Nonfiction
filmmaking is in something of a rut, with funding drying up for nearly
everything except true crime and celebrity biopics. Filmmaker Alex Ross
Perry makes the most of this reality with “Pavements,” his alternately
self-conscious and disarmingly sly film about the band Pavement.
If
you know, you know: In the 1990s, the group fronted by California
native Stephen Malkmus was a low-fi phenomenon, snatching snippets of
everything from the Velvet Underground to Alex Chilton to create its own
defiantly un-pandering scrounge act. Evolving in a decade from
underground to indie to almost-breakthrough to college rock
canonization, the band broke up in 1999, four years after a disastrous,
mud-flinging performance at Lollapalooza. Although Pavement was never
hugely commercial, it was disproportionately influential, its albums
defining Gen X alienation like the chipped-vinyl equivalent of “Reality
Bites” on repeat.
“Pavements” chronicles the
band’s 2022 reunion tour — instant fodder for those-were-the-days cliché
that Perry thankfully banishes with often-amusing ingenuity. It turns
out that while Malkmus and his bandmates are rehearsing for their
upcoming concerts, a troupe in New York is rehearsing an energetically
earnest musical (is there any other kind?) based on their album “Slanted
and Enchanted.” Perry also happens to be filming his own glossy biopic a
la “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and the highest-brow Pavement fans are opening
their own bespoke museum — an appropriate touch, considering that
Malkmus once worked at the Whitney Museum of American Art as a security
guard (alongside the late David Berman of the Silver Jews).
I'm
not a Pavement opponent but I wasn't a fan either. Thinking right now,
the only thing I can remember about the band is Courtney Love making
jokes that Stephen Malkmus was the father of Francis Bean and her
talking about how sexy he was. Looked kind of polo-shirt-guy when I
looked him up back then to see what Courtney thought was hot. And
that's my stand out memory of the band today. If you're a fan, there's
your heads up to a documentary. I'll see it at some point just because
it's about the grunge era and the blend between fiction and documentary
should be interesting. And, when I do, I might even remember some
songs. (If you're reading me for the first time and are a rabid
Pavement fan, my not remembering them may very well be due to my
notoriously poor memory.)
From
that period, I love Nirvana, Soundgarden, Liz Phair, Afghan Whigs,
Alice in Chains, the Breeders, Greenday, Smashing Pumkins (as a band,
not as Billy's backup band). I used to include Tori Amos but I really
think I'm done with her. It's been 10 albums since she really delivered
and she's too busy marketing herself as Mommy. 'Mommy,' your daughter
is an adult. Maybe it's time you grew up? I really think she owes
whatever's left of her audience an apology because she's made such
piss-poor music for so long.
For
the first time ever, her second to last album did not make the top 100
on BILLBOARD. That's bad. Her albums do not sell anymore. This year's
album? Released in February? It never made the top 100 on BILLBOARD --
just like the one before it. Unlike the last one, though, it also
didn't make the top 200 on BILLBOARD's album list. It's not selling.
She was one of the most talented artists. But you can't keep making
these sour albums built around nonsense before it's enough. ABNORMALLY
ATTRACTED TO SIN? That wasn't an easy album. And as I noted when it
came out and since, I have to be in the right mood for it. Way too many
of her albums became that and the music was often just not up to it.
When I finally said "Enough!"? The reaction was one e-mail after another saying basically, "Finally. What took you so long?"
She
has run off her audience and left us all with the impression that the
work that spoke to us was of no real importance to her.
Joe
Jonas is the subject of several e-mails this week. Lenora was the most
persuasive so I am going to listen to the album. Can't promise a
review. Absolutely will do one if I feel I have something to say. BILLBOARD's Keith Caulfield reports:
Joe
Jonas scores his first solo top 10-charting effort on Billboard's Top
Album Sales chart as his second solo album, Music for People Who Believe
in Love, debuts at No. 3 on the chart dated June 7. The set sold 17,000
copies in the United States in the week ending May 29, according to
Luminate. Of that sum, vinyl purchases comprise 4,000 – a personal best
sales week for Jonas as a soloist on vinyl.
