Category Blogger C0nservative Tree House

Feb 11 2025

Budget Boss Russ Vought Tells all CFPB Staff to “Stop Work”


Posted originally on the CTH on February 10, 2025 | Sundance

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought is also the interim Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB is under review by DOGE and on Monday morning Russ Vought told CFPB staff not to come to work. {Background Here}

Vought sent an email to employees this morning saying they should “not perform any work tasks.” They were directed to contact the top lawyer for the Office of Management and Budget “to get approval in writing before performing any work task.”

Vought is also serving as the bureau’s acting director. The previous director, Rohit Chopra, was fired by Trump, a Republican, on Feb. 1. Vought’s message followed one on Saturday evening that ordered the bureau to “cease all supervision and examination activity.”

(Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s newly installed chief of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told all of the agency’s staff on Monday to stay away from the office and do no work, according to an email reviewed by Reuters.

The move followed a weekend decision to shutter the CFPB’s Washington headquarters, idling a federal agency of nearly 2,000 workers tasked with enforcing consumer financial laws.

“Employees should not come into the office,” acting CFPB Director Russell Vought said in an email to all staff. “Please do not perform any work tasks.”

Vought, a longtime budget hawk, took control of the agency on Friday. He is architect of the right-wing policy manifesto known as Project 2025, which called for the CFPB’s abolition.

Efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to neutralize the agency escalated over the weekend as billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency gained full access to CFPB computer systems. Vought ordered a stop to all oversight of consumer financial companies. (read more)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB) was originally created by congress (Elizabeth Warren lead) as a quasi-constitutional watchdog agency to reach into the banking and financial system, under the guise of oversight, and extract money by fining entities for CFPB defined regulatory and/or compliance violations

Essentially, the CFPB is a congressionally authorized far-left extortion scheme in the banking sector.  The CFPB levies fines; the fines generate income; however, unlike traditional fines that go to the U.S. treasury, the CFBP fines are then redistributed to left-wing organizations to help fund their political activism. {GO DEEP}

“Elon Musk and Russ Vought aren’t just testing the limits of the law — they’re shattering them, daring anyone to stop them,” said Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the activist group Indivisible. “This attack on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is illegal, unconstitutional, and a blatant power grab by billionaires who want to rig the system even further in their favor.” (link)

Feb 11 2025

President Trump Files Urgent Motion to Nullify “Impermissible” Court Order Blocking Treasury Officials from Access to Systems


Posted originally on the CTH on February 10, 2025 | Sundance

Lawyers representing President Trump and the office of the presidency have filed an urgent response motion to remove a court order by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer that blocked the Treasury Secretary and “political appointees” from accessing Treasury Department systems. [SEE ADMINISTRATION FILING HERE]

The filing is in response to District Judge Engelmayer’s blatant effort to engage in judicial activism and violate the Article II separation of power.  The Chief executive cannot be limited in scope or activity by the judicial branch, let alone a single circuit court judge within the regional judicial branch who is attempting to block the executive branch nationally.

[Source pdf]

“Basic democratic accountability requires that every executive agency’s work be supervised by politically accountable leadership, who ultimately answer to the president,” Justice Department attorneys wrote in the 11-page filing, calling the order “impermissible” and “anti-constitutional.”

WASHINGTON DC – […] The attorneys are asking Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas to quickly end or modify the order to ensure Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his top leadership can be briefed on the payment system and perform their legally required roles. (more)

From The Twitter – “Donald Trump’s actions since his inauguration have caused public discussion of some questions in Constitutional law.

I’m not a lawyer. But I have more than a passing acquaintance with Constitutional law – I’ve been studying it ever since I was an individual amicus in the Supreme Court case that struck down the Communications Decency Act back in the 1990s.

After 30 years of studying issues around the First and Second amendment and the doctrine of judicial review, I have some thoughts.

There are several intermingled issues here.

First: when JD Vance says that the courts do not have the authority to intervene in the administration of the executive branch, he is probably correct.

The judicial review power is generally considered to extend modifying or striking down laws, not to allowing any judge to interfere in the president’s administrative authority over the executive branch.

Second, any judge that rules that the Treasury of the Secretary may not have unlimited access to Treasury department data is setting himself up for reversal. This has never been litigated because it’s a ridiculous overreach that has never been attempted before.

Third, there are serious questions about the authority of federal judges below the level of the Supreme Court (what the Constitution explicitly calls “inferior” courts) that may now be forced to a resolution.

For purposes of separation of powers, only the Supreme Court itself is considered co-equal to the executive and legislative branches. Inferior judges are not.

One question, therefore, is whether the President may assert separation of powers as a defense against rulings of an inferior judge. Certainly, invoking separation of powers against a ruling of the Supreme Court itself would trigger a constitutional crisis, but that’s not the situation we’re talking about here.

This has not been litigated, but I think the President is likely to prevail on the question.

The fourth question is about the authority of federal circuit court judges to issue injunctions with nationwide effects outside the circuit where they have formal authority.

