provide access to every piece of the IRS database from one portal. While this may sound like a good thing from an efficiency standpoint, the IRS data has been segmented for a reason. Segmented systems allow for tighter control over permissions and better security; if someone manages to break into one section, they still don’t have access to data from all the other sections. Palantir and DOGE plan to build this mega-API in 30 days. In any reasonable procedure, this process would take a minimum of eighteen months just to develop, much less plan or implement. The DOGE team is also planning to entirely rebuild the IRS data systems, shifting them from older coding systems to more modern languages. Once again, while this update is a reasonable proposal, the DOGE gang is planning to speedrun this process in just six months. Doing it correctly, even for people who are already familiar with the existing systems (which the DOGE team is not) would take years.

The stock market shot up in response to the pause, but it has continued to swing wildly since (see the graphic below). The jump on April 8 was the result of a small account on X (Twitter) posting completely unfounded speculation that 47 was about to relent on tariffs. The outsized impact of such a thin rumor shows how desperate the financial world is for good news. When the tariff pause did come, it did not extend to all tariffs. A baseline 10 percent tariff remains in effect, as do specific tariffs on Mexico, Israel, and several other countries. The plan appears to be to force other countries to come beg for relief and give 47 an opportunity to extort trade deals that suit his ego. And even as 47 has backed off of some tariffs, he has doubled down on the trade war with China. Tariffs on China are now up to 145 percent, and China has escalated their reciprocal tariffs to 125 percent. This extreme on-again, off-again approach to economic policy and the staggering instability it has caused in the stock market is destroying consumer confidence. The Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 50.8 points this week – the second-lowest it’s been since records began in 1952 and only 0.8 points above the historic low.

In simplest terms, bonds are loans that investors make to a government, and in return, they earn interest on the money they invest. US bonds have traditionally been considered a safe long-term investment, and bond yields (the amount of money an investor will make when they sell the bond) typically move by hundredths of a percentage point week to week. Even in times of economic instability, bond yields don’t change too much because investors believe that long-term, the market will even out and they’ll still get a healthy return. Without delving too much into complex yield calculations, lower bond yields and stable changes in the yield rate reflect a healthy economy with solid consumer confidence. Higher bond yields and larger fluctuations show that investors just want to get out with any profit they can salvage before the market crashes. This week, bond yields rose about half a percentage point. This is the largest single-week increase the bond market has seen since the week of March 13, 2020, and it has economists worried that investors no longer see the US economy as a safe haven.

The law would require citizens registering to vote to prove their citizenship by showing a document like a birth certificate, naturalization paperwork, or US passport. The problem is that the name listed on that document must match the person’s current legal name. About 80 percent of women and 6 percent of men in opposite-sex relationships change their last name after marriage, meaning their birth certificate does not match their current legal name. While you can update your name on your passport, about half of Americans do not hold a passport, and the process to get one is complex and expensive. Requiring a citizen to get a passport in order to register to vote is effectively a poll tax. Even people who are already registered to vote could find themselves subject to these new barriers as some states purge voter rolls. You also have to re-register to vote each time. you move to a different state, which over 8 million Americans do every year. And, as a reminder, multiple studies have shown that voter fraud is not a significant factor in American elections, and voting as a non-citizen is already illegal and could result in felony deportation. The bill will now head to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain.

This appointment comes after 47 fired Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., for being too supportive of diversity and equity in the military. Caine has served in the military for 34 years, but he has held none of the prerequisite positions for a chairman of the JCS. And while Caine claimed to the Senate that he won’t politicize the position, it’s clear that 47 sees him as one. 47 has expressed in the past that he wants “the kind of generals Hitler had” – generals who will fall in line with his every whim, no matter how unconstitutional or destructive. Since taking office, he has retaliated against General Mark Milley, the JCS chairman who, at the end of 47’s last term, took steps to prevent any unconstitutional military action and reminded service members that they take an oath to the Constitution, not the president. The chairman of the JCS is the highest-ranking officer in the military and serves as the primary military adviser to the president, as well as passing directives from the president and secretary of defense to the combatant commanders.

This week, more than 900,000 immigrants who entered the country legally using the CBP One app were sent an email reading, “It is time for you to leave the United States. DHS is now exercising its discretion to terminate your parole immediately… Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you.” This message has caused panic among immigrants, who are (justifiably) terrified of what might happen to them during the deportation process. These people are legally protected from deportation without due process, but 47’s administration has been blatantly ignoring those protections. To make matters worse, the Supreme Court handed down a decision this week that could allow 47 to use a 1798 law to deport immigrants without due process. And a federal judge ruled that the administration can proceed with a requirement that all undocumented immigrants must register with the federal government and carry documentation with them at all times. (Now where have we heard about that happening before?) This requirement went into effect on Friday. Also on Friday, a judge ruled that Mahmoud Khalil could legally be deported because his “beliefs, statements, or associations” contradicted current US foreign policy. This is a blatant violation of the First Amendment and sets a dangerous precedent for future deportations, both of immigrants and, seemingly, of citizens. 47 has repeatedly talked about wanting to send US citizens to prisons in El Salvador, which is entirely illegal.