Jonas
has issued one solo studio album previously, 2011's Fastlife, which
debuted and peaked at No. 15 on Top Album Sales. Jonas is also a member
of Jonas Brothers, and that trio has logged seven top 10s on Top Album
Sales (including four No. 1s). DNCE also counts Joe as a member, and
that group has reached Top Album Sales once, with its self-titled
project, reaching No. 14 in 2016.
Thursday, June 5, 2025. Chump now wants the FBI to spy on parents and
kids regarding medical treatment, he continues his war on immigrants and
the economy, and someone needs to tell ICE that masks will not be able
to hide any of the shame that they are feeling internally -- not today,
not ten years from now.
Happy Pride and goodbye democracy. Why? June is Pride
month. Goodbye democracy? That's when you have crooks in government
who don't understand medical privacy let alone the rights of parents.
What are we talking about?
Kash
Patel. With him and his monkey Dan Bongo having failed to deliver the
'truth' about the death of Epstein -- you remember him, right? the
sweatiest of The Sweathogs -- and having angered 'Truth' 'Patriots' in
the best Sally Langston manner, the two are desperate to get back in
good with the hateful haters of MAGA. So what to do.
The
Federal Bureau of Investigation is encouraging the public to report
health care professionals who provide gender-affirming care to minors.
In
a post on X on Monday, the agency said, "As the Attorney General has
made clear, we will protect our children and hold accountable those who
mutilate them under the guise of gender-affirming care."
It encouraged people to report "hospitals, clinics, or practitioners performing these surgical procedures on children."
Gender-affirming
care includes mental health care, treatments like puberty blockers or
hormone therapy and, in rare instances, surgery for those diagnosed with
gender dysphoria. But it's something that is hardly ever done with
children and handled on a case-by-case basis.
It's not illegal to receive gender-affirming care, but there are some states that restrict access to it for minors.
Doctors
who spoke with the Scripps News Group in the past said providers will
not consider gender-affirming medical treatment for kids who have not
begun puberty. At most, they can offer family counseling or support.
"No
one is walking into a visit and then walking out with the hormone
prescription that same day. The other thing that takes time is actually
getting into the clinic," said Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd, Medical
Director of Children's Minnesota Gender Health Program, in a previous
interview with the Scripps News Group. "Just to have a diagnosis of
gender dysphoria, you have to have symptoms or be experiencing distress
for six months or longer. So at a minimum, it's a months-long process.
But I would say in many cases a years-long process."
SCRIPPS is doing half-assed reporting.
Where's the law?
There's no law.
There's
no law but the FBI is wasting time on this. No law has been broken.
But the FBI is wasting time on this. They're supposed to be focused on
federal law.
There's no federal law.
This
isn't their business. It's the business of the parents. No one else.
Not even the child. The child's not an adult yet. The parents are
responsible. That's been my position here from day one. I don't need
you or anyone else to tell me what kind of treatment my child may or may
not receive. I've noted before that if my children were kids --
they're adults now -- and one came to me and said they were transgender,
we'd discuss with the doctor what the options were and we'd make a
decision -- not strangers, not FBI agents, not closet cases in the US
government.
It's no one
else's damn business outside of the doctor, my child and me as the
parent. And if they're 18 or over (or an emancipated minor), it's not
even my business.
The FBI has more than enough to do without spying on people because they might be doing legal medical treatments.
Kash, what you gonna do when you fail us yet again?
The
FBI is diverting their attention from being a federal law enforcement
agency to spying on American citizens to determine what medical care
they may or may not be receiving. And, repeating, the 'suspect'
behavior is not against the law.
From last night's THE 11TH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RUHLE
Stephanie
Ruhle: President Trump's focus on immigration has meant calling on
members from other agencies to assist. But NBC NEWS has reported that's
been a source of tension from some officials who feel that they've been
taken off their core national security missions.
