Transcript

2.15.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Saturday,
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February fifteen, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, Radio I
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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print material. Your reader for today is Mark Webster. Today's
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front page headlines from the Washington Post consists of six headlines.
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I'll read the headlines first, then the articles. This will
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take two readings, broken up into two twenty seven minute sessions.
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The first article, Justice officials moved to drop Adam's case
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after seven lawyers refuse resign in protest. Second in the
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West Manifest Destiny with a modern twist. Third Advance exports
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MAGA message. Fourth, federal staff firings may soon in peril services.
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Fifth a possible miss Q on a key tower directive.
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Then six and last Republicans scramble to save USAID food
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program the first one. Justice officials moved to drop Adams
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case after seven lawyers refused resign in protests. Acting Deputy
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Attorney General Emo Bove told prosecutors in Washington to find
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someone who would seek to have the case dismissed or
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risk losing their jobs. Here's the article. The Justice Department
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on Friday filed a motion to drop corruption charges against
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New York Mayor Eric Adams, leaving it to a federal
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judge to decide the fate of a case that is
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ignited a dramatic standoff between the Trump administration and veteran
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prosecutors in two cities. The motion, filed in a New
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York court, was signed by Acting Deputy Attorney General Emo Bove,
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Edward Sullivan, a veteran public corruption prossecut and Tony Bacon,
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acting Chief of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, After seven
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other Justice Department lawyers had refused and resigned in protest.
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Both instructed prosecutors in New York on Monday to drop
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the charges, saying the case could interfere with the mayor's
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reelection bid and his efforts to work with the Trump
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administration on immigration reform immigration enforcement. He said his decision
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was not based on a consideration of the evidence or
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the legal theories under pounding the case. Danielle Sassoon, acting
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US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, quit
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instead and accused President Donald Trump's appointees of acting for
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political rather than legal reasons. Nearly all of the supervisors
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within the Justice Department's Public and Tecnity Section filed suit.
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The tensions only grew Friday, as the lead prosecutor on
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the case in New York, Hagen Scotton submitted his resignation,
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calling any lawyer who would ask a judge to toss
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the charges a quote fool unquote or quote coward unquote.
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Bove meanwhile summoned the roughly two dozen remaining members of
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the Public Integrity Unit and ordered them to figure out
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who would file the dismissal motion. He made clear that
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lawyers not willing to do so could be fired, and
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those who were could be promoted. According to multiple people
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in communication with lawyers at the meeting who spoke on
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the condition of anonymity to disclose what was said, Bovee's
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push to abandon the case over the past week was
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endorsed by Attorney General Pambondi and Chad Mazelle, the Justice
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Department's chief of staff. While they ultimately got their way,
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the effort triggered an extraordinary showdown within the Department and
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a remarkable show of resistance to both a former personal
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defense lawyer for Trump who previously worked as a federal
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prosecutor in the Southern District. Lawyers from that office and
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Justice Department headquarters showed they were not just willing to
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resign over request that they believed would violate their legal
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deaths of obligations, but also to rebuke Bow's order in
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writing on the way out the door. Their defiance and
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the punitive response they received in return, has boosted concerns
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for outsiders over Trump's long term intentions for the Department.
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Quote I suspect many Americans have questioned today about what's
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going on at the Department of Justice and what this
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means for the rule of law. Set Alberto Gonzales, who
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served as Attorney General under President George W. Bush. In
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a Fox News interview Friday, Bondi suggested without evidence that
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Adams had been unfairly targeted by the Biden administration after
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he criticized its handling of immigration. Bondi also praised some
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of Adams's recent moves in support of Trump's immigration crackdown.
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Mazelle issued a statement saying prosecutors who quote refused to
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follow a direct command have no place that DJ closed
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the quote the four page filing that sought to dismiss
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the charges largely echoed Bove's earlier reasons. It said the
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case would impede Adam's ability to carry out his duties
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as mayor quote which poses unacceptable threats to public safety,
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national security, and related federal immigration initiatives and policies. Closed
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the quote. The filing also repeated Bove's claims that the
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trial could interfere with the New York mayoral election later
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this year. Bove and the others asked Judge Dale E.
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Hle to dismiss the case quote without prejudice unquote, meaning
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the prosecutors could opt to revive it in the future,
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and granting the Justice Department remarkable leverage over Adams as
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the Trump administration has moved to step up immigration enforcement
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in his city. Hue has limited, if any, discretion to
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question or reject the Justice Department's request. According to legal experts,
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he could schedule a hearing and press Justice officials to
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elaborate on their reasoning. Besides Scotton and Sassoon, those who
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resigned in protest this week included Kevin Driscoll, a Deputy
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Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department's Criminal Division, and
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John D. Keller, acting Chief of Public Integrity section, which
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investigates public officials and the election crimes. Scotton, the former
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lead prosecutor on the Adams case, is a decorated Iraq
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war veteran and Harvard Law School graduate who clerk for
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Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. And for Supreme Court
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Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh when Kavanaugh was an Appeals Court judge.
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In his resignation letter, Scotton wrote that he did not
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view the Trump administration negatively considered the request to drop
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the charges against Adams a serious mistake. Quote any assistant
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US attorney would know that our laws and traditions do
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not allow using the prosecutoral power to influence other citizens,
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much less elected officials in this way. Unquote. He wrote,
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quote if no lawyer within earshot of the president is
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willing to give him that advice, then I expect you
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will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool
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or enough of a coward to file your motion unquote.
