Alison Gill (3:53)

And that's the thing, like 999 times out of a thousand, if you aren't kind in the music industry, comedy industry, show business, anything like that, television, tv, movies. If you're not kind, you don't go far. Yeah, but every once in a while you'll get a Theo Vaughan or a Joe Rogan or a Tony Hinchcliffe and there's. And that's like every bro dude's dream is to be that guy. And so they turn, they, they, they end up being dicks to people. And then they get ma. Everyone else when their careers go nowhere. And it's like, well, I tried to tell you, you have to be really nice. And that's why I love people like Joe Coy. And I mean, every comedian that I'm, you know, good friends with, that I still talk to, they've always just been super kind to everyone.

Dana Goldberg (4:40)

Yeah. Anyways, it was a fun flight, but that's so cool. Those are our joyful stories because we're gonna, we've got stuff to bring you that's not as joyful.

Alison Gill (4:48)

Yeah, we're actually gonna do the good stuff up front. All the court orders and injunctions and temporary restraining orders. And I know there's a lot going on. There's a lot going on that we can today. Like Kash Patel caught taking money from a Kremlin linked filmmaker and push back against El Bove at the FBI with St. Driz and the list of agents that worked on January 6th cases being blocked in a, in a flurry of Pam Bondi DOJ memos for things like reviving the death penalty and taking focus off law enforcement and putting it on prosecution of private businesses for diversity, equity and inclusion and sending out Joint Terrorism Task Force and ATF agents and Farah agents to the border in violation by the way of a long standing FBI memorandum of agreement with the Department of Justice and all of that. And I know there's so much going on. Andy McCabe and I cover it all in a 17 hour episode of Unjustified that's out right now this week. It's actually only 80 minutes, but it's long. It's long. And I didn't want anyone to think that I, you know, I didn't notice all that stuff is happening. It's just on a different podcast. So today, before we get to the hot notes, we have four wins. Just, just that we're going to talk about today. There's more. There's nine total out there, but the four that happened this week in court. And I want to remind everyone that the courts are amazing, but their orders are only as good as the people who follow them. And we'll see where that ends up going. But let's talk about those wins because we need to take the W's where we can get them. We got to microdose that hope. So let's do some quick hits. And to make a long story short. All right, first up from Cheney at Politico, a federal judge on Saturday issued a sweeping block on most Trump administration officials, including Elon Musk and his all from accessing sensitive treasury records for at least a week while legal proceedings play out In New York, Manhattan based U.S. district Judge Paul Engelmeier issued a middle of the night order after an Emergency request by 19 Democratic attorneys general. Engelmeier limited access to the treasury system to quote, civil servants with a need for access who have passed all background checks and security clearances and all information security training required by laws and regulations that those are the only people who are allowed to do this. This is an Obama appointed judge. He also affirmatively barred any political appointees or special government employees detailed to the Treasury. That includes Elon Musk and by the way, Besant, the secretary of the treasury, because he's a political appointee, from accessing the system. And he ordered the Treasury Department leaders to require that any newly prohibited officials who already access to the information, they must immediately destroy all copies of material downloaded.

Dana Goldberg (7:32)

I sure hope that happens. Yep. People are pushing back.

Alison Gill (7:35)

Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah. Keep in mind, again, whether or not they follow these orders is, you know, up for debate. We'll see.

Dana Goldberg (7:44)

We shall see. All right, this one's from CNN. U.S. district Judge Georgio Toole. That's a Clinton appointee. Pause Thursday's deadline for federal employees to accept that fork in the road deferred resignation offer while more proceedings on the program's legality play out, the administration sent an email to employees just about after 5pm Eastern informing them of the court ordered pause and saying that the deadline would be extended to today. The email did not acknowledge the possibility that the judge might further halt the program at a hearing scheduled for this afternoon. Before the judge's ruling, eligible federal workers had until 11:59pm Eastern last Thursday to decide whether or not to take that buyout, which will generally allow them to leave their jobs but be paid through the end of September. Well, at least 65,000 federal workers. Last time we talked about this, it was 40. It's up to 65,000 federal workers have opted into the deferred resignation program, a White House official told CNN on Thursday. And that is well short, by the way, of the 150,000 resignation goals. And those 65,000 people, we covered this as well. They can end that at any time, meaning they don't necessarily get their money. So, yeah, don't take this deferred payment offer, please.

Alison Gill (9:05)