And
now FBI resources and time are going to be diverted into spying on
Americans to see if any legal medical treatments are taking place?
I
believe David Spade said it best in REALITY BITES, "If you got time to
lean, you got time to clean." So if FBI agents now have so much time on
their hands, let's give them a broom and dustpan.
They
do have a job to do and if Chump were any decent president, he would
want to ensure that the FBI was tasked with their actual mission and not
diverted off into spying on Americans medical needs.
But Chump is a lousy president and the dementia's only making that worse.
Look
at his immigration 'policy.' People are kidnapped off the street. And
ICE agents wear masks. Not for safety but because they're humiliated
by what they're being asked to do. This isn't how it's done and they
know it. They wear masks hoping to hide from what's being done. Masks
or not, people know what's going on and they know it's wrong. You don't
send people to gulags in El Salvador. If you're part of doing that,
you can look at being a whistle-blower or look at the other two options:
Kill yourself or self-medicate with pills or booze. Those are the two
options because you know what you're doing is wrong and inhumane and you
know people are being tortured because of what you've done.
Masks won't hide that, not from others and not from yourselves.
Secretary
of State Marco Rubio has voiced that he is devoted to ensuring the
return of a Venezuelan man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador
after the Department of Homeland Security requested it.
The
deported man, who has been identified in court documents only as
"Cristian", would be the first individual to be returned to the US after
being deported to the high-security prison Salvadoran Centro de
Confinamiento del Terrorismo, or CECOT, in El Salvador. He was deported
despite court-ordered protections giving him legal status to remain
within the US.
The Trump
administration announced that Rubio was personally working on the case
on Monday. Rubio, who has a long-standing relationship with El
Salvador's president Nayyib Bukele, is currently negotiating Cristian's
release with Bukele.
"Based on his deep
diplomatic experience with El Salvador and the secretary's familiarity
with political and diplomatic sensitivities in that country, he is
personally handling the discussions with the government of El Salvador
regarding persons subject to the court's order detained in El Salvador,"
the State Department said in a statement included in the filing.
Furthermore,
the statement says Rubio has "read and understands this court's order
and wants to ensure the court he is making prompt and diligent efforts"
to comply.
A
request for jurisdictional discovery from a Venezuelan immigrant locked
up in a notorious Salvadoran prison has been granted, opening the door
for the release of revelatory details into the Trump administration’s
detainment deal with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
In
a wide-ranging immigration case that intersects with others that have
captured national interest, a petitioner referred to as E.D.Q.C. —
reportedly previously identified as Edicson David Quintero Chacon, 28,
argued he was not given prior notice of his planned deportation to El
Salvador, a country with which he has no affiliation, and thus unable to
raise concerns of being tortured at the country’s Terrorism Confinement
Center, otherwise known as CECOT, which is accused of ill-treatment.
Middle
District of Georgia U.S. Magistrate Judge Amelia Helmick ruled that if
such allegations of a lack of notice are true, E.D.Q.C.’s transfer to
and imprisonment in CECOT is “likely unlawful.” She also firmly rejected
arguments by the Trump administration that certain “privileges” exist
barring them from releasing information into their deal with the
Salvadoran government, saying that “the only reason El Salvador has even
entered the conversation in this case” is because the U.S. government
sent the petitioner there.
“For Respondents to
now assert that the terms of such relocation and potential detention
should be shielded from Petitioner and the Court is disingenuous,”
Helmick wrote in her Tuesday filing. “That is not to say that the entire
panoply of relations between the United States and El Salvador is open
to discovery, but the narrow matter of the terms under which Petitioner
is held in El Salvador, the degree to which the United States is
entitled to determine his ultimate disposition, and what involvement, if
any, the United States continues to have in seeking his possible
eventual repatriation to Venezuela is discoverable.”
