Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

In Boston, two brothers beat and urinated on a homeless Latino man last month. They said their actions were inspired by Trump. One brother reportedly told police: “Donald Trump was right, all these illegals need to be deported.” When informed of the brothers’ actions, Trump said: “I will say that people who are following me are very passionate. They love this country and they want this country to be great again. They are passionate. I will say that, and everybody here has reported it.”   read more

The investigation found the EPA over the past 20 years had dismissed 95% of all community claims alleging environmental discrimination. EPA officials as part of their strategic plan, will now do more targeted compliance reviews. The effort will begin next month, and within three years, EPA intends to complete six compliance reviews of state and local agencies per year. The agency intends to do more over time: 11 reviews a year by 2021, and 22 by 2024.   read more

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been criticized for years about its bureaucratic jumble of offices that are supposed to prevent weapons of mass destruction from threatening the country. DHS came up with a plan to reduce duplication and internal squabbling so officials could address WMD plots. However, the plan for divided offices is drawing criticism. “It’s nonsensical,” said former security director Rick Nelson. "It doesn’t make sense to any of us,” echoed a senior DHS employee.   read more

Their findings echoed what other scientists have said about the future effects of climate change on California—that he state’s snow levels may not return to what they once were. Warmer temperatures mean precipitation will fall not as snow, but rain, which the state is ill-equipped to store. Normally, California gets a third of its water from the snowpack. “This is probably the biggest water supply concern our state is facing,” said UCLA's Mark Gold.. “On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s 11.”   read more

McFarland has accused OPM’s information technology office of interfering with his office’s efforts to determine how well the agency had guarded security clearance and federal employee personnel files that were hacked and how well it responded to those breaches. McFarland said the Office of the Chief Information Officer had “hindered and interfered with” his office’s oversight and “has created an environment of mistrust by providing my office with incorrect and/or misleading information.”   read more

The FEC has made very few determinations on what’s legal and what’s not as far as super PACs go because of the even Democratic-Republican makeup of the commission. Seeking clarification could be a win-win for Democrats; if they get the OK, they have a new fund-raising tool. If they don’t, GOP candidates that have used the techniques could find themselves in legal trouble. How the FEC responds “could have profound ramifications for the 2016 campaign, particularly for Democrats...” said the Times.   read more

Aspen now gets its power primarily from wind and hydroelectric, joining Burlington, Vermont, and Greensburg, Kansas, as the only other cities to achieve all-renewable energy portfolios. “This means we are powered by the forces of nature, predominately water and wind with a touch of solar and landfill gas,” said Aspen environmental/utilities director David Hornbacher. The movement toward renewables could soon count California as a big example for others to follow.   read more

“The loss of civilian life in Hajja shows why most countries have made a commitment never to use cluster munitions,” said Solvang. “These weapons not only kill or injure people at the time of attack, but the unexploded submunitions go on killing long afterward.” The Obama administration is going through with a deal to sell Saudi Arabia more weapons and missiles. "Bombs have fallen so far from any military target that human rights groups say such airstrikes amount to war crimes," said the Times.   read more

Recruiters from Oklahoma City have traveled to Puerto Rico and Spain seeking teachers. Other districts are putting up billboards in neighboring states to lure teachers. California alone will need to hire 21,000 new teachers every year over the next five years, but is issuing fewer than 15,000 new teaching credentials a year. “There was a point where we were, frankly, overproducing teachers. Now, if you look at the most recent year, we are not producing enough,” said Joshua Speaks.   read more

Asked if he had any connection with al-Qaeda, Hassan said yes. But it was not the terrorist group he was admitting to being familiar with. In Yemen is a village called Al-Qa’idah. It was this place he was responding to, not al-Qaeda. But the translator didn’t realize the mistake, and the American soldier interrogating Hassan had all he needed. Hassan was shipped to Guantánamo, where he was cleared for release in 2009 but remained until June of this year, when he was released in Oman.   read more

Honeybees have been dying out in unprecedented numbers since 2006. Land use and other factors are no doubt part of the problem, but pesticides have been one of the suspects from the beginning. The ruling supported the view of many environmentalists who believe the long-term effect of insecticides on entire bee colonies should be taken into account, not merely a dose of chemical on an individual bee.   read more

In Alabama, Marcus Underwood, who is black, sued the city of Bessemer, its police chief, Nathaniel Rutledge, and officers Daniel Cecil Partridge and Christopher Asarisi, all of whom are white. Underwood claims police needlessly shot him multiple times, striking him in the jaw, chest, arm, hand and shoulder in June 2014 while he was driving away from a friend’s house. Underwood was also charged with attempted murder and attempting to flee the scene of a crime.   read more

“Celebrating” the holiday with shootings was most popular in Chicago, where nine people were killed and 46 wounded with guns over the weekend. Charlotte, North Carolina, was also busy, with five people killed and 12 wounded.   read more

The Buy American Act mandates the federal government give preference to products made in the U.S. when it makes bulk purchases of more than $3,000. Similarly, the Berry Amendment says the Pentagon can’t buy products such as clothing and textiles outside of the U.S. when the purchases are at least $150,000. The IG, however, found that nearly half of the Navy contracts it reviewed violated the Berry Amendment, and a third of another sampling of contracts violated the Buy American Act.   read more

In an experiment by the U.S. Marine Corps on the integration of women into combat units, mixed-gender units didn’t perform as well as all-male units. It was pointed out that the male Marines in the trial were mostly combat veterans, whereas the women, by definition, had not seen combat and were mostly recent graduates of infantry school or had come from non-combat roles.   read more

The Illinois Lottery has stopped paying jackpots of more than $25,000 while the state government tries to pass a budget and some winners who still haven’t received their payouts are suing the state. “How the heck can they do this, and they’re still selling tickets?” Rhonda Rasche, who is still waiting for the $50,000 she won in July from a $3 scratch-off ticket, said to the Chicago Tribune. “If I was the one selling raffle tickets and I didn’t pay, I would be sued or in jail or both.”   read more