Yeah, we'll see where this ends up going. And of course, you know, I mean, if you're about to retire and you want to retire and get the out of the Trump administration, I totally get it. You know, if people need for their mental health to accept this deal, I get it. If you are, by the way, an exempt federal worker, like let's say they say, oh, you're a nurse at the va, you don't even get to take the deferred resignation program. I would then be saying, well, then you need to put in writing that I won't be riffed or fired in the next eight months since I don't get that protection. So there's all kinds of interesting ways you could go about throwing sand in the gears here if you're a federal worker. And I also really like the fact that all the federal workers that have reached out to me, we're up to at least a thousand now. They're calling it derp, the Deferred Employee Resignation Program derp. So fork derp is like how we've been referring to it in our, in our back and forths on my signal and at my protonmail, both of which, by the way, are listed in my bio on Blue Sky. If you want to reach out, even if you don't want me to tell the public anything, I'm going to keep everybody anonymous. I have so far. I will continue to do that. Even if you just want to vent, you know, and just want somebody to, that understands to listen and you're feeling a loan, feel free to reach out. Next up from ABC News, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from orchestrating its plan to place 2200 employees of USAID, that's United States agency for International Development, on leave at midnight. In an order filed late Friday, U.S. district Judge get this, Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, issued. He's the one of 16 judges or whatever that thought 1512 C2 didn't apply unless a document was involved. Remember that he blocked this. He issued a temporary restraining order that prevents Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency from placing the employees on administrative leave as they planned. The judge also ordered that the 500 U.S. aid workers that had been put on administrative leave had to be reinstated, which is incredible, and ordered that no USAID employees should be evacuated from their host countries before February 14th at midnight. Two foreign service unions had sued the federal government amid the Trump administration's attempts to reduce USAID's workforce from 14,000 to about 300 employees as part of its efforts to slash government spending. And this upends people's lives. You got kids in school, you got pregnant, people needing health care. You got kids needing health care. You can't just move like the judge Nichols actually said, somebody here in the United States going on administrative leave is not the same as somebody in Syria going on administrative leave. Like you have to consider these things. So he's blocked that. That's good. There'll be more considerations later. But that's another another W in the courts.

Dana Goldberg (11:52)

And here's another one. This is from Gerstein at Politico. A federal judge in Seattle has accused President Donald Trump of brazenly defying the law of seeking to end birthright citizenship in the United States. Apparently that's a good for me, but not for ye law happening here. U.S. district Judge John Kohenauer, and that's a Reagan appointee, said during a hearing Thursday that the Trump's executive order is flagrantly unconstitutional and he extended a temporary hold on the policy. You'll recall that he had temporarily blocked it last week. The executive order is now subject to two nationwide injunctions issued by separate judges on consecutive days. The Injunctions keep the policy on ice. While legal challenges proceed, the judge laid into Trump saying, quote, it has become ever more apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore more, whether that be for political or personal gain. Nevertheless, in this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow. All right, damn. Go.

Alison Gill (12:59)

Judge. What is it? Cohen hour. Yeah. Reagan appointees. So Reagan, Clinton, Obama, Trump appointees are all like, nope, nope, you, you, you, you, you're cool, you. I'm out. That's what, that's what these judges are saying. It's pretty.

Dana Goldberg (13:13)

I mean, I tell you what, I imagine a lot of these judges aren't these billionaires that have Trump's bidding. And so they're being affected by all the shit that's happening, just like everyday people are. And I'm not surprised that some of these people are like, this is affecting me now, like I'm putting my foot down because this is the law. This is the Constitution.

Alison Gill (13:31)

Yeah, 100%. So again, we'll have further discussions. I, you know, I'm chatting with the constitutional law experts about what happens when a president defies a court order and who enforces it. And we'll have more discussions on that a little bit down the road. We have more news to get to, but we're going to take a quick break. So everybody stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.

Dana Goldberg (13:53)

We'll be right back.

Alison Gill (13:56)

Hey everybody, let's talk about wine for a second. And one of the coolest things we have going on at the Daily Beans right now. Have you ever walked into a store, stared at walls and walls of bottles, you have no idea what to pick? Yeah, me too. It's overwhelming. I usually just go by who's got the coolest label. And that's why I'm so excited now about Naked Wines. They've completely changed the way I think about wine. Instead of guessing at the store, I get award winning wines delivered straight to my door, up to 60% off retail prices. How? By cutting out the middleman and connecting me directly with the independent winemakers. One of my recent favorites is the Sharon Weeks Katsu Paso Robles syrah. It's from 2021. Let me tell you, this wine is the cat's meow. Literally. It's a full bodied red that is bursting with flavor and my cat stares at me while I drink it. 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You get amazing wine, the winemakers get the support they need to keep doing what they love. So now is the time to join Naked Wines and the Naked Wines community. Head to nakedwines.com dailybeans click enter voucher and put in code dailybeans all one word for both the code and the password for six bottles of wine, $39.99 with shipping included. That's incredible. That's a discount of $100 off your first six bottles. Just go to nakedwines.com dailyBeans and with the code and password, daily beans for six bottles of wine for 39.99. You'll be glad you did. Everybody. Welcome back. It's time for Hot Notes. Hot Notes. All right, first up from Igor Bobeck, writing for HuffPost. President Donald Trump's administration announced late Friday it is drastically reducing payments the national institutes of hospitals and institutes that help cover administrative costs. This is a move that critics say will result in a catastrophic hit to science research across the country. Federal NIH grants pay for a portion of the overhead costs required for institutions to conduct research, including construction, utility costs, lab operation, known generally as indirect costs. Right. In addition to the costs of the research itself. Typically, about 30% of an average NIH grant to an institution is earmarked for indirect costs. But some universities get much higher rates. NIH said that starting Monday, a 15% indirect cost rate will now apply to all new and existing grants, which would save taxpayers $4 billion a year, apparently. Quote, can you believe that universities with tens of billions in endowments were siphoning off 60% of research award money for overhead. What a ripoff. That's Elon Musk, head of Doge Bags, dodgy, empowered by Trump to unilaterally slash federal spending. That's what he wrote Friday in a post on his stupid social media platform. The changes to NIH grants follow reports that Trump and Musk are seeking to gut the National Science foundation and lay off half of its staff, and that the president will soon issue an executive order laying off thousands of health and Human services workers. Put a pin in that. Scientists and medical experts say the move to effectively slash NIH grants will interrupt research across the country, forcing institutions to cut staff, close labs, cancel projects, threatening the United States role as a global leader in scientific and medical innovation. We're just here, China, you take it. Quote, this approach to suddenly cutting NIH grant indirect costs will cause chaos and harm. It will harm biomedical research and researchers in hospitals, schools and institutes nationwide. A sane government would never do this, said Jeffrey Flyer, professional of medicine at Harvard University. Quote, this is not trimming fat, added F. Perry Wilson, an associate professor of medicine at Yale University. Quote, this is cutting right to the bone. It will lead to mass layoffs at academic research centers. These are places where fundamental science is done, science that industry won't fund because the ROI isn't immediately clear. Right. We, we don't, we aren't sure we're going to make money off of this like a cancer cure. Pharmaceutical companies make a shitload of money off of you having cancer. So if they cure it, you know, that's, they don't have an incentive to cure cancer. That's what NIH does. Now, the Trump administration announcing gutting NIH funding is likely to draw legal challenges. Congress specifically prohibited the agency from changing its funding without approval, per Samuel Bagginstos, who served as general counsel to the Department of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden. Quote, by proposing an illegal and arbitrary indirect cost rate, Trump and Elon are functionally forcing an indiscriminate funding cut for research institutions across the country that will be nothing short of catastrophic for so much of the life saving research patients and families are counting on. That's Senator Patty Murray, Democrat from Washington, top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. She warned about that in a statement Friday, quote, sick kids may not get treatment they need. She added, clinical trials might be shut down abruptly with dangerous consequences. Just because Elon Musk doesn't understand indirect costs doesn't mean Americans should have to pay the price with their lives.