So
they got that one wrong too. What a bunch of idiots. A lot of people think
Chump and his Merry Band of Fools are wrong regarding Maurilio Amizael Ambrocio Mendez as well. We've noted him before. Billal Rahman (NEWSWEEK) reports:
A
Florida pastor who has lived in the United States for more than two
decades was detained by federal agents during his annual immigration
check-in.
Maurilio Amizael Ambrocio Mendez, 42,
from Guatemala, was detained at the ICE field office in Tampa on April
17 at around 9 a.m., according to his family. He is currently being held
at the Glades County Detention Center.
Ambrocio
Mendez had been attending annual ICE appointments for the past 12 years
under a court-issued "stay of removal," a form of supervision allowing
him to remain in the country despite a deportation order.
According
to his daughter, 19-year-old Ashley Ambrocio, Ambrocio Mendez had
always complied with the conditions of his supervision.
"It's
truly horrible. These people are going to their appointments to make it
right. If they were the 'real criminals' Trump is supposedly deporting,
they wouldn't be representing themselves to a judge," Ashley told
Newsweek.
"My father's lawyer told my dad the
chance was high he could be detained, but my father decided to go
because he knew he was doing the right thing and obeying," she said.
So
he was doing everything he was supposed to and then some. And Chump's
trying to kick him out of the country. That's how you know -- if you
still haven't figured it out -- that Chump is not a Christian.
Christians don't work overtime to deport pastors who've broken no
laws.
The article notes:
Ashley
said that during the first few days following her father's arrest, she
became ill from the stress of what happened; she couldn't eat for three
days and struggled to sleep. She's concerned over her father's treatment
while in ICE detention and said she is feeling anxious about their
future together, especially if he ends up being deported.
"My
family is devastated. It isn't the same without him; they miss him and
wish he would come back," she said. "My mom didn't just lose the father
of her children but also her partner. She gets lonely.
"Despite all this, I have faith, and that's what keeps me going."
That's
his daughter. He has five adult children. They're suffering. Think
about that. Grasp that the one being held in detention is suffering but
so are his family and his friends. Ryan Adamczeski (THE ADVOCATE) reports:
A federal judge has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement not to deport a transgender immigrant
after officers arrested her during her asylum hearing — but her
attorneys say they still haven't been able to contact her.
O.J.M., known only by her initials out of concerns for her safety,
was leaving a courtroom during her asylum hearing on Monday when she was
detained by ICE agents, who demanded that the court dismiss her case.
She was then taken from the courthouse in Portland, Ore. and forcibly moved across state lines to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Wash.
ICE
did not inform O.J.M.'s attorneys, from the immigration law firm
Innovation Law Lab, of her location after her arrest, prompting them to
file a habeas petition. The filing, obtained by Oregon Public Broadcasting,
accuses ICE officials of committing "a deceptive sleight of hand" in an
effort "to eject O.J.M. from her own asylum case, detain her, and
transfer her away from the District of Oregon so that they can rapidly
deport her.”
“Only nearly two years after O.J.M. was released from [immigration]
custody and months after she applied for asylum, [officials] commenced
removal proceedings against her in immigration court where she could
present her asylum claim under the due process rights,” the petition
reads. “O.J.M. had properly filed her asylum application, but ICE
appears to be attempting to place her in expedited removal, a rapid
deportation process with minimal protections."
Masks
are not going to hide ICE agents from their guilt. And as Nazis
learned, just doing your job is not a valid excuse when it comes to
crimes against humanity. You're 28 right now? 20 years from now when
your grandkid asks, "When you worked for ICE, you weren't art of
rounding up and harassing people, sending them off to gulags to be
tortured, were you?"
And maybe you'll lie to your
grandkid but it's only going to remind you yet again what a vile person
yuo were and are and what a War Criminal you are.
WSWS
started calling ICE agents out on day one. I didn't. I'm comfortable
doing it now. They've had time to see what's actually happening. If
they're aware and continuing to carry out these crimes against humanity,
they don't deserve sympathy. They've had plenty of 'wait and see'
time. They're now just as guilty as Chump and the guilt's not going to
go away by them conducting business as usual.
