# The current second Trump administration: a compendium of horrors **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 6, 2024, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774 "2024-11-06T09:17:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 38
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/742 "2025-02-12T23:14:24Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Fewer than half of Americans have a passport, and about 80% of American women change their name on marriage, which means the birth certificate doesn’t match their current legal name. Boom, a huge number of women can no longer vote. > > Clever, huh? Implausible. As I read the [SAVE Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8281/text), the woman’s birth certificate will be accepted. There is no requirement to prove why the last name is different. If enough people read it differently then me, the GOP Senate will surely amend it to clarify. A more plausible and sustainable objection is that for a large portion of the American population (almost half?), the waste of time rigmarole will not really prove citizenship. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/743 "2025-02-12T23:18:05Z")
I don’t read it as you do, but I’m not sure that matters. The way it looks, EVERYONE would have to re-register to vote, as they don’t have that information on file for current voters. That will surely dissuade some people. It requires us to present this information in person, which immediately disenfranchises those of us voting from abroad. I can’t afford to fly back to my town-of-last-residence just to re-register to vote. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/744 "2025-02-12T23:38:21Z")
SEMPRINI ! [Gets carried out by police] ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/745 "2025-02-13T01:30:27Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > And the SAVE Act has already passed the House. Zero chance it passes the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/746 "2025-02-13T12:33:59Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > There’s a simple solution to this–make Tesla the exclusive vendor for government vehicles. The fact that this is incongruent with MAGA’s anti-electric and pro-fossil fuel dedication will just be hand-waved away. Yep, never could have predicted something like this: [State Department removes mention of ‘armored Teslas’ from its 2025 procurement list, replaces it with ‘armored electric vehicles’](https://www.businessinsider.com/state-department-buy-400-million-worth-armored-teslas-2025-2) > The procurement document initially contained a line item that read: “Armored Tesla (Production Units)” — a reference to products from [Elon Musk](https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk)’s electric vehicle company, [Tesla](https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla). It was listed as a five-year contract and valued at $400 million, making it the biggest item on the list. > > The document on the State Department’s website has since been revised. The same line item now reads “Armored Electric Vehicles.” It’s still listed as a five-year contract worth $400 million. Ah! I see. Removing the name “Tesla” from the procurement doc removes the conflict of interest and therefore the grift and self-enrichment for President Musk. Now that the bidding is fair and open, I wonder what company will get this contract? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/747 "2025-02-13T12:43:58Z")
Clearly, the waste, fraud, and abuse in the budget is the money that isn’t ear-marked for Musk. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/748 "2025-02-13T12:59:45Z")
The administration is now moving to abrogate collective bargaining agreements and force federal employees back to full-time in-person work. Whereas previous administrative emails had only said that there were _plans_ to rescind telework agreements, and ended with > The foregoing is subject to any collective bargaining obligations and applicable law… An email yesterday made it official: > The agency hereby rescinds all regular telework and remote work agreements unless excluded above. Teleworkers and remote workers must report full-time to agency worksites, according to their approved work schedule as follows: This is finally a specific action/order instead of just a declaration of intent, so now the unions have grounds to file formal complaints - and they’re moving on it: unionized employees have been told to expect a boilerplate grievance document by the end of the week, along with instructions on filing. > **[Several agencies end telework, remote work agreements and set...](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/02/several-agencies-end-telework-remote-work-agreements-and-set-return-to-office-dates/)** > > AFGE Council 238 President Marie Owens Powell says the EPA’s notice to employees is in violation of the union’s collective bargaining agreement. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/749 "2025-02-13T13:00:15Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Ah! I see. Removing the name “Tesla” from the procurement doc removes the conflict of interest and therefore the grift and self-enrichment for President Musk. ~~Also, having $400 million worth of~~ Tesla Cybertrucks~~ armoured electric vehicles out of action because they’re sitting at charging stations (while a big lineup of Teslas impatiently honks at them) should do wonders for national security – almost as much as appointing a Russian stooge as director of National Intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/750 "2025-02-13T13:10:54Z")
The states have records of citizenship in most cases. Or at least your claim. You checked a box, getting a driver’s license. My state checked those last election. They also checked all mail in votes against the list of people that can drive but did not check the box (permanent residents with a visa). ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/751 "2025-02-13T14:18:22Z")
[“Who’s on first?”](https://youtu.be/2ZksQd2fC6Y?si=75D1GY24BRcvDRuQ) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/752 "2025-02-13T14:42:25Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The administration is now moving to abrogate collective bargaining agreements and force federal employees back to full-time in-person work. It will be interesting to see if the administration abolishes the entirety of all fed CBAs, and/or rescinds the recognition of fed unions. I’m not expert enough in labor law to guess how much of a leap it would be to allow private businesses - perhaps ones w/ govt contracts - to unilaterally ignore parts of their CBAs. I eagerly await the outrage coming from organized labor in support of government workers. Shall I hold my breath? I recall when I worked in NW Indiana, where many folk I met were steelworkers. They would rage about the horrible unions representing do nothing teachers. I’d ask, “Wait a minute - aren’t YOU in a union?” They’d respond, “Yeah, but mine is a GOOD union. And I NEED my union! My employer would treat me poorly without it.” People sure are funny. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/753 "2025-02-13T14:50:49Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I recall when I worked in NW Indiana, where many folk I met were steelworkers. They would rage about the horrible unions representing do nothing teachers. I’d ask, “Wait a minute - aren’t YOU in a union?” They’d respond, “Yeah, but mine is a GOOD union. And I NEED my union! My employer would treat me poorly without it.” And then they vote for Trump. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > People sure are funny. Being stupid isn’t funny when it has tragic long-term consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/754 "2025-02-13T14:56:57Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I recall when I worked in NW Indiana, where many folk I met were steelworkers. They would rage about the horrible unions representing do nothing teachers. I’d ask, “Wait a minute - aren’t YOU in a union?” They’d respond, “Yeah, but mine is a GOOD union. And I NEED my union! My employer would treat me poorly without it.” There’s a guy at my local pub who is the biggest Trump supporter I know. Just yesterday he posted on Facebook about how he still loves Trump, and agrees with everything he’s doing. However, this guy is also the biggest pro-union guy I know. I once tried to tell him about how Trump fucks over working people, but he wouldn’t even look at the evidence I tried to show him. I wonder if he’s even going to notice one of the biggest anti-union actions ever taken in our lives. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/755 "2025-02-13T14:59:00Z")
This item appeared in small print at the bottom of an inside page of the San Antonio Express News this morning: [![](https://i.imgur.com/VPOtSwr.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/VPOtSwr.jpeg) “Transfer the documents to the National Archives”?? Didn’t he just fire the director of that and shut the place down? Is he trying to re-bury the JFK records that he just opened up? Very hard to keep up. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/756 "2025-02-13T15:23:20Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > “Transfer the documents to the National Archives”?? Didn’t he just fire the director of that and shut the place down? Is he trying to re-bury the JFK records that he just opened up? That’s how it looks. Except they never did open them up. [[Kash] Patel committed to shutting down the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., “on Day 1 and reopening the next day as a museum of the deep state.”](https://www.npr.org/2025/01/30/nx-s1-5278626/trump-cabinet-picks-kash-patel-confirmation-hearing) Thr committee vote on Patel’s nomination is today. What does that make his day one where the documents would have been part of the FBI museum? Monday? That’s President’s Day, so I should have been able to go down and see ‘em on Tuesday. Not any more. I’m thinking there must be names of a few very elderly living people, in these records, who were investigated but exonerated. If you release the names, they will spend their final years hounded by conspiracy theorists. So some records should still be secret. But it’s a mystery why Trumpers might care about that. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/757 "2025-02-13T15:30:39Z")
> [@TeroSunbear](#): > > The states have records of citizenship in most cases. Or at least your claim. Since only citizens can vote in the US, every voter registration reflects a claim to citizenship. If that were all it was about, this legislation would be completely superfluous. (I mean, it is completely superfluous, but I think its intent is disenfranchisement, not rooting out those pesky non-citizen voters.) ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/758 "2025-02-13T16:05:07Z")
Owning the libs! The fun will stop in a few weeks as the reality sinks in. And the Trump II era is quite front loaded. Less and less even this year. The budget will be…awful for all of us. [Politics: a view from the prairie: They are getting a taste of their own medicine now!](https://esapolitics.blogspot.com/2025/02/they-are-getting-taste-of-their-own.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/759 "2025-02-13T20:04:35Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > There’s a guy at my local pub who is the biggest Trump supporter I know. … > However, this guy is also the biggest pro-union guy I know. It would be interesting to hear what that guy thought of Trump simply violating a provision in a CBA. I suspect he’d somehow say it didn’t matter, b/c something about govt workers have it so good and shouldn’t be allowed to belong to unions. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/760 "2025-02-14T03:08:09Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > “Transfer the documents to the National Archives”?? Didn’t he just fire the director of that and shut the place down? He did fire the director but put Marco Rubio in charge as the acting archivist. It should work well for Trump to have a stooge there. [Rubio assume another Trump admin role, acting director of US Archives: report | Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rubio-named-acting-director-another-us-government-agency-report) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/761 "2025-02-14T03:16:17Z")
This article might make you throw up in your mouth a little. 🤢 > **[‘MAGA Youth’ Celebrate Trump and ‘Sexy’ Republicans at NYC Dinner](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/style/trump-maga-youth-republicans.html?unlocked_article_code=1.w04.mLV9.abe3AcV9wbTV&smid=url-share)** > > A “MAGA Youth” dinner in Manhattan gave young Trump supporters a place to socialize and celebrate the new administration. > Amid a surge of [youthful Republicanism](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/youngest-house-republican-elect-reveals-how-gop-won-back-americas-youth) in New York and nationwide, there has been an element of social cachet that has often proved elusive: In blunt terms, the word is “cool.” > > … > > “We made the presidency hot,” Mr. Trump said, speaking to [the newly formed board](https://www.kennedy-center.org/about-us/leadership/trustees/), according to an audio recording obtained by Jake Tapper of CNN. “So this should be easy.” > > … > > “POTUS is making it sexy to be Republican again,” said Max Castroparedes, 27, a self-described “international, globe-trotting consultant,” who was using the acronym for “president of the United States.” “He’s making it glamorous to be a Republican again. He’s making it great to be Republican again.” > > … > > Bearing out that trend, one 23-year-old woman who attended the dinner said she had two friends back home in dependably Democratic California who had voted for Biden in 2020 and then switched to Trump in 2024. > > “In 2020, it was considered cool to be a liberal,” she said, mentioning events like the Black Lives Matter protests. “It was cool to be socially woke. And I feel like now people are so sick of it and they’ve seen the repercussions and they don’t like the policies.” > … Dear Lord. I’m glad I’m old and will be dead soon. Good luck to the rest of you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=37) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=39)