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Scotton's letter said, quote, but it was never going to
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be me unquote. Sassoon too has sterling conservative credentials, having
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clerked for J. Harvey Wilkinson, third on the US Court
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of Appeals for the fourth Circuit and Justice Antonine's Galia
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of the US Supreme Court. She wrote in a letter
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to Bondi that she could not in good faith ask
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a judge to drop the charges against Adams. Quote. The
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law does not supported dismissal. I am confident that Adams
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has committed the crimes with which he is charged. Closed
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the quote. Both responded to Sassoon's decision with a letter
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accusing her of insubordination, and said he was moving oversight
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of the Adams case to Washington to get the charge
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it dismissed. At his meeting with the remaining members of
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the Public Integrity Section on Friday, both said that he
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and Bondi wanted two people in the unit to sign
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a motion seeking to dismiss the Adams case, and that
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their jobs would depend on it. According to multiple people
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briefed on the session, who spoke on the condition of
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anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it, those
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not in the building participated by calling it, calling in
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on a conference line. Two of the people said, both
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left the group alone to discuss how its members wished
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to proceed, saying he wanted an answer quickly. That people
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briefed on the matter, said One attorney president told a
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colleague at Justice that the discussion was quote gut wrenching,
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unquote and quote not anything any of us ever expected
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to see in America, the colleague told The Washington Post.
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At first, the lawyers agreed they would all resign rather
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than endorse the dismissal of Adam's corruption case, two people
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briefed on the session said. But then Sullivan, who is
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nearing retirement, proposed that he could sign the motion to
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avoid a mass firing of prosecutors and allow his colleagues
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time to seek jobs elsewhere, These people said. The group
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agreed to accept Sullivan's offer, but some were upset, believing
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that their section could still face retaliation and it would
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be more principal for everyone to refuse to seek to
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drop the charges. Sullivan filed the dismissal motion hours later,
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joined by Bove and Bacon. Adams was charged in September
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with wire fraud, robbery, and seeking illegal campaign donations. Prosecutors
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alleged he had problematic relationships with wealthy foreigners and accepted
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travel upgrades, hotel rooms, and other perks from Turkish business
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people and at least one government official. He pleaded not guilty.
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In her resignation letters has Soon described a January thirty
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one meeting with both and Adam's attorneys in which he
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said the mayor's lawyer's quo quote repeatedly urged what amounted
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to a quit pro quote unquote, insisting that Adams could
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help with the Justice Department's immigration priorities only if the
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indictment were dismissed. Quote rather than be rewarded, Adam's advocacy
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should be called out for what it is, an improper
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offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal
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of his case unquote, Sassoon wrote. Alec Spiro, a lawyer
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for the mayor, called the accusation quote a total lieunquote.
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In a statement of release Friday, Adams said he was
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ready to put the case behind him. Quote. I want
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to be crystal clear with New Yorker's unquote. The statement
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read quote, I never offered, boar, did anyone offer on
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my behalf any trade of my authority as your mayor
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for the end and for an end to my case.
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Never close the quote. Adams made two major immigration related
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announcements this week, expanding efforts to target gang activity. He
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appeared on Fox News with Trump Borderzar Tom Hoeman, who
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joked that he would come after Adams if the mayor
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didn't keep his promises. Dispute over legal cases between Justice
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Department headquarters and US attorney's offices across the country are
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not new, especially with the Southern District known for an
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independent street that has earned it the nickname quote the
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Sovereign District of New York unquote. During Trump's first term,
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his administration also tangled with the top federal prosecutors in Manhattan.
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US Attorney Jeffrey Berman had prosecuted members of Trump's inner
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circle during his years leading the Southern District before Attorney
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General William P. Barr ousted him in twenty twenty. Berman
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initially resisted Barr's efforts to force him out, and the
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Attorney general firing. Berman later wrote in a book the
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Justice Department officials during Trump's first term had pushed him
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to take politically motivated action, but legal experts called the
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tenor and tone of the conflict over Adams case remarkable.
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What's different about this is the grounds for dismissing the
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case unquote, said Paul Butler, a Georgetown University law professor,
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and former prosecutor with the Public Integrity Unit, pointing to
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the explicitly political reasons both cited for dropping the charges.
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In his memo this week, Butler said that in prior
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conflicts within the Department, including debates over public corruption cases, quote,
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there often are tough issues on both sides. There are
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legitimate disagreements, and what's different here is it seems all
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about politics. Close the quote. Berman and other former US
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attorneys issued a statement in support of Sassoon on Friday,
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saying that quote, her commit into integrity and the rule
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of law reflects the finest traditions of the Southern District,
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the United States Attorney's Office, and the Department of Justice.
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Close the quote. The statement said Bove's warning that he
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would investigate Sassoon and other career prosecutors who refused to
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ask for the case to be dismissed. Quote should concern
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everyone committed to the pursuit of justice without fear or favor.
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Close the quote. That's the end of that article. Will
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now move to the second of the six articles in
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the West Manifest Destiny with a modern twist. For some reason,
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the leak here says that page can't be found. I
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will try for a minute to see what I can do.
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The print is too small for me to read. On
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the printed edition, the headlines in the West manifest destiny
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with a modern twist. Selle of federal land could boost
13:56
Las Vegas housing market, an idea Trump made gamble on
14:01
in a city where housing costs or writing like a
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Roulette jackpot. The two hundred and ninety five new apartments
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at hair Bloom Hairloom at Public are filing a critical
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orfilio critical gap. But really the land beneath the complex
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for low income seniors, five acres of dirt and rock,
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all of which used to belong to the federal government.
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Could that could come part of the national playbook to
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build moorehousing. I will stop there that I cannot possibly
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read that. The third article Vance exports maga message. Vance
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meets with leader of far right German party exports maga message.