You
know the lives that are being destroyed, you know that the courts keep
objecting, you know what you're doing is wrong. If you continue down
this road, your options are limited and you guilt will not go away even
if you try to silence it with drugs. You will be haunted forever by the
actions you are taking now.
Every day in the United States, heavily armed, militarized, and
masked immigration agents—often operating without warrants or even the
pretense of due process—are seizing workers, students, parents and
long-time residents as part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing mass
deportation campaign.
Under the guise of combating “terrorism” and
“criminal gangs,” the ongoing raids overwhelmingly target workers and
their families, many of whom have filed for asylum and completed every
legal requirement for seeking residence in the United States.
In
the first 100 days of Trump’s second term, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) reported arresting 66,463 people and deporting 65,682.
By mid-May, nearly 49,000 individuals were being held in immigration
detention centers—most of them privately run, for-profit facilities
scattered across the United States.
To meet a White House-imposed quota of 3,000 arrests per day—set by
Trump’s fascist-minded senior advisor Stephen Miller—masked immigration
agents are appearing at courthouses, worksites, and other public spaces
to capture “illegal” immigrants.
If their “target” is not present,
the immigration Gestapo is encouraged to carry out “collateral
arrests”—detaining anyone they encounter whom they suspect of being
“illegal,” regardless of whether that person was the intended target.
In line with these directives, the right-wing New York Post—owned
by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp—reported that “2,200 illegal migrants”
were arrested in a single day on Tuesday. This came after a Monday press
conference by ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, who gloated that
immigration agents had detained 1,461 people in Massachusetts in May
alone as part of “Operation Patriot.”
Trump and his ruling class allies have repeatedly claimed that those
being targeted for deportation are the spearhead of an invasion force
aimed at destroying America. This lie is disproven every day.
On
Wednesday, CNN reported that the Trump administration is reviving its
notorious child separation policy and has already taken approximately
500 children into government custody—removing them from previously
vetted family sponsors. During Trump’s first term, more than 5,500
children were separated from their parents in a cruel and inhumane
effort to deter immigrants and asylum seekers. As of 2024, according to
Human Rights Watch, over 1,000 of those children had still not been
reunited with their families.
Every day brings new outrages. On Tuesday, KTLA in Los Angeles
reported that Martir Gracia Lara, a fourth-grade student at Torrance
Elementary School, and his father attended an immigration hearing in
Houston, Texas, at which point both were detained and separated by ICE
agents.
There is growing popular opposition to the Trump
administration’s vicious assault on immigrants and their families.
Demonstrations against the administration’s policies are becoming more
frequent and militant, reflecting a deepening mood of resistance.
And
if you're an ICE agent, you know about that opposition because you feel
it in your heart. You know what you're doing is wrong and disgusting
and vile. You know this isn't how you were raised to be. That's why
you need the masks, to try to hide from yourself, from the voice inside
that tells you right from wrong.
Chump's not going to help you, he's not even going to defend you.
As
Lawrence O'Donnell noted last night on MSNBC, Dementia Donnie is silent
with regards to the attacks he is now getting from Musk.
Why?
Because Chump is a coward.
Because Chump is a fake.
Because Chump is a fraud.
He's a poor man with a mountain of debt and he needs the world to believe he's huge -- huge -- hugely wealthy.
Wealthy
people don't have to leave NYC because society turned a back on them.
But that's what happened. Chump's seen as the money grubber he truly is
and the con artist he's always been. He had to move to Florida --
Jimmy Buffett land -- in order to have a social life.
Everything about him is fake.
And
right now, as his tough guy' pose crumbles in front of the nation,
Chump stays silent as he tries to calculate whether or not he's lost
Musk forever. He needs the money, Chump always needs the money. And
he'll act the little bitch on the national stage for it.