• SSA
  • Federal News Network
  • Wired
  • NYT
  • AP News
  • CNN
• IRS
  • NPR
  • AP News
  • TechRadar
  • Wired
• Economy
  • AP News – Stocks and Tariffs
  • PBS
  • NPR
  • HuffPost
  • The New Republic
  • Wall Street Journal
  • CNN
  • MarketWatch
  • AP News – Bonds
• SAVE Act
  • NPR
  • Legal Defense Fund
  • The 19th News
  • AP News
• Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman
  • NPR
  • AP News
• Immigration
  • NPR
  • Reuters
  • CNN – CBP One email
  • CNN – Alien Enemies Act
  • PBS
  • CNN – Mahmoud Khalil

As the stock market has plummeted, even staunch loyalists have flinched, and some Republican policymakers and donors have openly criticized 47. The founder of Home Depot, who has donated heavily to all of 47’s campaigns, said, “I don’t understand the goddamn formula!” Congressional Republicans from Mitch McConnel and Rand Paul to Ted Cruz have openly opposed the tariffs, and four Republican senators have even signed on to co-sponsor a bill that will limit 47’s ability to unilaterally impose tariffs. 47 responded to this bill by ripping into “rebel” Republicans, underlining his expectation of absolute loyalty from the party. Elon Musk has also been feuding with Peter Navarro, 47’s senior trade adviser. The two have spent this week calling each other names in national media interviews, and Musk, who has effectively been operating as a shadow president for the last few months, has joined the list of billionaires panicking over the impact the trade war is having on their businesses. 47’s administration has seemingly enjoyed this feud, which fits nicely into their tactic of causing so much chaos and infighting that no one can effectively mount a defense against them. Nevertheless, these disputes show that even hard-line Republicans are losing patience for 47’s authoritarianism. We’ve already seen this split having a legislative impact, and it raises some hope for Congressional bipartisan resistance to his dictatorial ambitions.

His ratings saw a small bump in November after the election, when voters were still in the “honeymoon period” and many were just relieved the election cycle was over. But starting around the middle of December, those numbers started to drop, and they’ve done nothing but fall since. 52 percent of Americans don’t approve of his policies, leaving him with a net approval rating of almost -8 percent. As prices continue to rise, government services continue to suffer, and 47 continues to golf, the American people’s patience will likely continue to shrink. With enough organization, education, and activism, we can start to get the momentum we need to prevent a dictatorship.

Abrego Garcia was “mistakenly” deported last month in spite of him having protected status and in violation of his right to due process. The administration has been cagey about his whereabouts and has claimed that they don’t have any way to get him back from El Salvador, where he’s (allegedly) imprisoned. Last week, they appealed an order from a federal judge to bring Abrego Garcia back, but the Supreme Court upheld the order this week. The administration has stated that Abrego Garcia is alive and “secure” in prison in El Salvador, but they still refuse to say where he is specifically or to confirm that they are working to return him to the United States. This order (and the fact that the Supreme Court decided unanimously against 47’s administration) represents an important victory against the current persecution of immigrants.

The administration announced last month that it would require anyone filing a claim or registering for benefits to use their online system or visit a local field office in person. This announcement came as the SSA website began experiencing frequent crashes. And even without the crashes, these requirements would pose a significant barrier to the elderly and people with disabilities accessing their benefits. The Center of Budget and Policy Priorities released a report on this threat to accessibility on Tuesday, and by Thursday, 47’s administration announced that they would continue to allow people to use the phone system to access their benefits. Not only is this great news for the millions of people who receive life-saving support from the SSA, but it’s further proof that when we stand up and fight, change happens.

As we discussed earlier, the willingness of some Republican representatives to stand up to 47 is hopeful, and the pause on those tariffs provides a little relief from immediate fears of a recession or worse. It may also help to stave off price hikes for at least a little longer.

• Republican infighting
  • CNBC
  • Axios – “Rebel” Republicans
  • AP News
  • Axios – Musk and Navarro
• Approval ratings
  • Economist
  • USA Today
  • New York Magazine
• Kilmar Abrego Garcia
  • AP News
  • CNN
  • NPR
  • Al Jazeera
• SSA phone service
  • NPR
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Yahoo! News