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The Vice President made his mark on the global stage
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with a scolding speech advocating that Europe's centrist old block
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politicians move over to accommodate the rising anti migration nationalist
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voices they have at times sought to block from power.
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Here's the article Munich jd Vance made his vice presidential
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debut on the global security stage Friday, in a scolding speech,
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here pressing Europe's centrist leaders to move over to accommodate
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the rising anti migration nationalist voices they have at times
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sought to block from power. Vance also met with Alis Weidel,
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head of the nationalist Alternative for Germany party, becoming the
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most senior US official to do so. He also met
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in recent days with the leader of Germany's two other
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major parties, which are locked in competition ahead of the
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February twenty three elections, in which Widel's party is trying
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to break through a post war War War II taboo
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and join a ruling coalition for the first time. In
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his speech, Vance fully weighted into nationalistic politics, blasting an
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audience of European prime ministers and presidents for failing to
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listen to their own voters. His remarks amounted to an
16:17
attempt to export MAGA to Europe and a declaration of
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common cause with rising anti migration parties in Europe, who,
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like Trump, are skeptical of international alliances and many of
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the hallmarks of the global system that developed in the
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after math of World War II and expanded after the
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fall of communism. Quote, no voter on this continent went
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to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions
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of unvetted immigrants. Unquote, Vance said quote, but you know
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what they did vote for. In England, they voted for Brexit,
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and agree or disagree, they voted for it, and more
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and more all over Europe. They're voting for political leaders
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who promised to put an end to out of control migration.
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Close the quote. The Alternatives for Germany or a f D,
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has grown rapidly since it was founded in two thousand thirteen,
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but other mainstream German parties have refused to work with it.
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Friedrich Mertz, the head of the center right Christian Democratic Union,
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who is widely expected to become the country's next chancellor,
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flirted with working with the party last month and faced
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significant blowback from his Christian Democratic predecessor, Angela Merkel and
17:28
others inside and outside the party. The a f D
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takes a hard line anti emigration stance and says modern
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day Germany should spend less time blaming itself for its
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Nazi past. President Donald Trump and his allies have tangled
17:44
with Europeans for years, but in an auditorium filled with
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Europe's security policy making elite. Vance surprised the crowd by
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saying little about the rapidly developing efforts to end Russia's
17:56
war in Ukraine, although he did sit down with the
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Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky later in the day. Instead, he
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accused allies by name of what he said were efforts
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to subvert the will of the people in the name
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of protecting migrants and fighting back Russian influence efforts. Quote.
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In America, you cannot win a democratic mandate by censoring
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your opponents or putting them in jail. In quote, Vance
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told the gathered elite at the Munich Security Conference, and
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remarks that some European leaders interpreted as a slam that
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they were not truly democratic. Quote nor can you win
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one by disregarding your basic electric on questions like who
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gets to be a part of our shared society and
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of all the pressing challenges that the nations represented here face,
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I believe there's nothing more urgent than mass migration today
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closed the quote. He blasted Romania's Constitutional Court for annulling
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the first round of its presidential elections in December after
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allegations that a Russian influenced campaign had delivered a boost
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to a little known ultra nationalist candidate days ahead of
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the vote. He attacked British leaders for prosecuting a fifty
19:05
one year old man for conducting silent prayer near an
19:08
abortion clinic and what authority said was a violation of
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protest within a buffer zone outside those facilities, and he
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linked Germany's past migration friendly policies to an incident in
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Munich on Thursday in which a twenty four year old
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Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a crowd of
19:26
labor protesters Injuring thirty and what authorities said they believe
19:30
was an intentional attack in Munich. Quote I've heard a
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lot about what you need to defend yourselves from unquote
19:37
Vance said. Quote. What has seemed a little bit less
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clear to me, and certainly I think to many of
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the citizens of Europe, is what exactly it is that
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you're defending yourselves for. What is the positive vision that
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animates this shared security compact that we all believe is
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so important. If you're running in fear of your own voters,
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there's nothing America can do for you. Close. The quote
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also appeared to treat Ukraine as an afterthought in his remarks,
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even though for many in the crowd it was a
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life or death subject for which they had hoped to
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get answers. Quote. The Trump administration is very concerned with
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European security and believes that we can come to a
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reasonable settlement between Russia and Ukraine. And we also believe
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that it's important in the coming years for Europe to
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step up in a big way to provide for its
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own defense. Close to quote, Vance said the speech received
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a chili reception in the Guided biderisher Off Hotel auditorium,
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which was standing room only as politicians and dignitaries from
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around the world packed a grand staircase and balconies that
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surrounded the stage. When the speech ended, most remained in
20:48
their seats, as a handful of Republicans on a lower
20:51
balcony gave muted applause. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, a
20:57
member of the center left Social Democrats, Advance soon afterwards.
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Quote this democracy was called into question by the US
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Vice President. Unquote, Historius told the gathering, quote, he compares
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the condition of Europe with what is happening in autocracies.
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This is not acceptable unquote. A year ago, Vance visited
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the Munich gathering as the junior senator from Ohio, crowded
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into the margins as former Vice President Maala Harris sought
21:25
to assure allies that Washington was an unwavering partner that
21:28
would protect the existing global order, not overthrow it. This time,
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Vance is the center of attention, a measure of the
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degree to which Trump's election victory has energized forces that
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advocate nationalists agendas, hire trade barriers, and tight borders. Vance's
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whirlwind thirty two hours in Germany began Thursday when he
21:50
and second later Usher Vance visited the Dachau concentration camp.