Trump
said his aggressive program of tariffs would spark a manufacturing boom
but he appears to have been wrong. U.S. manufacturers are warning that
the president is creating a crisis akin to the disruption the COVID
pandemic caused with his tariffs. Manufacturers have reported longer
lead times for supplies, higher prices, and disruptions to
production—even as demand dries up, Axios reported.
Some of the the slowdown has been fueled by the on-again, off-again
nature of Trump’s levies which have left some suppliers either delaying
deliveries or scrapping them altogether.
Trump
administration officials delayed and redacted a government forecast
because it predicts an increase in the nation’s trade deficit in farm
goods later this year, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The
numbers run counter to President Donald Trump’s messaging that his
economic policies, including tariffs, will reduce U.S. trade imbalances.
The politically inconvenient data prompted administration officials to
block publication of the written analysis normally attached to the
report because they disliked what it said about the deficit.
It’s not clear when or if the written analysis portion will be released.
The
previous forecast, published in February, projected a deficit of $49
billion for the current fiscal year, an increase from the November 2024
report. The new analysis revises the projection to a record $49.5
billion, beating the previous record of $31.8 billion in fiscal 2024.
Republicans
used the quarterly report’s rising trade deficit projections during the
Biden administration to accuse then-Secretary Tom Vilsack of not doing
enough to promote U.S. farm exports. Agriculture secretaries
historically have used the forecasts to promote policy initiatives.
The
May report reflects Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs, the people
said. The president has announced sharply higher tariffs on China and
“reciprocal” levies of at least 10 percent on most U.S. trading
partners.
The
sweeping Republican bill for President Donald Trump's domestic agenda
is projected to add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next 10
years, according to a new estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional
Budget Office.
It is slightly higher than an earlier version of the bill, which the CBO projected to add $2.3 trillion in new debt.
The
long-awaited new score factors in a series of last-minute revisions GOP
leaders made to placate holdouts before the House passed the
legislation last month. The changes include a higher state and local tax
(SALT) deduction and a provision that triggers the Medicaid work
requirements sooner than the original legislation did.
Overall,
CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation found that over a 10-year
period, the legislation would decrease revenues by $3.7 trillion, while
cutting net spending by $1.3 trillion — for a total of $2.4 trillion in
new red ink.
The legislation would also
increase the number of people without health insurance by 9.1 million by
2034, CBO projected. That includes 7.8 million fewer covered due to the
Medicaid changes.
Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey was slapped with 18 health code violations, Forbes reported on Wednesday — including some truly gross ones.
Overall, the facility scored just 32 out of 100 in its health
inspection, the lowest grade in all of Somerset County. Moreover, nine
out of the 18 violations were deemed to be the most serious category,
posing an "unacceptable health risk" to people at the establishment.
Among
the violations at the Bedminster club were failing "all three
requirements in the 'food protected from contamination' category, with
violations including expired milk, raw meat stored improperly and a
dishwasher that may not reach the required temperature," noted the
report. "The inspector also cited four separate hand-washing violations,
including sinks without soap or paper towels, one lacking a required
sign and another used to store a sanitizer bucket."
If
you're not getting it, he's a slum lord. That's why, despite years of
trying, he couldn't buy his way into NYC society and has to nurse his
wounds in Florida. It's why I worry for Vietnam when I find out they're
going to be doing construction with him.
Does
no one remember the coverage of Chump's casinos? How they fall apart
and never get fixed. Leaky roof? Put a buck out to catch the water --
year after year. He's a slum lord. That's all he's ever been and all
he ever will be.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
Murray: “You didn’t do an actual analysis to determine what the effects of this would be?”
McMahon: “No.”
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s Q&A with Sec. McMahon***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned
Department of Education (ED) Secretary Linda McMahon at a Senate
Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related
Agencies Subcommittee hearing
on the president’s fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Department.