Dana Goldberg (19:53)

Thank you so much, Allison. And this by the way, is a follow up on the story about what you mentioned about the Health and Human Services. It's from the Wall Street Journal. The White House is working on an executive order to fire Thousands of U.S. department of Health and Human Services workers, and this is according to people familiar with the matter. Under the order, the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies would have to cut a certain percentage of employees. The order could come as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said, after workers have an opportunity to take a buyout. Don't do it. The terms of the order haven't been finalized, however, and the White House could still decide against going forward with the plans. The job cuts under consideration would affect the Department of Health and Human Services, which employs more than 80,000 people people and includes the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In addition to the FDA and cdc. The agencies are responsible for a range of functions from approving new drugs to tracing bird flu outbreaks and researching cancer. I'm sure they also track measles that seem to be popping up in Texas. A loss of staff could affect the efforts, depending on which workers are cut and whether they are concentrated in particular areas. The White House on Thursday denied that there is an executive order order related to the HHS that it's even coming. Okay. Agency officials have been told to prepare lists of probationary workers who have essential roles and must be retained and of employees who don't. That's according to people familiar with the instructions. Generally, probationary employees have served less than one year or two years for accepted service and can be let go more easily than other workers.

Alison Gill (21:38)

Yes, and a shout out to my probationary federal workers out there. You are protected if you served a year in civil service prior to your current job, or you might be protected if you're a veteran. So you're going to want to check with your union, your rep, or your HR rep about whether or not you are protected if you feel like you're going to be targeted and put on a list. Thank you for that also. Thanks Wall Street Journal. You know, I have to say the next story coming up is from Victoria Elliott at Wired and and Wired and oddly, the Wall Street Journal have been really doing good journalism in the lab. If you've noticed, a lot of our stories are coming from Wired.

Dana Goldberg (22:17)

Yeah, it's a little bit upside down.

Alison Gill (22:18)

