Happy New Year 2025

Tag: departments

  • Federal judge hears Labor Department’s renewed request to block DOGE access

    Federal judge hears Labor Department’s renewed request to block DOGE access

    A federal judge on Friday indefinitely delayed a final ruling on the Labor Department’s request to block Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing internal system data, telling both parties only that “you will hear from me,” while declining to promise an exact time or date. 

    The update from U.S. District Judge John Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, comes just one week after he rejected an earlier attempt from the Labor Department to issue a temporary restraining order to block DOGE access to internal system data, saying that the plaintiffs lacked standing, and failed to show they would suffer sufficient harm as a result of the actions. 

    In response, unions amended their complaint to broaden the scope of the lawsuit, adding the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

    LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS

    Protesters demonstrate in support of federal workers outside of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on February 14, 2025 in Washington, DC.  Organizers held the protest to speak on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts. ( (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))

    Arguments on Friday stretched for more than three hours, with plaintiffs arguing that DOGE employees were accessing their information illegally, since DOGE is not technically a U.S. government agency.

    “There has been reporting that DOGE is directing the cuts of agency staff and contracts, not simply advising the president,” one lawyer for the plaintiffs told Judge Bates, “The situation is extremely fluid and changing,” plaintiffs argued.

    They urged Judge Bates to grant a temporary request to block DOGE’s access to the information, which they said would “force the agency to implement a more thoughtful process.”

    Meanwhile, the Justice Department argued in response that the DOGE personnel in question are “detailed” U.S. government employees, who have access to the information under provisions of the Economy Act.

    Judge Bates declined to rule from the bench, telling both sides only that “You will hear from me.”

    The update will likely do little in the near-term to assuage concerns at the Labor Department and other federal agencies over DOGE’s access to sensitive internal data. 

    Attorneys for Labor Department unions argued during last week’s hearing that, absent court intervention, DOGE could access protected agency information, including the financial and medical records of millions of Americans, and employee safety and workplace complaints.

    Plaintiffs noted that Labor Department systems contain sensitive information about investigations into Musk-owned companies Tesla and SpaceX, as well as information about trade secrets of competing companies, plaintiffs noted— sparking concerns about Elon Musk’s possible access.

    Attorney Mark Samburg argued that DOGE access to this information could have a “chilling effect” on new employees coming forward, due to fear of unlawful disclosure or retaliation.  

    “The sensitive information of millions of people is currently at imminent risk of unlawful disclosure,” Samburg said.

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    Judge Bates suggested Friday that DOGE’s creation and its hierarchy were “odd,” noting that it “was created in a way to get it out of OMB [Office of Management and Budget], and instead answering to the chief of staff of the president.”

    DOGE “took great effort to avoid being an agency, but in this case, you’re an agency,” he said of DOGE. “It just seems to strain credulity.” 

    This is a breaking news story. Check back shortly for updates. 

    Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news. 

  • ‘Disturbing’: Whistleblower fumes at Biden-era agency promoting DEI program as department’s ‘mission’

    ‘Disturbing’: Whistleblower fumes at Biden-era agency promoting DEI program as department’s ‘mission’

    The now-archived website for the virtually shut down United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has a page devoted to pushing DEI which a former employee whistleblower told Fox News Digital was part of a larger Biden administration effort. 

    “Each of us has a responsibility to address bigotry, gender discrimination, and structural racism and uphold individual dignity… This isn’t just one of our values; it’s our mission—one hand extended out to another to meet people where they are and treat others as equals,” former USAID administrator Samantha Power, who previously served multiple roles in the Obama administration, is quoted as saying on the archived websites DEI page. 

    The website explains that the USAID was “committed to a diverse, equitable, inclusive workplace where everyone has an opportunity to thrive” and that it has implemented a DEI strategy that “commits USAID to improving and enhancing diversity throughout the Agency, enhancing inclusion and equity for everyone in the workplace, and strengthening accountability for promoting and sustaining a diverse workforce and an inclusive Agency culture.”

    Mark Moyar, a USAID whistleblower who worked in the department from 2018 to 2019, spoke to Fox News Digital about how Power and others in the department made DEI a top priority. 

    AFTER DOGE CRACKDOWN ON USAID, TRUMP’S HOUSE ALLIES WANT THIS CABINET AGENCY ON CHOPPING BLOCK

    USAID found itself on the chopping block in recent weeks due to the DOGE effort to cut government waste (Getty Images)

    “Samantha Power’s emphasis on DEI was part of a larger Biden administration effort to infuse DEI into every federal agency and we saw this with very negative effects all over the place and you have people taking time off from their jobs to attend these indoctrination sessions and clearly pushing the message that people are divided into oppressor groups and victim groups and that there’s this white rage and white extremism running all over the place, which is basically not non existent,” Moyar explained. 

    Moyar told Fox News Digital that “far left theories” were given “legitimacy” in the wake of the George Floyd movement in 2020 and that when DEI became a “central” focus at USAID it resulted in other countries taking the United States less seriously. 

    USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN’S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY

    Samantha Power

    Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, delivers a speech during a visit to El Salvador at the Central American University in San Salvador, El Salvador June 14, 2021.  (REUTERS/Jose Cabezas)

    “It’s particularly disturbing that not only were they pushing within the organization, they were actually funding DEI events all over the world, you know, DEI comic books or DEI workshops and so I think this can only undermine our image abroad because most people outside of this country recognized DEI for the silliness that it is and the divisiveness that it causes,” Moyar, author of the book “Masters of Corruption: How the Federal Bureaucracy Sabotaged the Trump Presidency”, said. 

