Decoding DOGE: Musk, Ramaswamy, and Trump’s war on bureaucratic bloat

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy have been tapped by Donald Trump's to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, with the aim of cutting the size of the US government by July 2026. The two have revealed their plans in a Wall Street Journal op-ed:

▪️Trump's transition is assembling a group of "the sharpest technical and legal minds" that will work in the new administration closely with the White House Office of Management and Budget

▪️Musk and Ramaswamy will advise DOGE to pursue three major kinds of reform: "regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings"

▪️changes will be implemented through "executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws" -the DOGE legal team will determine which federal regulations "exceed the authority of Congress" and provide the list to the US president who could then rescind them

▪️"A drastic reduction in federal regulations provides sound industrial logic for mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy," they explain. "The number of federal employees to cut should be at least proportionate to the number of federal regulations that are nullified"

▪️DOGE is going to cut federal spending by "taking aim at the $500 billion plus in annual federal expenditures", including $535 million a year to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, $1.5 billion for grants to international organizations, and roughly $300 million to progressive groups

▪️Musk and Ramaswamy also pledged to fix the federal government’s procurement process, particularly citing the Pentagon's failure to audit its annual budgets of more than $800 billion

▪️DOGE is a non-governmental agency that will provide “advice and guidance” from outside the government

▪️Trump believes that “the massive waste and fraud” has ballooned government expenditures up to $6.5 trillion a year.

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The US informed Ukraine and its allies in recent days about Russia's impending launch of an intermediate-range missile to help them prepare, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

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The White House refuses to recognize US responsibility for escalation of the conflict in Ukraine

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday declined to acknowledge that US President Joe Biden's authorization of long-range strikes on Russia with ATACMS missiles had contributed to escalating the conflict, instead placing the blame on Russia.

“Every step of escalation comes from Russia. They are the ones who are escalating it,” she alleged when asked whether Biden's decision to authorize strikes using long-range ATACMS missiles deep into Russian territory was a factor in escalating the conflict in Ukraine.

Jean-Pierre claimed that neither Ukraine nor the United States bears responsibility for the escalation.

The launch of a Russian missile will not deter US policy towards Ukraine, the press secretary added. The United States will continue to provide new weapons packages to Ukraine and work to expedite their delivery, she said.

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Russia notified US briefly before ballistic missile launch against Ukraine - Pentagon

Russia notified the United States briefly before launching an intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said.

"The United States was pre-notified briefly before the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels," Singh told reporters.

The US is not seeking war with Russia but will continue to send weapons to Ukraine, the Pentagon spokesperson claimed.

Earlier in the day, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia fired a non-nuclear hypersonic version of a ballistic missile, striking a Ukrainian arms manufacturer in the city of Dnepropetrovsk in response to Kiev's use of US and UK longer-range weapons to strike Russian territory.

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Oreshnik hypersonic missile: Which countries can be reached?

Russian social media is speculating on the alleged characteristics of the new Oreshnik missile system, tested in combat conditions as a response to NATO's aggressive actions and the use of Western weapons against Russia.

According to unofficial reports, the new Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile could be the successor to the Soviet-era Pioneer (RSD-10) missile system. The Pioneer was dismantled for scrap under the terms of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed in 1987 by the United States and the Soviet Union. This treaty mandated the elimination of all ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, leading to the destruction of approximately 2,692 missiles by 1991, including the Pioneer.

In 2019, the United States, under President Donald Trump, unilaterally withdrew from the INF Treaty, raising concerns about regional and global stability. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that if the US deployed intermediate-range missiles in Europe, Russia would take reciprocal actions, stating, “If such systems are deployed in Europe, we will naturally have to respond in kind.”

Presumed characteristics of the Oreshnik (based on Pioneer specifications):

◻️ Type: Medium-range ballistic missile system with non-nuclear hypersonic capabilities

◻️ Missile speed: Up to 12,250 km/h (Mach 10, or 2.5–3 kilometers per second)

◻️ Launch range: Up to 5,000 kilometers

◻️ Warhead power: 150 kt, with three to six warheads per missile

Estimated flight times:

🇬🇧 To the UK: 19 minutes

🇧🇪 To Belgium: 14 minutes

🇩🇪 To Germany: 11 minutes

🇵🇱 To Poland: 8 minutes

On Thursday, Putin emphasized that the US made a mistake by unilaterally withdrawing from the INF Treaty in 2019 under far-fetched pretexts.

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Italy, Canada, UK to arrest Netanyahu to comply with ICC ruling – reports

Italian, Canadian and UK top officials pledged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to comply with the International Criminal Court’s ruling.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said that Rome will have to comply with the ruling if Netanyahu and Gallant arrive in Italy. Crosetto added that he considers the ICC decision to be wrong, as it puts Netanyahu and Gallant "on the same level" as those responsible for the "shameful attack" on October 7, 2023.

At the same time, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada will also comply with the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Later, The Times newspaper reported, citing a spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office, that the United Kingdom will arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they enter the country. However, the spokesperson reportedly added that Starmer will comply with the ICC decision once the order is ratified by a UK court.

Earlier on Thursday, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza. Later in the day, Netanyahu's office accused the ICC of isolating Israel and supporting terrorism against Israel.

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Dutch foreign minister announces cancellation of planned trip to Israel - reports

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp has confirmed that his planned trip to Israel next week will not take place, the NOS broadcaster reported.

The minister earlier planned to visit Israel next Monday.

On Thursday, Veldkamp said that during consultations with the Israeli side, a decision was made to cancel his visit to Israel due to "current circumstances." However, he did not specify what these circumstances were.

On Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Later in the day, Netanyahu's office accused the ICC of isolating Israel and supporting terrorism against Israel.

Veldkamp then said the Netherlands would execute the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu if he were to appear in the country. The minister said his country was committed to implementing the Rome Statute "100 percent."

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🔭First zoomed-in shot of star outside the Milky Way

Astronomers have taken the first close-up picture of a star outside our galaxy, according to a European Southern Observatory press release.

The recently observed star, WOH G64, is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the smaller galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. Scientists have known about the celestial body for many years and appropriately named it a "giant star." With a diameter about 2,000 times larger than the Sun, WOH G64 is classified as a red supergiant.

“For the first time, we have succeeded in taking a zoomed-in image of a dying star in a galaxy outside our own Milky Way,” said Keiichi Ohnaka, an astrophysicist from Universidad Andres Bello in Chile.

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367,000 HIV-positive people may be connoscripted for military service in Ukraine

Russian hacker group RaHDit has leaked a database containing records from the Ukrainian Health Ministry of HIV-positive citizens who may be drafted into the army, according to the group's spokesman.

"The purpose of publishing the lists of infected people in Ukraine is to demonstrate the mobilization potential of this category and thus alert Russian health services to the potential threat of refugees and prisoners from Ukraine," a member of the group said.

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🔸 Oreshnik hypersonic missile: What’s its reach?

🔸 NATO’s actions will have consequences: experts on ‘breakthrough’ Oreshnik missile

🔸 Polar opposite reactions to ICC's arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant

🔸 UNESCO turns a blind eye on Russian journalists murdered by Ukrainian thugs

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