21:55
Vance toured the camp with a ninety seven year old
21:57
Holocaust survivor, Abba Neor, who pointed to locations on a
22:01
map of the Nazi camp network. With his cane, Vance
22:05
reviewed the prisoner's badges, which identified them by classifications such
22:09
as immigrants or homosexuals. He his wife paused at the
22:13
end of the tour in front of a wall that said,
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quote never again unquote in multiple languages. Quote, I've read
22:19
a lot about the Holocaust and books, but being here
22:22
and seeing it up close in person really drives home
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what unspeakable evil was committed and why we should be
22:29
committed to ensuring that it never happens again. Closed the quote.
22:32
Vance said. Vance's meeting with Zelensky alongside Secretary of State
22:37
Marco Rubio and Special Envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg,
22:42
did not yield a timeline for reaching a deal. Afterwards,
22:45
Vance told reporters, quote, we want the war to come
22:48
to a close. We want the killing to stop, but
22:51
we want to achieve a durable, lasting piece, not the
22:54
kind of peace that's going to have Eastern Europe in
22:56
conflict just a couple of years down the road. Closed
22:59
the quote. Trump has alarmed Europe by appearing to make
23:03
significant concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin even before formal
23:08
negotiations start. Putin has long sought to block Ukraine from
23:13
entering the NATO defense A lines, and Trump said Thursday
23:16
he doesn't see any way Russia quote could allow them
23:19
to join. Unquote. Worried Europeans said Trump was handling Russia
23:23
their strongest bargaining chip before it could be used. Vance
23:28
also huddled with leaders from NATO, Britain, and Germany and
23:32
back to back bilateral meetings. In brief public remarks amid
23:37
each sit down, he appeared to strike a largely positive
23:40
tone and did not bring up the divisive issues that
23:43
animated his speech on the main stage later in the day.
23:48
Ahead of a Friday meeting with NATO's Secretary General Mark Ruta,
23:52
Vance said Washington would remain Europe's ally, but that the
23:56
continent needed to do more to improve its own military
23:59
cape abilities as the Trump administration reorients its attention toward
24:04
dealing with China. Quote. NATO is very important military alliance,
24:08
of course that we're in the most significant part of unquote,
24:11
Vance said alongside Ruta, quote, but we want to make
24:16
sure that NATO is actually built for the future, and
24:19
we think a big part of that is ensuring that
24:21
NATO does a little bit more burden sharing in Europe
24:24
South the United States can focus on some of our
24:27
challenges in East Asia. Close to quote, Ruta said, Vance
24:32
was quote absolutely right unquote about Europe's needing to step
24:35
up within NATO. Opening talks to Haltimore in Ukraine are
24:41
set to begin next week. Trump said Thursday, a rapid
24:45
effort after years in which relations between Russia and the
24:48
United States have all all have been all but frozen
24:51
quote top officials unquote from Washington and Moscow, but not Trump.
24:56
Putin will meet in Saudi Arabia, the President said, quote
25:00
the Ukraine will be part of it too, and we're
25:02
going to see if we can end that war. That
25:05
was a horrible war, unquote, he said Thursday. Zelensky on
25:10
Friday express prostration with Trump's attitude about the origins of
25:13
the war, which he has blamed on Ukraine's desire to
25:16
join NATO. Kiev added that desire to its constitution in
25:21
twenty nineteen, five years after Russia next to Ukraine's Crimean
25:28
peninsula and backed a separatist war in the eastern part
25:31
of the country, Trump said the United States believes that
25:35
quote Ukraine cannot be in NATO because it would mean
25:38
escalation with the Russians unquote, Zelensky totally roundtable of Ukrainian
25:43
journalists in Munich. According to Ukraine form A Newswire, Zelensky
25:48
said Ukraine would need to double the size of its
25:52
military to rival Russian's military might unless it gained entrance
25:57
to the Defense Alliance. Trump approach to the talks has
26:01
been an energy boost to Putin, who has long sought
26:04
to sit down with the US leader to remake the
26:06
post Cold War security architecture and now appears to have
26:09
a chance to do so, consigning Europe to a back
26:12
seat role in the conversation generations of a US leader.
26:16
Of US leaders before Trump have said that Russia has
26:19
neither the power nor the right to veto how Europe
26:22
protects itself. Even Trump's decision to speak to Putin before
26:26
consulting with Zelinsky was a victory for the Kremlin. We're
26:31
now going to the fourth article, Federal staff firings may
26:34
soon imperil government services. Trump's federal firings imperiled government services
26:39
from cities to farmtowns. The cuts were initially poised to
26:43
affect nuclear defense programs and impact veterans' mental health care
26:47
workers Warren. Here's the article. The Trump administration's moved to
26:52
fire thousands of federal employees could have a swift and
26:56
severe impact on public services, staffers warned Friday, making it
27:00
harder for veterans to get mental health care and hampering
27:04
electric service to some rural residents. As a beleaguered workforce
27:09
struggles to cover for lost colleagues. The full impact of
27:12
the terminations will not be fully known for weeks or months,
27:16
and some jobs some job losses may be reversed or
27:19
challenged by law. At least one agency, the Department of Energy,
27:24
paused some cuts to assess their effect on nuclear defense programs,
27:28
according to three people who spoke on the condition of
27:31
anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Still, workers said basic functions
27:36
that many agencies are slowing almost immediately and could break
27:41
down as critical colleagues are shown the door. On Friday,
27:46
dozens of federal workers in interviews said they were scrambling
27:50
to understand the scale of the firings, which targeted probationary employees,
27:56
one or two year hires with fewer protections, and at
28:00
least fourteen thousand according to a Washington Post analysis. The
28:05
workers who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear
28:08
of retribution, said the abrupt dismissal of their colleagues is
28:12
sowing chaos both personal and professional, inspiring fear about the
28:17
future of the systems serving the country. The widespread firing
28:22
imperiled services across the country, from farm towns to city centers.