Until very recently, federal judges were so reluctant to raise this Constitutional issue that they almost never issued such injunctions. They issued injunctions only for their own circuits and left it to the Supreme Court to resolve questions about nationwide application.

But nationwide injunctions in contentious cases have become more common recently, and it is likely that the Supreme Court will be forced to address whether inferior-court federal judges do in fact have nationwide authority.

I think it is quite unlikely that the Supreme Court will affirm this.

I am not addressing here the question of whether I think Trump and DOGE’s authority to block Treasury payments should prevail. I am predicting that it almost certainly will prevail.” ~Eric S Raymond

Feb 10 2025

An Important Conversation: The COVID Dossier


Posted originally on the CTH on February 9, 2025 | Sundance

U.K Pundit Neil Oliver provides a platform for a very important conversation.

Two researchers, Sasha Latypova and Debbie Lerman, appear with Mr. Oliver to discuss the “COVID DOSSIER.”  An extensive research document that outlines how the origin of the COVID-19 response originated from within the military and intelligence community and not, NOT, from public health officials.

As Sasha, Debbie and Neil discuss, regardless of the SARS-CoV-2 origination, what really matters is what the apparatus of the global intelligence community did in the aftermath of what was called a “global pandemic virus.”

“It is crucially important to understand that COVID was a globally coordinated response based on legal frameworks intended for biodefense/biowarfare situations. The attack that initiated the global COVID response could have been real, perceived, or invented—regardless of the trigger, the lockdown-until-vaccine paradigm originated in the military/intelligence biodefense playbook, not in any scientifically based or epidemiologically established public health plan. [ref]

This means that nothing about the response—masking, distancing, lockdowns, vaccines—was part of a public health plan to respond to a disease outbreak. Rather, every aspect of the response was intended to induce public panic in order to gain compliance with biodefense operations, culminating with the injection of unregulated mRNA products, which were legally treated as biodefense military countermeasures (MCMs), into billions of human beings.”

[Dossier Here]

In a strange way, the timing of this research publication release aligns with my current concerns about DOGE revelations within the USA about the USAID and CIA activity.

In short, I worry the “old system of control” mechanisms are no longer needed.  The Western global intelligence apparatus, driven primarily by the USA intelligence community, is moving on from public influence operations that required widespread convincing and propaganda.  I fear a “new system of control” will be technologically driven and triggered by newly created technological mechanisms.

This is where Real ID, Facial Recognition, Palantir AI and govt funded technological interfaces could come into play.

The Western IC have moved beyond the phase where they were asking for permission and trying to control public opinion.

They have beta-tested alternative approaches where our permission was no longer part of the system. See covid-19 and all the responses therein.

They are moving into the phase where the outputs happen regardless of our opinion. Fully engaged control.

The old system, represented by the USAID approach toward influence, is no longer needed.

The new technologically driven system of control is no longer dependent on human willingness. Technology controlled by government, with the assist of AI and partnered with private sector, will control the options and the outcomes.

They Western IC (Five Eyes) are installing a technologically driven surveillance state in the Australia, Canada, The U.K, New Zealand and the USA.

Australia, NZ and the EU were the proving ground for health driven control operations, COVID passports – now digital ID’s (EU, UK), emergency control of banking systems (Canada), the interface with politically exposed persons; population lockdowns (NZ, AU), etc.

In the USA our constitution creates some impediments; enter the voluntary introduction of bipartisan AI.

“We will use advanced technology and non-partisan AI programming, to make the government more efficient and ensure this level of corruption and wasteful spending never happens again. Every dollar will be tracked, monitored and oversight will be transparent and available for everyone to see. Just ignore the part where the same efficiency system is monitoring your real ID, connecting your personage to the new govt and private sector interfaces, and click “I agree” on your next federal tax filing. Trust us Comrade citizen, the new technologically advanced DODGE approved govt system cares about responsible stewardship and your privacy. Swear.”

Maybe I’m wrong, but it tracks…

Feb 10 2025

President Trump Holds Historic Presser Above “The Gulf of America”


Posted originally on the CTH on February 9, 2025 | Sundance

Earlier today, en route to the Superbowl in Louisiana, President Donald Trump held the first press conference above the officially renamed Gulf of America.  President Trump signed a proclamation and took questions from the accompanying press pool.  WATCH: 

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Feb 10 2025

President Trump Superbowl Interview, and More – Video


Posted originally on the CTH on February 9, 2025 | Sundance

President Trump gave an interview to Fox News to celebrate the nation coming together to watch the Superbowl, the biggest sporting event of the year in the USA.  Video Below:

The United States Secret Service also produced an ad for the Superbowl.  It appears the USSS is recruiting new people for a renewed mission.  See Below:

Secret Service – “For the first time in history, a sitting United States President participated in America’s pastime at Super Bowl LIX. This historic event required the coordinated efforts of hundreds of Secret Service Special Agents, Uniformed Division Officers and mission support teams, working alongside state and local partners to ensure the highest level of safety and security before, during and after the game. Their dedication and expertise exemplify our unwavering commitment to protecting our Nation’s leaders and the American people at all times.”

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivers remarks: “Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world. The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.”