Senator Murray pressed Secretary McMahon on the indiscriminate mass
firings of employees across the Department, the lack of transparency
from the Department as it illegally withholds funds that were already
appropriated by Congress, and how the Trump administration talks a big
game about tackling antisemitism in schools but is actually dismantling
the very office charged with investigating it and enforcing federal
civil rights laws for students.
In opening comments, Vice Chair Murray said:
“Good morning, Secretary McMahon. You know, President Trump
has made clear that he wants to abolish the very department that you
lead. And we know here that you cannot eliminate the Department of
Education without an act of Congress—but I’m afraid that has not stopped
you from preventing the Department from actually doing its job.
“You have indiscriminately shuttered offices and pushed out
half of the Department’s staff. And under your leadership, we have seen
critical research to improve student outcomes axed overnight—and funding
for mental health services and teacher training, among a whole lot,
abruptly cut off and discontinued.
“Now, today you come before this Committee to request massive
funding cuts that do, in my opinion, nothing to help improve
opportunities for students in our public schools throughout the country.
You are proposing to slash Pell grants and much more.
“Now, you and the president say this isn’t about cutting
education funding but all about ‘returning education to the states.’ But
actually, that couldn’t be farther from the truth—because the reality
is this administration is actually taking unprecedented steps to extort
schools and universities, and hold federal funding hostage if they don’t
conform with your agenda.
“So, it’s pretty clear that ‘returning education to the
states’ actually means letting states, colleges, and local communities
pick up the tab. And I just don’t believe that’s how things should work
in America—I don’t believe that’s good for our students and I don’t
believe it is good for our families.”
[MASS FIRINGS AT ED]
Senator Murray began by pressing Secretary McMahon on the indiscriminate mass firings across the Department: “Secretary
McMahon, as I mentioned, you have set out to eliminate nearly half of
your Department’s workforce. And that includes pushing out the door more
than half of the staff at the Office for Civil Rights, the entire staff
responsible for managing grant operations and contract procurement, and
employees who actually prevent students from getting ripped off by
predatory colleges. The Department cannot do its basic job to execute
the law given how many staff have been pushed out. And it is our
students and our teachers who will suffer the consequences. So, I want
to know from you: before you cut that much staff, did you conduct any
analysis to assess whether or not it would degrade support and services
for students and our schools? Or how the Department would still be able
to execute the law after losing so many employees?”
Secretary McMahon responded, “Yes, we did talk to the Department itself, OCR.”
“But did you do an actual analysis?” Senator Murray pressed.
“What we looked at across was, how can we restructure the
Department so that we can maximize the use of the people who are there?
So, what we did was in, like, training manuals and things of that
nature, to look at it and say, okay, we can better operate if we focus
on—” SecretaryMcMahon replied.
“So, this was a conversation. You didn’t do an actual analysis to
determine what the effects of this would be?” Senator Murray clarified.
“No,” replied Secretary McMahon.
“So, no study was done. They were just fired, and you assumed that it would work?” Senator Murray asked.
Secretary McMahonreplied, “No, obviously not. I have been in the
private sector and done restructuring before in companies, and it’s
painful to do.”
“It is painful, but normally companies look ahead and say:
what are our goals and what will be the impact if these employees are
gone from this Department? That’s why I asked. But you’ve not done an
analysis, and my time is short, so let me continue,” said Senator Murray.
[REFUSAL TO DETAIL HOW ED IS SPENDING FUNDING]
Senator Murray turned to the lack of transparency from the Department
about how it is spending funding that has already been provided: “You
were required—by law—to submit an operating plan 45 days after
enactment of the full-year CR detailing exactly how you are spending
funding Congress provided this year. You didn’t do that. The purported
‘operating plan’ that you did submit told us virtually nothing about how
you are spending taxpayer dollars right now, at this very moment. And
that really raises concerns about when—and actually if—you are going get
funding that Congress did provide for FY25 out the door. For example:
your FY26 budget request zeroes out dedicated funding for literacy
education programs, and your operating plan for this year describes this
funding as ‘unallocated.’ So, will you allocate the $220 million for
literacy programs that Congress appropriated for FY25?”