28:27
In an Energy Department sub agency that helped provide power.
28:32
Staff who handled homeowners' electricity bills were fired, employees said,
28:37
potentially leaving no one to take the money that keeps
28:39
their lights on. In one state, all but two of
28:42
the employees who helmed an Agricultural Department program assisting poor
28:47
rural communities were fired. And in a tiny Wyoming town,
28:51
a Forest Service office that has spent decades providing support
28:55
to hikers, Christmas tree permits to residents, and firewood for
29:00
the ely has been forced to shudder, as staffer said.
29:03
Conservatives have long said the federal government is bloated and
29:08
needs major reductions in personnel to reduce bureaucracy, a sentiment
29:12
echoed by some federal workers in interviews with the Post.
29:16
Donald Trump during the presidential campaign found an audience by
29:20
casting the government as broken and corrupt. Many Americans wish
29:24
their services were more timely and less costly. White House
29:28
Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt, in response to questions about the
29:33
impact of mass firing, said, quote, the President has made
29:37
it very clear that he is delivering on his promise
29:39
to make our government more efficient and productive for the
29:42
American people. Close the quote. Meanwhile, some federal employees who
29:47
moved across the country to take positions in dcs suddenly jobless.
29:52
Say they are unable to pay their rent and unable
29:54
to afford a move back home. Others are struggling to
29:57
figure out how they'll afford their children's college tuition or
30:01
care for elderly parents. Many newly fired or worried about
30:05
being next are frantically submitting applications for as many open
30:09
jobs as they can as they can find. Still, others
30:13
are monitoring the decades long careers in the federal government
30:16
they hope to have. Quote. I am so absolutely heartbroken.
30:20
I don't know if I can adequately put it into words. Unquote,
30:23
One fired employee at the Energy Department said, quote all
30:27
I've ever wanted is to be in public service, and
30:30
that's being taken from me. Close the quote. The firings
30:33
on Thursday and Friday came after the Trump administration directed
30:36
agency heads to terminate most trial and probationary staff. The
30:41
Post previously reported the nearly two hundred thousand employees in
30:45
that category started work within the past two years and
30:48
have little protection from being fired without cause. It is
30:52
unclear how many will actually be let go determination marks
30:57
A Determinations mark a significant acceleration in Trump's campaign to
31:02
shrink the federal government, a top goal for Elon mesk
31:05
musk us DOGE Service, which stands for the Department of
31:10
Government Efficiency. The group has spent the past three weeks
31:14
targeting agency after agency in a bid to slash and
31:17
stop the flow of federal cash. Cutting government personnel by
31:21
one fourth would reduce federal spending by about one percent.
31:27
Waves of dismissals started Thursday, and agencies including the Office
31:31
of Personnel Management, the Education Department, and the Small Business Administration,
31:37
which each saw dozens of staffers lost, but overnight and
31:41
into Friday, the pace intensified. More than one thousand that
31:45
veterans affairs were let go. Per a department announcement, the
31:49
Department of Health and Human Services as firing roughly five
31:53
two hundred health workers according to an internal memo obtained
31:57
by the Post, and at the Interior Department, twenty three
32:01
hundred people were dismissed per two staffers and communications obtained
32:05
by the Post. More firings of probationary workers are almost
32:10
certainly on the way, with the Office of Personnel Management
32:13
on Friday extending deadline for cuts to eight pm Tuesday.
32:17
At the Treasury Department alone, the administration is preparing to
32:22
terminate nine thousand probationary employees, mostly those who work in
32:26
tax collection, The Posts reported Friday, as some anxious employees
32:31
watched their inboxes for termination notices, others are assessing just
32:36
how bad the damage will be in areas from housing
32:39
to patient care to environmental policy. At the Department of
32:44
Housing and Urban Development, the cuts span teams responsible for
32:49
public housing, fare, housing enforcement, policy, research, budgeting, and homelessness.
32:56
Multiple people within and close to the department said the
32:59
numbers would devastate its workforce, both in d C and
33:03
in field offices nationwide. As of Trump's second day in office.
33:08
For example, a memo obtained by the Post shows the
33:11
Office of Fair Housing, an Equal Opportunity which works to
33:15
ensure Americans aren't discriminated against when seeking a place to live,
33:20
had five hundred and seventy two employees by late May.
33:24
It is projected to have one hundred and thirty four,
33:26
a nearly eighty percent reduction. An agency spokesperson said HUD
33:31
was quote carrying out President Trump's broader efforts to restructure
33:35
and streamline the federal government to serve the American people
33:38
at the highest standard. Close the quote. At the Atlanta
33:42
based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two hundred and
33:47
sixty nine staffers detailed on a probationary list will be terminated.
33:51
According to three federal health officials, those cuts are part
33:55
of five thousand, two hundred to be terminated across the
33:58
parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services. At
34:04
the National Institute of Health, another HHS agency, an unknown
34:08
number of key staff are being let go, posing a
34:11
potential threat to patient safety, set a person familiar with
34:15
the matter. NIH probationary employees include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and
34:21
respiratory therapists, people who have spent years earning multiple degrees
34:25
and qualifications. The cuts have also affected the environmental agencies
34:29
assigned to protect the nation's air, water, land, and climate.