World and from the Wall Street Journal. But I will correct the Wall Street Journal on one thing. What's happening with the derp fork the deferred resignation program. It's not a buyout. There's no guarantee that you'll get appropriated funding after March 14. There could be a shutdown. Yes, you might be furloughed and if you come back, you could, could get back pay. But what if you're furloughed past September 30th? I mean, there's, there's really no way to for and if the agency's telling you it's valid and legal, there's really no way for an agency to promise you money. Congress does that. Okay. So yeah, Wall Street Journal. I wouldn't, I wouldn't necessarily call it a buyout. All right. Anyway, like I said, Victoria Elliott at Wired this is a really important article. U.S. treasury Department and White House officials have repeatedly denied that technologists associated with Elon Musk's so called Department of Government Efficiency, Dodgy, had the ability to rewrite the code of the payment system through which the vast majority of federal spending flows. Wired reporting shows, however, that at the time these statements were made, a Dodgy operative did in fact have write access W R I T E access. Not only that, but sources tell Wired that at least one note was added to the treasury records indicating that he no longer had write access before senior IT staff stated it was actually rescinded. So he did have read and write access as Marco Alez. I don't know if I'm saying that right and I kind of don't care. 25 year old Dodge bag dodgy technologist was recently installed at the Treasury Department as a special government employee, one of a number of young men identified by Wired who have little to no government experience but are currently associated with Doge or Dodgy. Alez previously worked for SpaceX and Twitter. Alez resigned Thursday from Dodgy after the Wall Street Journal inquired about his connections to, quote, a deleted social media account that advocated for racism and eugenics. Well, and we're going to get to that story in a second. As Wired has reported, Alez was granted privileges including the ability not just read but write code on two of the most sensitive systems in the US Government, the Payment Automation Manager, PAM and Secure Payment Systems SPS at the Bureau of Fiscal Services, the bfs. It's an agency that, according to the treasury record, paid out $5.45 trillion in fiscal year 2024 alone. Reporting from Talking Points Memo confirmed that treasury employees were concerned that Alez had already made extensive changes to code within the treasury system. The payments processed by BFS included federal tax returns, Social Security benefits, Supplemental Security Income benefits and veterans pay. Over the last week, the nuts and bolts of dodgy's access to the treasury has been at the center of escalating crises multiple on January 31st, David Lebrick, I hope I'm saying that right, the most senior career civil servant at the treasury announced he was retiring. He had been placed on administrative leave after refusing to give Musk's DOJI team access to the federal payment system. The next morning, sources tell Wired, Alez was granted read and write access to Pam and SPS. On February 3, Politico reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told Republican lawmakers and the House Financial Services Committee that Musk and Dodgy did not have control over key treasury systems. The same day, the New York Times reported that Caroline Levitt, the White House press secretary, said that Dodgy's access was read only they are lying to your fucking faces. The significance of this is that the ability to alter code in these systems would in theory, give Dodgy and by extension Musk and President Trump and other actors the capability to, among other things, literally and illegally cut off congressionally authorized payments to specific individuals or entities. And I'm thinking specifically of of Russ Vaught, the impoundment control king, the guy who stopped the Ukraine money from going, which caused the first impeachment. And then CNN reported on Thursday that Musk associates had demanded that treasury pause authorized payments to USAID, precipitating Le Brick's resignation. And on February 4, Wired reported that Alez did in fact have admin access to Pam and SPS Talking Points Memo reported later that day that Alez had, quote, made extensive changes to the code base for these critical payment systems. In a letter that same day that did not mention Musk or Dodgy, treasury official Jonathan Blum wrote to Senator Ron Wyden, quote, currently treasury staff members are working with Tom Krause, a Treasury employee, will have read only to the coded data of the Fiscal Services payment systems. Now Kraus is top dodgy operative at treasury and CEO of Cloud Software Group. The letter did not say what kind of access the staff members actually had. Now sources tell Wired that by the afternoon of the next day, February 5, Aleza's access had been changed to read only from both read and code writing privileges. That same day, a federal judge granted an order temporarily restricting dodgy staffers from accessing and changing treasury payment system information. Following the lawsuit we mentioned earlier, alleging that the Treasury Department provided Elon Musk or other individuals associated with dodgy access to the payment systems and that this Access violated federal privacy laws. The order specifically provided a carve out for two individuals, Kraus and Alez. At a court hearing later that day, Department of Justice lawyer Bradley Humphries asserted that the order said their access would be read only. Quote, it's a distinction without a difference, a source told Wired. Referring specifically to the PAMM system through which $4.7 trillion flowed in fiscal year 2024, they said Alez should not have had access to this almost 5 trillion payment flow. Even if it is read only. None of this should be happening like the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Alez did not respond immediately. The White House and Musk did not respond immediately. Quote, people will be held accountable for the crimes they're committing in this coup attempt. That's what Senator Wyden told Wired. I'm not letting up on my investigation of what these Musk hatchet men are up to.

Dana Goldberg (28:42)

Thanks, Allison. And if you're just jumping in when she says a Les, she's not talking about this Les. It's this guy's last name. So if anyone's confused, it's not an actual Les. And I'm the only one that can say that. This next story is from Catherine Long at the Wall Street Journal. And this goes back to what you were saying about Marco Alez resigning from Doji. A key Doji staff member who gained access to the Treasury Department central payment system, resigned Thursday after he was linked to a deleted social media account that advocated racism and eugenics. And are we telling the story again?

Alison Gill (29:16)

Yes. Well, yeah, I know. This is more detail about what was briefly mentioned in the Wired article, because the Wired article was like Wall Street Journal when they reported about his eugenics thing. That's when he resides.

Dana Goldberg (29:28)

So Les is all over the place. Okay, so Marco Alez, a 25 year old who is part of a cadre of Elon Musk lieutenants, really deployed by the Department of Government Efficiency to scrutinize federal spending, resigned after the Wall Street Journal asked the White House about his connection to the account. Quote, just for the record, I was racist before. It was cool. That's what the count posted in July. July, according to the Journal's review of archived posts that didn't even need to be archived. It's probably pinned to his fucking profile. And I quote, you could not pay me to marry outside my ethn. This is what the account wrote on Twitter in September. Now get this. Normalize Indian hate. That's what the account wrote the same month in reference to a post noting the prevalence of people from India in Silicon Valley. After the Journal inquired about the account, White House spokesperson Caroline Is it? Leave it. What did we come up with?

Alison Gill (30:27)

I don't care.

Dana Goldberg (30:28)

Levitt said that Alez had resigned from his role. Okay, well, on Friday morning, Musk posted a poll to Twitter asking his followers if Doji should rehire because that's how we should do everything in the United States right now. A poll on Twitter if he should rehire, quote, staffer who made inappropriate statements via a now deleted pseudonym. Within hours, it had amassed more than 200,000 votes, almost 80% in favor. Shocking. Of bringing Alez back.