Secretary McMahon refused to commit to spending the funding Congress provided for literacy programs, stating: “Well,
Senator, as I mentioned earlier, we are looking at the unallocated
dollars now to determine which of those programs we can best spend those
dollars on. And I would be happy to get back to you. And we want to
work with Congress on those unallocated dollars to see where they could
be spent the best.”
Senator Murray pressed on whether ED will release the funds: “Well,
what is your plan to make sure that, that funding actually gets to the
schools and students is intended to support? We’re running out of time
here.”
“Well, to look at those programs and then to allocate them to the
states. If those programs, we believe is the best interests…” said
Secretary McMahon.
“Those funds were appropriated by Congress. Your department
was to allocate them, and it really looks to me like the Department is
illegally impounding funding that would help our students succeed with
plans that don’t exist—and just day after day going by here. And that’s
our concern,” saidSenator Murray.
Secretary McMahon replied, “Well, let us work more with you as we update those allocations, as we did before.”
“When do you plan to have those funds out by?” pushed Senator Murray.
“Well, the funds that we are approving will go out in this year,” Secretary McMahon responded.
Senator Murray replied, “Like in this next month, or..?”
“In the fiscal year,” saidSecretary McMahon.
“You’re running out of time. So, we need to see what the plan is if you can provide it,” said Senator Murray.
Senator Murray and House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro sent a letter
to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought last week
calling out the Trump administration’s lack of transparency about how
it is spending funds provided by Congress for this year—noting the
complete inadequacy of the spend plan, required by law, that the
Department of Education submitted.
[DISMANTLING THE OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS]
Senator Murray then addressed how the Trump administration has been
dismantling the Office for Civil Rights, which is the office charged
with enforcing federal civil rights laws in schools and investigating
discrimination, noncompliance with federal law and more. Under Secretary
McMahon’s leadership, half of OCR’s staff have been eliminated and
investigations have been hamstrung, and President Trump has requested a
nearly 36% cut to OCR’s budget. She began: “Secretary McMahon,
the Administration says that one of its priorities is tackling
antisemitism in our schools—that’s correct, right?”
“Correct,” replied Secretary McMahon.
“Well, the Office for Civil Rights at your Department takes
the leading role in preventing antisemitism and enforcing our nation’s
civil rights law. It is really an important mission. But as you
hopefully know, that office is under water. What is the current backlog
at OCR, can you tell us that?” inquired Senator Murray.
Secretary McMahon said, “We inherited about a 20,000 backlog
from the Biden administration. One of the things that we found is some
of those cases were like one-page complaints, and we’ve really been able
to get rid of many of them and we are fulfilling…we absolutely are
fulfilling all of our statutory requirements—have not failed to do any
of those. And not only are we reducing the backlog, but we are keeping
up with the current amount with a reduced staff because we are doing it
efficiently.”
“If you don’t have the staff, you can’t do them,” Senator Murray pressed.
“If you have an efficient staff that has changed programs and
you are addressing all of the issues, then you are being successful.
So, I am answering your question by completely answering it,” replied Secretary McMahon.
“Actually, Madam Secretary, my question is what is the current backlog?” asked Senator Murray.
Secretary McMahon replied, “The current backlog is probably about—let’s see I’m looking at my numbers now—about 25,000 cases.”
“25,000, and how many are you processing per month? Do you have any sense?” Senator Murray asked.
“Well, we’re catching up with the backlog. And keeping current on the ones that are coming in,” dodged Secretary McMahon.
Senator Murray pressed, “But you don’t know how many you are processing every month? You can’t tell us so we can get an idea?”
“I can get back to you with that,” said Secretary McMahon.
“Would you? If you could commit to giving us quarterly
reports so we can know whether OCR is simply dismissing these cases
or doing its job,” replied Senator Murray.
Secretary McMahon responded in part, “I would be happy to do that.”