    “We also saw this as well with women’s empowerment that everything for Samantha Power had to be viewed through a gendered lens. So you had all these gender consultants as well as DEI consultants taking huge amounts of taxpayer money to do this sort of analysis. And I don’t think they really have anything to show for it and I think you’ll find what we found in other places where this has been pushed, that DEI only makes things worse. It divides people and group tensions between groups are worse than they were before.”

    Trump talks to a crowd

    President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s or girls’ sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    USAID found itself on the chopping block in recent weeks as part of President Trump’s plan to rid the federal government of waste along with his campaign pledges to rid DEI from the federal bureaucracy. 

    “For decades, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight,” the White House said Monday.

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    Musk has meanwhile slammed the agency as a “viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America,” and reported in an audio-only message on X on Sunday that “we’re in the process” of “shutting down USAID” and that Trump reportedly agreed to shutter the agency.

    Democrats have slammed the Trump administration’s efforts on USAID. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., accused Trump of starting a dictatorship while she protested outside USAID headquarters on Monday. 

    “It is a really, really sad day in America. We are witnessing a constitutional crisis,” Omar said. “We talked about Trump wanting to be a dictator on day one. And here we are. This is what the beginning of dictatorship looks like when you gut the Constitution, and you install yourself as the sole power. That is how dictators are made.”

    Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report

    Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].

  • Top trade association sends letters calling on big changes in 3 key departments: ‘Unleash American energy’

    Top trade association sends letters calling on big changes in 3 key departments: ‘Unleash American energy’

    FIRST ON FOX: A top national trade organization has sent letters to three departments in the Trump administration advocating for specific policies that the group believes will most effectively achieve President Trump’s goal to “unleash American energy” in the United States. 

    The American Exploration & Production Council, a national trade association representing the leading independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the United States, sent letters to the Department of Energy, Department of Interior, and Environmental Protection Agency with specific guidelines on how to best jumpstart energy production.

    In the letter to the Department of Energy, AXPC made several requests including that the department “resume timely approval of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export approvals.”

    “U.S. LNG plays a critical role in geopolitical stability and supporting global emission reductions — a fact that has been confirmed numerous times over the past decade,” the letter states. “As the world’s largest natural gas producer, the U.S. is well positioned to meet the dual challenge of supplying the world with affordable, clean, and reliable energy all while reducing global emissions. This misguided permitting pause should be lifted immediately, and DOE should ensure that any public interest study uses well reasoned assumptions.”

    SEN KATIE BRITT: TRUMP AND HIS TEAM READY TO SUPERCHARGE AMERICA’S ECONOMY AND ENERGY SECTOR

    President Donald Trump is expected to enact major reforms aimed at increasing American energy independence (Getty Images)

    Other recommendations to DOE included promoting U.S. energy exports, creating fair access to export authorizations and avoiding unnecessary delays, providing greater certainty for critical energy and infrastructure, and enhancing energy reliability with advanced natural gas storage.

    “Our recommendations focus on policy priorities and actions within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and some Department wide that we believe strike this critical balance and directly impact responsible onshore exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas in the United States,” the letter to the Department of Interior explained. 

    “In alignment with the Trump administration’s goal to ‘Unleash American Energy’, including expanding oil and natural gas production on federal lands, these recommendations aim to support responsible American energy production while maintaining crucial environmental protections and fostering economic growth here at home.”

    NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS: ALASKA’S ENERGY, SECURITY POLICIES ARE THE GUIDE FEDS NEED AMID TRANSITION, GROUP SAYS

    Recommendations to the DOI include, revoking the BLM’s Conservation & Landscape Health Rule and its implementing instructional memorandums, streamlining drilling permits, replacing the recent resources management plan amendments to align with western states’ priorities, and allowing for the commingling of oil and gas production for greater efficiency and environmental protection. 

    In the letter to the EPA, AXPC wrote that its recommendations “focus on policy priorities that we believe strike this critical balance and directly impact responsible onshore exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas in the United States.”

    ENERGY EXPERT WEIGHS IN ON 23 STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL SUING EPA OVER NEW METHANE EMISSIONS FEE

    Some of those recommendations include revising the source performance standards to “improve feasibility for emission controls” and “provide greater allowance for alternative technologies and approaches.”

    The letter also calls for reforms to the Clean Water Act and modifications to the Greenhouse Gas reporting rule. 

    “America is stronger, the world is safer, and the environment is cleaner when the United States is the world leader in energy production, and that is best achieved with sensible, workable, and durable policies out of Washington,” AXPC CEO Anne Bradbury told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

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     “That’s why America’s oil and natural gas producers look forward to working with the Trump administration’s goal of energy dominance and providing affordable, reliable, and ever-cleaner energy for the American people.”

    Trump’s nominees in all three departments have signaled that they intend to implement new policies and guidelines that significantly increase oil and gas production while easing regulations at the same time. 

    “When energy production is restricted in America, it doesn’t reduce demand. It just shifts production to countries like Russia and Iran, whose autocratic leaders not only don’t care at all about the environment, but they use their revenues from energy sales to fund wars against us and our allies,” DOI secretary nominee Doug Burgum said in his opening statement at his confirmation hearing. 

    “President Trump’s energy dominance vision will end those wars abroad and will make life more affordable for every family in America by driving down inflation. And President Trump will achieve those goals while championing clean air, clean water and protecting our beautiful lands.”

    Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].