Alison Gill (30:59)

Oh, well, you know, I remember there being a poll where Elon asked if he should step aside as CEO of Twitter. And overwhelmingly everyone said, yeah, get the fuck out. And so, so much for the polls.

Dana Goldberg (31:13)

In recent days, Les had emerged at the center of a legal battle over access to sensitive taxpayer information and systems the Treasury Department uses to process trillions of dollars in payments annually. Thursday morning, a U.S. district Court judge ruled that Alez could continue to access the department's payment systems, but limited, as we said, his ability to share the data. Alez resigned later the same day. He did not respond for comment after repeated requests. Alez attended Rutgers University where he majored in computer science. As a sophomore, he co founded a company called Unimetrics IO that aimed to connect high schoolers with mentors who could help help burnish their college applications. Doji has radically upended the federal government, as we know in the weeks since President Trump's inauguration, including by largely dismantling the U.S. agency for International Development. Musk personally urged people to apply to Doji on Twitter in December, promising long hours and little pay in exchange for the chance of fundamentally to remake the federal government. Some of those who answered the call appear to be very young Musk loyalists steeped in Internet culture who share his worldview. In an interview Thursday with Bloomberg, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant defended the work of Doji and the employees, if you want to call them that, since they're apparently not getting paid, appended to the Treasury Department describing them, quote, as highly trained professionals. Get the fuck out of here. Yep, this is a quote. This is not some roving band running around doing things. Besent continued.

Alison Gill (32:48)

Yes, it is.

Dana Goldberg (32:49)

That's exactly what it is, actually. And from the new republic, the 19 year old Doji goon with a questionable resume who goes by and I swear to God, big balls online. He was fired, by the way, from his last real gig. For what reason? Leaking company Information online to a competitor. Bloomberg is reporting that Edward Corstein was fired from cybersecurity firm that's called path network in 2022 for, quote, leaking internal information to the competitors. Now, Corstein has access to the most sensitive internal information there is, the federal governments, and he has no confirmed clearance, by the way, that legitimizes that access. Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell wrote on social media and I quote, your data has been breached. Donald Trump gave unvetted teenagers access to your most private information. We are fighting now in the courts and shortly Democrats will use our votes in the government funding bill to stop this madness and secure your data.

Alison Gill (33:55)

Dana?

Dana Goldberg (33:56)

Yes, dear?

Alison Gill (33:57)

When I was, when I worked for the federal government, we had talent management system training, online training you would take. And I had to take it twice because I had to take it for the DoD because I was embedded with the Department of Defense and for the VA because I worked for the va. And one of the trainings, that's actually a whole series of trainings on insider threats, right? Like how do you spot somebody who, who, who's a threat to the government? And they, and there would be all these clues, like they complain about money or they talk about how great other countries are, or they're, they can't hold on to a relationship or maybe they drink. They have maybe some sort of a, a substance abuse problem. And there's all these little clues for somebody who was an insider threat, never once did they say, say what if somebody like, has actually leaked data to a competitor. Because that would be insane.

Dana Goldberg (34:54)

That wasn't in your training. No, I mean, I'm not defending these guys, but I think sounds like the only training they've had is potty training. And I'm actually not sure the 19 year old has been there yet.

Alison Gill (35:06)

Yeah, it would never be like, what, what's this? What's a sign of an insider threat? Financial problems. Literally leaked classified information to our enemy. Like that wouldn't appear on there because you're not looking for obvious glaring sirens. You're looking for like little clues. Oh my God. It's just the most ridiculous. They, let's put them. Let's give him right access to the Treasury. Big balls. Oh, Jesus. All right, it's time for a little good trouble. Hey, we get into trouble. Yes, I get, hey, everybody, welcome back. I've got a two for today for good trouble. First of all, I wanted to shout out some good trouble. That happened. Somebody sent out an agency wide email at the vba. That's the Veterans Benefits Administration. So there's three parts to the Department of Veterans Affairs. There's the vba, there's the vha, the Veterans Health Administration, that gives all the health care out to all the veterans. And then there's the National Cemetery Service. And you can probably guess what they do. But here's the thing. They sent out to all employees of the vba. Just. Oh, hey, just so you know, we got a new, I think deputy assistant Undersecretary for Veterans benefits or something was announcing a little change in staff there. And then there was a whole paragraph about. And just wanted to say I'm proud to honor Black History Month with you. Our black veterans are, are so very important. They're critical to our mission. Our black employees here at the VA are critical to our mission. So happy Black History Month in the newsletter, like sincerely, you know, and I can't release the name, but that was just a little bit of good trouble sending out an agency wide honoring Black History Month paragraph. Just. Yeah, because they have been told no heritage months now any anywhere in federal government. And also I wanted to just. This is kind of a very niche good trouble. This is for folks who own private businesses that contract with the federal government. They're called non government organizations. And I have received multiple messages over the last several days from people who have received a certification contract from a government agency. Like, let's say I make blankets, right? Allison's blankets. And the Navy wants to buy my blankets for their sailors at boot camp. And I say, okay, and I make the blankets and they give me money for the blankets. Yay, government contract. Right? Right. And now here's what happened. The Navy, let's say if this was a real scenario, I would have gotten a not notification from the Navy saying, you have to check these two boxes. First of all, certify that you don't believe in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. You don't have any of those practices in your personal business. And you have to certify that by a certain time that you will end all those practices in order to keep your government contract or be awarded a government contract as a private, private business. So I just wanted to encourage all NGOs to read that. What was it? Simple sabotage. World War II CIA memo that we talked about that went viral.

