this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2025
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Summary

Despite Elon Musk’s claims of “maximal transparency,” the Trump administration now argues that records from DOGE are exempt from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

A court filing states DOGE, rebranded from the U.S. Digital Service, is a "free-standing component" of the Executive Office of the President and falls under the Presidential Records Act.

Watchdog groups have sued, arguing that DOGE’s activities, which involve sweeping access to federal agencies, must be publicly accessible.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 5 hours ago

DOGE’s FOIA exemption is a direct assault on accountability and public trust.

🐱

[–] [email protected] 35 points 6 hours ago

It's so transparent that you can't even see it.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

"Maximally transparent" in the same sense that Musk is a "free speech absolutist".

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 hours ago

His feelings about free speech are very absolute. Absolutely authoritarian. Get back in line and have you papers ready!!

[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

In the same sense that "he's not a nazi"... because he's a fucking nazi!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 hours ago

That photo is perfect, they both look completely ridiculous (well, more so than usual).

[–] [email protected] 60 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

Freedom of speech maximalist > no freedom of speech on his platform

Transparency maximalist > no transparency in his agency

Who could have seen that coming?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 hours ago

Don’t forget Tesla lying about many things and saying it’s “free speech” to lie to customers, and being very obstructionist when releasing safety data

[–] [email protected] 86 points 10 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 29 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

I sometimes think of those redcaps as something out of a sci-fi movie where they take over any normal brain function.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

You're just being paranoid. You know what would help? I nice relaxing trip to the brain slug planet where you can lay in the sun with no helmet on.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 hours ago

I still wonder if BrainDead was cancelled not only because of low ratings....even if it was showing a bothsiderist lean at some point. It might have been a bit too much on the nose for the oligarchs' tastes.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

This is what dictators do. Grab power and place it under their control.

Trump will whittle away at the other branches of government until there's nothing left, and then he will say we don't need those other branches since they don't do anything and dissolve them.

This has been played out many times.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (2 children)

No, no, no. You lefties always calling everything fascism. Musk is weeding out government waste and corruption. Trump is donating his entire presidential salary, he's doing this out of the kindness of his heart. You liberals are all so gullible and reactionary. Just calm your pants down, once the taffis go through and we remove the evil migrant criminals it will be infinite money for everyone. Except you commies because you're all too dumb to realize.

I could go on but the McDonalds employee is eyeballing me. They hate it when I use their wifi. It's going to be great when I don't have to do my laundry in their bathroom anymore because I'll have my own 24k gold mansion.

BTW any cuties out there dm me. Just be aware, I want 10 kids so better have a good set of birthing hips.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 hours ago

This could actually be serious until the second paragraph.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 hours ago

🎵It's all in the hips🎵

[–] [email protected] 182 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (3 children)

If a Democrat tried this shit the Republicans would be out for political blood calling the left "deep state" and other horrifying shit, let they're fine with an apartheid loving Nazi immigrant dismantling their government and refusing to answer for his crimes.

[–] [email protected] 102 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

Republicans would be out for political blood calling the left "deep state" and other horrifying shit

And they'd be right. An unelected billionaire gutting the government and hiding their actions is deep state activity

[–] [email protected] 35 points 9 hours ago

It’s not deep state, it’s a coup.

In essence, a coup is a 1) rapid seizure of state power by unelected actors, who acquire that power by 2) seizing critical government infrastructure and 3) weaponizing it to neutralize legitimate government actors' efforts to stop them. The unelected actors then use this power to 4) remake the rules of the political game in a way that cannot easily be checked or undone through democratic processes.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Deep? Can Musk and DOGE count as deep state with how new they are to government (if you can call DOGE that)? He's not even from the US, he's so far out he's circled back around to deep state.

Then again, foreign actors blatantly controlling the white house seems to be the trend right now

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I think deep state here refers to unelected government officials.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 hours ago

I think more its meaning would be shit that goes on behind the scenes where the public cannot see. Aka… things immune to FOIA requests.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 hours ago

I agree 100% this is all horseshit

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 hours ago

Don't worry. The Dems will start calling them out in the same way ...anytime now.

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[–] [email protected] 155 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

It's easy to claim transparency when you lie about everything

[–] [email protected] 68 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

He claims transparency, but we see right through him.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago

Every right leaning person I've talked with about this claims "unparalleled transparency" with these guys. What, a bunch of self written social media posts? Full transparency would be detailed reporting that would also we'd have the ability to verify via a third party. What these guys are doing is the equivalent of, "trust me, bro."

[–] [email protected] 33 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

The corruption is just in your face. I bet "maga" is eating it right the fuck up, too, the idiots, because....libs:owned. Or something.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

Some perhaps, but if you look at the videos from recent repug town halls, even maga is pissed. I’m talking reps can’t complete statements due to being drowned out by boos in +30 red districts. There are opportunities here for a real populist party to form if people are able to seize it.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 hours ago

reps can’t complete statements due to being drowned out by boos in +30 red districts

They're still trying to blame it on "bussed in Democrat paid agitators".

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 hours ago

Yeah, maybe. The oligarchs have proven themselves quite capable (in the past, anyway) of directing that anger anywhere else but where it should be directed, so I guess we will see.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Words and law don't work with them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

DOGE isn't breaking the law here, they're abusing loopholes. We have to acknowledge the law isn't working for us and shut the loopholes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

Loopholes

It's not even loopholes, it's just farce. Substitute in fascist for anti-Semite. The only difference here is that the judges that matter are going to play along with the wordplay.

"Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past." -Jean Paul Sartre

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago

You can dislike what they're saying, that doesn't mean it isn't true.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Prolly can't figure out where and how the shit is stored.

I've seen a setup once, involving airflow, pgsql with a few different databases for different systems, a few CSV and Excel files stored on webdav shares, a few ETL scripts, some not working, in a weird graph, and a Microstrategy instance used to view a report or two resulting from that.

That was probably a job safety mechanism of the leaving data analyst, though. I'm not sure how such chaos could have been created on purpose and other things he did seemed very clean.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 hours ago

Or they just don't want to and are arguing the definition of "agency"

[–] [email protected] 27 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

I'll never get over the pretentious way the Orange Menace poses for the camera. And it makes me want to punch him every time.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 hours ago

He looks to me like Biff Tannen just got another face-full of manure.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

He looks like a corpse with poorly done casket makeup

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

uint8_t transparency = 255;

...

transparency++;

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

"Your honor I'm not subject to that law under the clause I said so." Judges love hearing that.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

He's afraid we will kill him but he keeps doing that kind of shit

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

What gives you the impression that he’s afraid of that? Pretty sure he thinks he’s a god or something.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 hours ago

His ~~human meat shield~~ child

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago

Gods can bleed.

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