U.S. and world news for Feb. 25

Confusion over email sent to all federal workers

Confusion has run rampant in the federal government due to an email sent by Elon Musk demanding that all federal workers respond with five things they accomplished last week. Sources said Musk intended to feed the responses into artificial intelligence software that would determine whether the employees should be fired. The email said that the workers had to respond by midnight last night or it will be assumed they have quit. The heads of many departments told their workers not to respond. Then, President Trump said anyone who didn’t respond is semi-fired. Musk sent another email giving workers a second chance to respond, while additional heads of departments joined in saying that the workers should ignore the emails.

U.S. switches sides in Ukraine war through U.N. vote

The United States has joined forces with North Korea, Iran, Hungary and several other countries to vote against a U.N. General Assembly resolution proposed by Ukraine that condemned Russia for invading Ukraine and starting the war that yesterday had its third anniversary. The resolution passed with the U.S. winding up on the losing side. A separate resolution proposed by the U.S. called for a swift end to the war in Ukraine but did not mention that Russia started the war when its troops invaded the country. When a vote was taken, Russia voted against the resolution and the U.S. abstained from voting.

Musk company gets FAA contract

An Elon Musk company has received a contract from the Federal Aviation Administration for use of his Starlink satellite system. The dollar amount of the contract was not immediately disclosed. Donald Trump had said that Musk and his computer people would be working on the FAA’s air traffic control system. Musk has started to make personnel cuts at the FAA. There are reports that the FAA would be buying at least 4,000 terminals to receive signals from Musk’s satellites and that the satellites would begin handling FAA communications including the transmission of weather data. The FAA already has installed Starlink terminals for testing in Atlantic City and Alaska.

Many Musk contract cancellations won’t save any money

The Associated Press reported today that Elon Musk has already canceled at least 1,125 federal government contracts but that 40% of the cancellations will not save any money for the government. The AP cited data published by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency that says 417 of the contracts have a total value of $478 million. However, the money represented by those contracts has already been paid out by the government, so cancelling the contracts is meaningless in terms of producing savings for the government.

Continuation of Israel-Hamas ceasefire up in the air

Phase One of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal is scheduled to come to an end on Sunday and no talks have begun on moving into Phase Two of the ceasefire. It’s believed that Hamas still holds 62 of the hostages it took when it attacked Israel, and it is not known how many are dead or alive. Israel says that it expects Phase Two of the ceasefire would involve Hamas being removed from Gaza and Hamas being demilitarized. It’s believed that the U.S will push for extension of Phase One of the ceasefire if no terms can be agreed upon for entering Phase Two.

Republicans move to impeach judges

 Republican Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee has filed a resolution calling for the impeachment of U.S. District Court Judge John Bates who ordered the Trump Administration to put back up government websites it had ordered taken down. Republicans also have called for the impeachment of Judge Paul Engelmayer, who issued an order temporarily blocking Elon Musk and his computer people from having access to the Treasury Department’s computers. Impeachment charges are filed in the House and then the Senate conducts a trial. Sixty votes in the Senate are needed to convict and remove someone from office and the Republicans do not have that big a majority in the Senate.