Dana Goldberg (38:13)

Yep.

Alison Gill (38:13)

Because anyone who has worked for the government knows that in order to implement something like removing all DEI from your age from your corporation, you definitely need to set up a committee. And then that committee on what the action plan is for removing all DEI information from your company. You're going to need subcommittees. Right. You're going to need a subcommittee on compliance. And under that subcommittee you can have a work group that looks at compliance with federal law like Title 7 or the Americans with Disabilities act or anything like that. Federal labor law. Federal laws. Right, right. Work group two under compliance could be compliance with your corporate bylaws. And stick a pin in that. Because if you have to change your corporate bylaws, there's probably a whole other subcommittee that you'll have to create with different work groups to make those changes. Because you got to take it to a board, especially if you're a nonprofit, then you know you're going to want to have a, a subcommittee on like let's say impact. Impact on your shareholders, your stakeholders, your employees, your, your hr labor relations. Impact on your revenue, impact on, you know, how, how you do business. You're gonna have to do all that. Then after all that's done and you run your implementation plan through. Do you see where I'm coming from? Do you see what I'm getting at?

Dana Goldberg (39:35)

Yep.

Alison Gill (39:36)

Do things the way bureaucrats do them. Because once you finally have your action plan run through all of your commit you, you might have to do several white papers on the impacts. Right. Like General Mattis did several, did five or six white papers on the impact of having out trans people serve in the military. And all of those white papers showed everything's the same, everything's fine, no need to not do it. The cost impact and all that other stuff, it's great. Let's, let's move forward. All of that work. You might be able to start implementing taking DEI out of your business like in 2035.

Dana Goldberg (40:17)

So.

Alison Gill (40:19)

And, and by the way, when the government comes at you, you can say, oh, we have our, we have our plan. But right now it's, it's in subcommittee being reviewed for compliance with federal laws. And then after that it's going to be, and then you can have binders full of, you can send them. They're not going to read that. Yeah, Are you kidding?

Dana Goldberg (40:36)

Give them as much paperwork as humanly possible. Bury them.

Alison Gill (40:40)

Bury them with it. Absolutely. Because you, you'll have to come up with your plan. They'll be like, you need 90 days to come up with your plan. Great. That doesn't mean you have to implement it yet. You have to run it through all kinds of different subcommittees and work groups in those subcommittees to get that done. Just an idea. And also same goes for private businesses that Attorney General Pam Bondi has agreed to investigate. And prosecute for what she deems illegal discrimination against white people. And as for the rest of us who don't work at NGOs or own corporations that could be targeted by the administration for the sin of empathy, you can make sure you support businesses and NGOs that refuse to toss aside diversity, equity and inclusion and accessibility. That's your good trouble. Thank you. And tell you what, we'll be right back with the good news. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news. Good news, everyone. Then good news, everyone. Good news, good news. And we really need. We are having a fire sale on good news, meaning you have to send your good news to us. I don't know. That didn't make any sense. But we need all the good news that we can get right now.

Dana Goldberg (41:53)

We're buying beans, people. We're buying it with beans.

Alison Gill (41:56)

There you go. There you go. The Leguminati needs all your good news. Even if it's the smallest little thing. Please send that to us. Shout out Confession correction. Pronunciation correction. A shout out to a government program or a loved one or a small business in your area or your small business. Anything at all. Student debt relief if you've. If you've received that. Any other government program that's helped out you or a loved one. And all you need to do to submit your good news story is to include a pod pet photo. It's called paying your pod pet tax. If you want us to guess your shelter pups breeds, we can try. We're very bad at it. We got all correct one time and it's been all, it's been downhill from there. Any animal photo really. If you don't have a pet, you can send us an adoptable pet in your area. You don't have any of that. You can send us your baby pictures. If you don't want to send your baby pictures, you can send bird watching photos which is can be of an actual bird or you and your family and friends FL slipping off Trump properties or Donald Trump or Elon Musk in some way we can expand it, right? A Tesla factory. Heck yeah. Send it into us dailybeanspot.com click on contact. First up from Deborah Pronoun. She and her Greetings from Canada, all American citizens. My husband and I moved our then toddlers up north during the first Trump administration. Wow. Although the reason was technically a move for my husband's job, I can't pretend that we didn't see a brighter and safer future for our kids in Canada. Here in the very diverse school and only in grade three and four. Our kids have each already had multiple units about human rights and are proud that our town was a terminus for the Underground Railroad.

Dana Goldberg (43:31)

Amazing.

Alison Gill (43:32)

Now dual citizens, my husband and I are excited to help keep Maple MAGA from winning in the upcoming Canadian elections. I'm writing a shout out to Dana. I always listen to the POD driving home after dropping off my kids at school. And today I was delighted to hear Dana explicitly connect the dots between all the anti trans, awful and misogyny. Any attack on the 2s LGBTQI plus community should always be understood to be misogynistic and a misogynistic attack to impose white male dominance on all of us. Don't be fooled by the BS excuse that they are protecting women. Thank you Dana because this often goes unmentioned. Thank you for my POD pet tax. Here's a photo of Lily, a young schnauzer mix who was found on the streets of San Antonio, Texas with her puppies. We adopted her about six months ago and she's getting used to Canadian winters. Oh, you could see her in her photo that she seems to be enjoying the snow quite a bit. Thank you for keeping me laughing and providing hope for us all. She's adorable.

