There are two good, big feature pieces out from the Times and the Journal this morning about the origins and rampage of DOGE. They don’t break a lot of new news, but they both bring the overall story together in compelling and new ways. And they do add some important details, especially how far back the planning for DOGE went and how Musk and associated techies were recruiting far-right stool pigeons and would-be accomplices among mid-level employees at various agencies who could be elevated to taking over agencies. Also there in spades, though not surprising, is how much Musk’s anger at federal regulators powered his dedication to the wilding spree. Neither story quite connects that thread to particulars, but you can see it specifically in the especial animus toward the FAA and CFPB.

While the Times and Journal articles certainly hold back from the language, the plain facts of what both pieces describe make clear that the best conceptual model for DOGE is something between an “insider threat” action and a terrorist operation. The emphasis on secrecy, misdirection and illegality is all there, the focus on seizing control of central nodes of power and destroying things before the true stakeholders can figure out what happened. Both good reads.

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“Let’s be clear, the Democrat demand is really simple,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told TPM, with a mocking emphasis on the word “demand” on Thursday. “It’s that the President commits to following the law. That’s it. It’s not a big deal.”

Emine Yücel has more here.

It’s not precisely a town hall event as we normally describe it. But a staffer for Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO) was set to appear a League of Women Voters town hall event at the Dolores Public Library in Montezuma County. But when she arrived and saw the crowd, she literally bolted and apparently then also left town. Here’s a write-up in the Durango Herald.

Thanks for TPM Reader EO for flagging this news to our attention.

A short time ago the Human Resources office of the Social Security Administration sent out what it titled a major “organizational restructuring” of the agency. As one SSA vet put it to me, this is a way to say “we are giving you a chance to leave on your own accord before we fire you.”

“Employees are going to jump at this,” the same person told me.

Memo after the jump.

Continue reading “Memo on ‘Organizational Restructuring’ at Social Security Administration” →