34:34
At the Interior Department, roughly two three hundred probationary employees
34:38
were set to be fired Friday, according to an internal
34:40
email obtained by the Post. That figure includes one thousand
34:45
probationary employees at the National Park Service, According to three
34:49
people briefed on the matter, Congressional Democrats conservationists and department
34:55
staff are sounding the alarmed that parks will be short
34:58
staff during the summer season and when more than one
35:01
hundred million Americans and international tourists typically visit. Quote, there
35:07
will be nobody to clean the bathrooms, nobody to manage parking,
35:10
nobody to collect fees, nobody to issue permits, Nobody to
35:13
insure mountaineers entering into steep glaciated terrain have the requisite
35:17
skills and equipment. Nobody to go rescue injured or lost hikers.
35:22
Close the quote. One wilderness ranger said, quote people will
35:26
die from incidents that would otherwise be just another Tuesday
35:29
for us. Close the quote. At the Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile,
35:34
leaders of the agency's largest union said three hundred and
35:37
eighty eight members were terminated Friday afternoon. The firings could
35:41
undermine efforts to protect Americans from toxic chemicals and natural disasters,
35:48
such as the recent wildfires that ripped through the Los
35:52
Angeles area, said Marie Owens Powell, president of American Federation
35:57
of Government Employees Council two thirty eight. Quote, who are
36:01
you going to call when it's time to clean up
36:02
wildfires and flooding? Unquote she said on Friday on a
36:05
Friday call with members and reporters, quote, who are you
36:09
going to call when there are hazardous accidents? Trained to
36:11
realment for fishkills closed the quote, and some cuts targeted
36:16
the administrations of vowed priorities. More than five immigration judges
36:20
were fired Friday. According to the International Federation of Professional
36:24
and Technical Engineers, immigration judges on average handle five hundred
36:28
to seven hundred cases per year, most of them to
36:31
do with deportation. IFPTE president Matt Briggs said, quote how
36:37
does that square with the campaign promises in campaign rhetoric?
36:40
It doesn't at all. Unquote big set of the firings still.
36:45
Michael Strain, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a
36:49
right leaning think tank, said that in a typical month,
36:52
roughly one point five million workers are laid off across
36:55
the public and private sectors for more than far more
36:59
than the number being terminated by the Trump administration. Quote,
37:04
federal employees should not expect to be immune from the
37:07
types of HR policies and other forces that affect white
37:10
collar workers throughout the country. Closed the quote. Strain said.
37:16
The dismissal swept in veterans, disabled employees, mothers, fathers, grandparents,
37:22
and young interns. It swept in people who'd spent years
37:25
and other federal agencies before transferring, and those who just
37:29
landed their dream jobs in civil service. Adding to employees' pain,
37:34
the speed of the layoffs produced what many described as
37:37
a bungled, impersonal, and error filled process. At the Education Department,
37:43
dozens of workers in the Federal Student Aid office received
37:46
termination letters filled with incorrect information about start dates and
37:50
job titles. According to several copies reviewed by The Post,
37:55
the letter said recipients had started work on January twelve,
37:58
twenty twenty five, but some of the employees had been
38:00
on the job since twenty twenty three. Because the letters
38:04
all show only one month of employment, staff who received
38:07
them may be ineligible for unemployment benefits. The Education Department
38:12
did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Across the government,
38:19
those fired were told poor performance motivated their terminations, in
38:24
some cases without evidence. One disabled veteran who worked at
38:27
Veterans Affairs overseeing patient care, said he learned of his
38:31
firing by email. Thirsty he was one month shy of
38:34
graduating from his probationary period. He said the email cited
38:38
quote performance unquote as the reason. Quote this is ironic, quote,
38:42
he said, quote because my most recent and granted only
38:46
performance evaluation was the highest you could possibly achieve at
38:49
my agency unquote. In a pattern that repeated itself again
38:54
and again, fired employees. Supervisors and bosses up the chain
38:58
of command said they had no idea this was coming.
39:02
In a high level meeting early Friday, the under Secretary
39:05
for Health that Veterans Affairs acknowledged that the agency had
39:08
just suffered a quote tough twenty four hours. According to
39:12
notes taken by one participant and shared with the Post,
39:15
quote is a dark day when veterans and disabled veterans
39:19
are losing their jobs unquote, the officials said. A personnel
39:23
official helping to lead the meeting admitted they'd made quote
39:26
errors unquote in determining who should be terminated, but said
39:30
it was unclear if they'd be able to reverse those firings.
39:34
Quote it is hard not to feel this personally, unquote,
39:37
said Gerard Braun thirty, a soil conservation technician who was
39:42
hired to the Agricultural Department in November, had notified of
39:45
his dismissal in an email at nine to thirty five
39:48
pm Thursday. His role, paying in the mid forty thousand
39:52
dollars range, was to help farmers in northwest Ohio implement
39:56
conservation practices on their land. Culture employee said she was
40:01
fired without calls by email at ten thirty pm. She
40:05
noted she has a daughter in daycare and bills to pay. Quote.
40:08
People need to know that we are humans with children
40:11
who depend on us unquote, she said. At Housing and
40:14
Urban Development on Friday, one employee who worked in the
40:18
Office of General Counsel in DC, was leaving the bathroom
40:22
when she learned she was terminated. In a few minutes,
40:24
it took her to walk back to her desk. She
40:27
lost access to all of her computer systems on Friday evening.
40:31
As some employees sought to appeal their firings online, the
40:34
federal web portal for such filings went down for quote
40:38
routine maintenance quote thank you for your patience unquote. The
40:42
US Merit Systems Protection Board site stated, quote, we apologize
40:47
for any inconvenience. Close the quote. That's the end of
40:50
that article, and we'll go back to I think the
40:56
last article. I'll need to pull that up or two
41:00
more articles. A possible miscue on a key tower directive.