C (44:33)

She is.

Dana Goldberg (44:34)

And Deborah, thank you so much for the submission and the shout out. It means a lot. It does. All right, we're going to move on to an anonymous submission. Pronouns he and him. Hello, AG and dg, Longtime patron here riding in with my good news news. I started my podcast let's Process this back in 2023, but only now am I really starting to feel comfortable as a host and creator enough to share it with a wider audience. The show looks back at headlines, topics and trends from six months ago and asks, does any of this still matter? Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, but it's always a good time. AG I want to take a moment to thank you because Mueller, she wrote, and the beans have absolutely inspired my approach. You both stay with news stories longer than the breaking news cycle and I wanted to create a show that does the opposite of the 24 hour churn. One that reflects on the news and helps us process our feelings around what often feels like a daily tsunami of breaking updates. We're also always looking for fun guests. I know others have written in about their podcasts. If you're one of those people, please reach out. I'd love to connect with other like minded progressive podcasters. We're the underdogs in this content game right now, and there's strength in numbers. You can email me me@letsprocessthispodgmail.com thanks so much for being a part of my morning commute and let's just say my June 2025 episodes are going to be interesting to say the least. P.S. pet tax is me answering emails with my roommate's cat, Momo. Best of all worlds, I get to hang out with this cool cat and none of the responsibilities. And we're going to include all of the links in the show notes to this podcast so you can check it out and support this anonymous submitter. Thank you so much.

Alison Gill (46:19)

He him this anonymous submitter who has an incredible head of hair. Do you see this?

Dana Goldberg (46:25)

He's a cute guy.

Alison Gill (46:26)

Incredible. And the cat also incredible body of fur. Thank you very much and let's process this. That's a great name for a podcast and I'm so glad that we inspired you to grab a mic and join the chorus. All right, next up from Anonymous I work in HR compliance for a nonprofit healthcare organization with multiple hospitals in our area area. My job includes tracking new and existing employees documentation and making sure what we have is current. When the HR offices at the hospitals have documentation questions, I'm the one they go to or they send their employees to me for help or guidance. The past few months, I've been gutted by the influx of sponsorship requests by people who already have valid work authorization but are scared of it being vacated. Recently, the Trump administration terminated temporary protective status for Venezuelans. We had a person here under that status for that country, and he came into his HR office letting them know he received notice. He'll need to leave or be deported by April. I cried so hard that day for this man I'd never met. I went into my reports and gathered a list of everyone on work authorization that is under any status that's been even hinted at being modified or ended, and reached out to our legal department and human resource leadership explaining how vulnerable the situation is for these people. I just got word back from our HR vice president that we're working with an immigration council to review and see how or if there's anything we'll be able to do to sponsor or assist in providing them with some type of safety net. Hearing that, I burst into tears again, but for the first time in a long time, they were tears of joy and relief. I'm not sure what will all come from it, but I'm so heartened to work somewhere that cares so much and as much as I do about the fate of our employees, I'm hoping We'll be able to provide them with some type of relief. I can't imagine how they're feeling. It's not quite good trouble, but some good advocacy that will hopefully make a difference for a few dozen people I have the honor of working with. Anonymous.

Dana Goldberg (48:26)

What a beautiful submission.

Alison Gill (48:27)

Thank you. That is good trouble. That's good fucking trouble. Well done.

Dana Goldberg (48:32)

This one's from Ginny. Pronouns she and her hi Beans. A few days ago, the app 5 calls was mentioned on your show. I immediately went to the app store, downloaded it, read through it, and that day during my lunchtime, I made three phone calls and have done so every single day since. It doesn't even take 10 minutes. I live in Florida, so of course my three calls are made to Republicans, but I felt better and perhaps if enough people make these calls, someone will listen. So everyone download this app and get started together. We are Loud Voice. Thank you AG and dg for all you do to keep us sane in these crazy times. My taxes, Photos of my grandson Henry when he was a baby. Especially for Dana. And a bird photo. And yes, I agree, Thin Mints do belong in the freezer. Thank you so much. Crush them up and add them to homemade ice cream in July. Yum.

Alison Gill (49:20)

I'm assuming that while I was gone, you had a Thin Mints in the freezer discussion.

Dana Goldberg (49:23)

Oh, yes, I did. Well, it wasn't a discussion because I was the only one here, so I was just more of a directive. It was a directive that you're a sociopath if you don't put your Thin Mints in the freezer.

Alison Gill (49:33)

I concur. Well, because I buy a hundred thousand boxes of them, so I got to put them in the freezer or they'll go back bad.

Dana Goldberg (49:38)

Yeah. One of our listeners after that, good news. Trouble with the Trans Scouts sent me a message. They bought 50 boxes of thin Mints.

Alison Gill (49:45)

Yes, I know. That's what I'm talking about.

Dana Goldberg (49:48)

They were like, how many do you want? I was like, just one. It'll get me through the summer.

Alison Gill (49:53)

Oh, thanks for that, Jenny. Good bird photo flipping off Trump on the television. That's nice. Look at the baby. Look at that baby.

Dana Goldberg (50:01)

Yeah. So cute.