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Feb 10 2025

President Trump Interview with Brett Baier Scheduled for 3:00pm, Just Prior to Superbowl


Posted originally on the CTH on February 9, 2025 | Sundance

President Trump will be interviewed by Brett Baier of Fox News shortly before the beginning of the Superbowl.  A short preview is below:

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Feb 10 2025

FBI Officials Tipped-Off Criminal Aliens: Leaked Details of Pending Los Angeles ICE Deportation Operation to Media


Posted originally on the CTH on February 9, 2025 | Sundance

This is remarkable. Truly alarming, quite stunning and a clear example of how corrupt the FBI agency is.

There was a very disturbing article in the Los Angeles Times, warning criminal aliens of a pending ICE operation sweep that was coming to the LA area.  The source for the advanced tip-off were indicated within the reporting to be FBI officials in Washington DC.

Today, it appears that Dept of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is confirming the leak came from the FBI as she says, “The FBI is so corrupt. We will work with any and every agency to stop leaks and prosecute these crooked deep state agents to the fullest extent of the law.”

The head of the DHS is saying the FBI is “corrupt.”  We know it is. All evidence has always pointed to this; however, it is remarkable to see the DHS Secretary saying this publicly.

[Source]

DC guardians and defenders will not be mad at the FBI for leaking the ICE operation.  In the twisted world created by DC mindset, this is going to make the DC administrative state very angry at Noem for speaking the truth.

CALIFORNIA – Federal law enforcement agents are planning to carry out a “large scale” immigration enforcement action in the Los Angeles area before the end of February, according to an internal government document reviewed by The Times.

The operation, which would be spearheaded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will focus on people who do not have legal status in the country or who already have pending orders of removal, according to the document, which was circulated among some federal law enforcement officials this week.

Although immigration operations have been ramped up across the country since President Trump took office, no sweeping actions have taken place in L.A., a city Trump repeatedly criticized during his presidential campaigns.

ICE did not respond to a request for comment.

A federal law enforcement source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said agents with the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles field offices are being called in to assist.

“They needed more bodies,” the official said.

A former federal law enforcement official, who said they had been informed about the recent preparations but spoke on the condition of anonymity fearing retaliation, also said FBI agents were being ordered to participate in pending ICE “raids” in Los Angeles. Neither of the officials could provide an exact time frame for the potential actions. (read more)

Feb 10 2025

President Trump Revokes Security Clearance of Lawfare Operatives, Including Norm Eisen and Andrew Weissmann


Posted originally on the CTH on February 9, 2025 | Sundance 

This is a good strategic move.  Security Clearances are the credentialed currency of those who work in the DC administrative state.  Specifically, a lawyer inside the DC machine is essentially of no value without a security clearance.

Additionally, the absence of a security clearance opens up both parties in DC to legal exposure from discussing or receiving information that is defined by the apparatus as NSI (national security information). And the cherry on the top of the proverbial cake is that Lawfare uses their definitions of NSI in an attempt to stop sunlight on their corrupt activity.

Revocation of security clearances is a win, win, win; a triple winnamin.

President Donald Trump decided Saturday to remove security clearances for several Democrats, including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom are vocal Trump critics, Fox News has learned. (more)

Additional names include, Andrew Weissmann, Norm Eisen, Lisa Monaco, Jake Sullivan and Mark Zaid, who also had their clearances revoked.

Feb 10 2025

Sunday Talks – Nat Sec Advisor Mike Waltz Discusses USAID and First Two Weeks of The Trump Doctrine


Posted originally on the CTH on February 9, 2025 | Sundance

I was interested to see how the leftist media would possibly respond to defending receipts of ridiculous government spending.

As expected, NBC’s Kirsten Welker gets eviscerated at every angle in her narrative as she attempts to defend silo after silo, policy after policy, from the sunlight of DOGE upon the corruption. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz gives example after example of waste, fraud and abuse for every issue that Welker brings up. WATCH:

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Feb 10 2025

You Simply Must Remember Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks Defending the DoD Inability to Pass and Audit


Posted originally on the CTH on February 9, 2025 | Sundance

Back in 2023, when few were paying attention to the Defense Department’s inability to pass an audit, Jon Stewart highlighted exactly what happens when you start asking the right questions.

As the Dept of Govt Efficiency (DOGE) begins to engage the massive government agencies, it is well worth reminding ourselves of the institutional mindset that permeates these government silos.  The conversations between Jon Steward and Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks takes place at a symposium cohosted by the University of Chicago’s school of public policy.

Below is an excerpt of the larger conversation.  This small part shows the hubris of the DoD being questioned about the $850 billion in taxpayer funds that are given to the military.  WATCH:

The full interview is HERE on C-Span for review.

DOGE lead Elon Musk is highlighting this interview today to help people understand the mindset the DOGE team are encountering as they begin to question the spending of various agencies within the federal government.

Former Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks exemplifies the perspective and outlook of the bureaucrats within the federal government.  The arrogance and evasion on display are quite remarkable.  Now extend this attitude across the broad systems of government, and these are the people in direct opposition to President Trump and Elon Musk.