41:03
Now I won't be able to read the entirety of
41:05
these last two articles because of time restraints. Fifth article,
41:09
black Hawk crew might not have heard crucial tower instruction
41:13
INTSB says the National Transportation Safety Board also believes the
41:18
helicopter crew were probably wearing night vision goggles. Here's the article,
41:23
the crew of an Army black Hawk helicopter might not
41:26
have heard key instructions from air traffic control before a
41:30
collision with a passenger jet over the Potomac River on
41:33
January twenty nine. The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday,
41:37
in its most detailed account of the moments before the
41:40
crash that killed sixty seven people, about seventeen seconds before
41:45
the helicopter and plane collided, air traffic control had directed
41:49
the black Hawk's crew to quote pass behind the crja
41:52
unquote referring to the type of American Lines regional jet
41:56
that was approaching Reagan National Airport. Jennifer Homandy, NTSB's chairman
42:03
said Friday that quote passed behind the unquote may not
42:07
have been received by the crew quote based on his
42:09
review of the black Hawk cockpit voice recorder, which did
42:13
not capture those words, the helicopter crew had activated its
42:17
microphone at that moment to communicate with air traffic control.
42:21
She also disclosed that the investigation has uncovered discrepancies and
42:25
verbal readouts of altitude called out by the black Hawk
42:29
crew as they flew south along the Potomac. Conflicting readings
42:34
could provide clues as to why the helicopter was flying
42:37
above its mandatory two hundred foot ceiling before the crash
42:41
at eight forty seven pm southeast of the airport. NTSB
42:45
disclosed the details during a minute by minute account of
42:49
the rapidly developing disaster. At the last moment before impact,
42:53
the passenger jet apparently made an urgent, last second maneuver
42:56
to pull up. The plane's elevators flapped on the tail
43:00
were positioned close to the maximum nose position. Homandy said
43:05
the crash has brought intense scrutiny to how the Federal
43:07
Aviation Administration manages one of the busiest and most complex
43:12
airspaces in the country, and particularly how helicopter traffic crosses
43:16
the path of airplanes descending to land. The plane was
43:20
carrying sixty passengers, including elite young figure skaters, coaches, and
43:24
their family members. Returning from a competition. In addition to
43:28
four crew members, the black Hawk was carrying three crew members.
43:32
No one survived the plane. American Airlines flight fifty three
43:37
forty two was preparing to land on Runway thirty three.
43:41
An air traffic controller radioed to black Hawk, which was
43:44
flying a training mission along a corridor that runs directly
43:47
beneath the approach to Runway thirty three, alerting its crew
43:51
to the plane approaching from the south. The black Hawk
43:55
indicated it had the plane in sight, but experts have
43:57
told The Washington Posts that his crew may have mis
44:00
takenly spotted a different plane farther away, with city lights
44:04
and night vision goggles, potentially limiting their view. Holmandy confirmed
44:08
Friday that the black Hawk was flying a training mission
44:12
and its crew was quote likely wearing night vision goggles
44:15
throughout the flight unquote, based on the nature of the
44:18
flight and the absence of a discussion about removing them
44:21
that would have been required. About four minutes before impact,
44:25
a black Hawk pilot reported an altitude of three hundred feet,
44:29
while the instructor on board said four hundred feet. Homandi
44:32
said the agency is investigating whether there was a difference
44:35
between the helicopter's actual altitude as measured by radio and
44:40
a barometric altimeter, an instrument that accounts for atmospheric conditions
44:46
that is typically what pilots would use. Homodi said she
44:50
was confident that the helicopter's quote radio altitude unquote was
44:53
two hundred and seventy eight feet above the Potomac at
44:56
the time of the crash, but she stressed that quote
44:59
that does not mean that's what the black Hawk crew
45:01
was seeing unquote. Quote were they seeing something different in
45:05
the cockpit that differs from the flight GATA recorder unquote,
45:09
Homandy said, quote it's possible unquote About two minutes before
45:13
the crash, air traffic control radio to the black Hawk
45:16
that the American Airlines plane was just south of the
45:19
Wilson Bridge quote circling to runway thirty three unquote, but
45:23
the crew may have heard the word may not have
45:26
heard the word quote circling unquote. Homandy said. As the
45:30
American jet approached for a landing, it received an automated
45:35
alert in the cockpit, stating quote traffic unquote about twenty
45:39
seconds before the collision. Passenger planes in the United States
45:44
are required to have an anti collision technology that is
45:48
designed to alert them of other aircraft when their paths
45:52
could intersect. The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, or TCAs,
45:58
works by automatically communicating with transponder equipped aircraft, exchanging information
46:03
about their positions, and calculating the trajectories to warn of
46:07
a possible collision. The first type of cockpit warning is
46:11
a verbal one quote traffic traffic unquote that escalates into
46:14
a more urgent alert interer instructing the pilots to immediately
46:19
correct course, known as a resolution advisory. Airline pilots have
46:23
received more than one hundred resolution advisories over the past
46:27
decade warning of a potential mid air collision near Reagan
46:30
National Airport. A post examination found, now there's just a
46:35
little bit more to go, and maybe I can make it.
46:38
I guess I will. TCAs isn't designed to deliver resolution
46:42
advisories below one thousand feet, in part to avoid overwhelming
46:46
pilots with alerts while they are concentrating on landing. According
46:49
to aviation expert, the NTSB is still investigating what triggered
46:53
the traffic alert. Homely said the plane was at three
46:57
hundred and thirteen feet two seconds before the crash, descending
47:00
at four hundred and forty eight feet per minute, then
47:03
one second before impact, the plane nosed up by nine degrees,
47:06
according to the NTSB. To Tim Loley, a veteran pilot
47:10
who has flown both black Hawks and regional jets, the
47:13
increase in the plane's pitch suggested that quote one or
47:17
both pilots pulled on the yoke unquote like the plane's
47:21
steering wheel quote all the way back unquote. He said.
47:24
Lily has investigated crashes, but as connection to this one
47:27
is personal. His son, Sam was a pilot on board
47:31
the American Airlines jet. In the aftermath of the collision,
47:35
the Federal Aviation Administration has restricted helicopter traffic pending the
47:39
outcome of the NTSB investigation. Lily said he has already
47:44
been speaking to the Army and members of Congress about
47:47
what he thinks should be done differently in the future,
47:50
including enabling helicopter and airplane pilots to hear each other's
47:54
transmissions to air traffic control, staffing every black Hawk with
47:58
four crew members, and conducting a quote complete retraining unquote.
48:02
Based on the failures of January twenty nine, I'm going
48:05
to stop that there, and we'll go to the last article.
48:08
Republicans scramble to save usaid funds. GOP lawmakers scrambled to
48:13
protect foreign aid as food relief languages. Late Thursday, a
48:17
federal judge ordered the Trump administration to temporarily lift the
48:21
funding freeze on US assistants and development programs abroad. Here's
48:25
the article, and I will read this until I run
48:29
out of time. As GOP lawmakers in Washington try to
48:33
protect a key food aid program from the Trump administration's cutbacks,
48:38
International humanitarian organizations say the ongoing disruptions and assistance are
48:44
devastating countries that are on the verge of famine. The
48:47
administration's move in late January to gut the US Agency
48:51
for International Development, laying off thousands of workers and freezing
48:55
funding in more than one hundred countries, immediately jeopardize food
49:00
for peace For more than seventy years, the two bigion
49:03
dollars program has purchased surplus commodities from American farmers for
49:07
distribution overseas. Late Thursday, US District Judge Amir Ali ordered
49:13
administration officials to temporarily lift their freeze on usaid and
49:17
development programs abroad. He alluded to the quote shockwave unquote
49:23
caused by their action, and said quote they have not
49:25
offered any explanation for why a blanket suspicion suspension of
49:30
all congressionally appropriated foreign aid was a rational precursor to
49:35
reviewing programs closed the quote. President Donald Trump, since top
49:39
advisor Elon Musk attacked billionaire, had been critical of USAID's work,
49:46
with Trump basically claiming baselessly claiming the agency had committed
49:51
quote tremendous fraud unquote. Despite a State Department waiver for
49:55
emergency food assistance, those shipments still had been delayed around
50:00
the world. A USAID inspector General wrote in a report Monday,
50:04
a day before he was dismissed. The bottleneck, Paul K.
50:08
Martin wrote, put more than four hundred and eighty nine
50:11
million dollars in food assistance at risk of spoilage or
50:15
theft as it weighted at ports, in transit, and in warehouses.
50:20
In defending itself in court, Ali noted the government acknowledged
50:24
that the waiver process quote may have been may have
50:27
had hiccups unquote. Ad groups had said Thursday that some
50:32
food deliveries were starting to move through shipping channels, but
50:36
that millions more pounds of corn, lentils, and pento beans
50:41
remained stuck because the agency's payment system was not functioning.
50:46
The waiver for life saving assistance that was in place
50:49
before the judge's order was quote theoretical unquote because quote
50:53
the payment system that reimburses partners for expenses they incur
50:58
is offline, unquote, said Sarah of Charles, former head of
51:02
USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, which oversaw the Food for
51:06
Peace program. Some relief agencies are still owed for services
51:10
rendered in December and January. She added, By the way,
51:14
there's a chart of foreign aid provided to select African
51:17
countries in twenty twenty three that breaks down between food
51:20
aid and other This comes from Foreign Assistance dot gov.
51:24
It shows, by the way, that Ethiopia by far receives
51:27
the largest in food aid than any other African country.
51:32
Back to the article, at a contentious meeting at the
51:36
State Department, the Trump appointee tasked with overseeing USAID or
51:41
what is left of it, had assured AID workers and
51:44
congressional staff that aid payments would resume early next week,
51:49
but Peter Morocco, who also said that a Department review
51:52
of the agency's remaining projects was underway, and that those
51:55
that do not quote give the president real influence unquote,
51:59
will be, according to a readout of the event obtained
52:03
by Washington Post. A Department spokesman did not respond to
52:07
requests for comment. Complicating the administration's narrative is a growing
52:13
tide of Republican lawmakers and former officials who say it's
52:16
not quite accurate. Andrew Natzios, who served as USAID administrator
52:22
during the George W. Bush administration, told lawmakers this week
52:26
that even those relief organizations already granted waivers haven't been
52:30
able to quote, issue checks unquote and keep working because
52:34
of the shutdown of USAID's payment system, that includes Christian
52:38
humanitarian groups, which received a one billion dollars a year,
52:42
Nazios said at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Thursday.
52:47
The session was meant to highlight what Trump and his
52:50
allies say is USAID's wasteful spending, but instead underscored concerns
52:55
about the flow of critical assistance, as two of the
52:59
three experts witnesses warned of dire consequences for US interests
53:04
and national security if the AID did not resume soon. Well,
53:09
I'm sorry, we're gonna have to stop there. This concludes
53:12
the reading of the Washington Post for today, Saturday, February fifteen,
53:18
twenty twenty five. Your reader for today has been Mark Webster.
53:23
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning this program,
53:28
please feel free to call us at eight five nine
53:32
four two two sixty three nine zero. Thank you for listening,
53:36
and now please stay tuned for continued programming on RADIOI