Alison Gill (50:03)

Ah, thank you for that submission. Oh, all right. Our final submission comes from anonymous pronouns he and him. And we have a content warning and a trigger warning for mentioning self harm. But this is a hopeful contribution. So this says, Dear Beans Queens, after the election, I was so tired of podcasts dissecting what went wrong. Sorry, Pod Save America. I needed a podcast with some emotional intelligence. About what listeners needed at that moment. Moment and my brother recommended you. Now I listen to you almost daily specifically because you're one of the few podcasts or even newscasts bothering to pay attention to what's happening to trans people. As a trans man, you came out 20 years ago. Please understand that what's happening across our country feels similar to how people were once executed in Salem, Massachusetts, one rock at a time, placed on a person's chest until his or her body finally collapsed under the weight. For anyone listening, here are those rocks. So far, on day one, it was an executive order defining trans people out of existence, claiming there were only two sexes. The most immediate impact of this had been to prevent trans people from obtaining passports which align with their gender identity, essentially imprisoning many trans people from leaving the country. Many have also lost their birth certificates and even marriage certificates because of the State Department, and they refused to return the applications that were already in process. Next came the executive order forcing trans women into men's prisons, an executive order that has been temporarily blocked because a judge found it likely violated the eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. Even the death penalty doesn't reach eighth Amendment status. That's how cruel this executive order is to trans women. Next was the executive order banning trans people from the military, claiming that even people who have served in active duty combat are unfit for military duty because trans people are are, in Trump's eyes, inherently dishonest and dishonorable by virtue of being trans. Our new DUI hire and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote a book calling trans people the t slur and said they have no place in the military. Dishonorable discharges of trans people also means they lose their military pensions. Next came the executive order banning gender care for anyone under 19. Hospitals and gender care clinics around the country immediately began to capitulate for fear of losing funding, leaving parents scrambling to save their children. Four year listeners, please understand that according to the Trevor Project, every time one of these bans goes into place, the suicide rate goes up 72%. So it's not hyperbole to say that while physicians abandon their patients, parents are trying to save their kids lives. Also note the fact this order said 19 year olds and not 18 year olds leaves many observers speculating that he will eventually ban this care for all trans people, even adults. Then there was the ban on trans women in sports, any sport, even chess or darts, which the NCAA buckled to immediately de facto banning the whopping 10 trans athletes in the entire NCAA. Not even enough for a soccer team Simply because they're trans. Period. No other reason. At a recent congressional hearing, Representative Nancy Mace, the lump of carbon and hate who got Sarah McBride and all trans people banned from the restroom of their identities at the Castle Capitol, repeatedly referred to trans people as, quote, unquote, trannies. When her Democratic counterpart asked the Chairperson to counsel Ms. Mace to stop, the Republican chairperson claimed ignorance that that was even a slur. And now we have OMB Director Vaught, who not only plans to keep crushing trans people under the stones of administrative actions, but there's this from ProPublica, quote. Other policies mentioned by Vought dovetail with Trump's plans, such as rolling back transgender rights rights agenda 47. The campaign's policy blueprint calls for revoking President Joe Biden's order expanding gender affirming care for transgender people. Vought uses even more extreme language, decrying the, quote, transgender sewage that's being pumped into our schools and institutions and referring to gender affirming care as chemical castration. Transgender sewage. That's how Vought refers to our lives. The rocks are piling on our chests, and this administration is just getting started. Trans people are now consistently being referred to in subhuman terms the way Hitler referred to Jewish people repeatedly enough until people believed it was true. This administration doesn't just want to eradicate trans people from public life. It wants to eradicate trans people from life, full stop. On a personal note, I spent the first 30 years of my life wanting to die. I spent the last 20 trying to make the most of this gift called life. Life. My work focuses on creating access for people with disabilities. I plant and protect trees. I take care of my neighbors. I married a beautiful woman, and we live in a tiny apartment with our dog. I try to live each day the way my now deceased dad taught me to leave this world a better place than I found it a few nights ago. It all felt like too much. I could feel my heart going cold and my emotions going numb the way they used to. Every time I tried to kill myself when I was growing up, my beautiful wife looked over at me and asked what I was thinking. And I said, do you really want to know? And she said, yes. And after a deep breath, I told her, I'm thinking that if I didn't have you and mom and my brother and my sister and so many friends who love and care about me that I would end my life right now because I don't see a way forward. Trans people are some of the most resilient people I know. We have to be. But we're so incredibly vulnerable. We've done nothing to deserve what's happening to us. We are good, loving people who just want to live authentic lives. Also, we are the canary in the coal mine. No one should be fooled into thinking that once trans people are stamped out, there won't be another scapegoat. Of course there will be. Because this administration can't govern, it will need someone else to blame for their woes and to stoke the culture war being used to cover the actual class war undermining our country. Country for students of history. That's how the Holocaust started. And it didn't end with Jewish people. Anyhow, I want to leave you with three thoughts, Queens thank you for talking about this issue on your podcast, and please keep talking about it. Every time you talk about it, I feel like someone's paying attention and that maybe I won't have to die early or flee my home in order to peacefully live out my days. Number two, listeners, don't underestimate the power of your love and support. Support. Maybe it can't take down an executive order, but it may save the life of someone who needs to know they're not alone and that they're worthy of love and life. And finally, Dana, this one's for you. Personally, we've actually met several times, right around when I began my transition. I'd say we were familiar acquaintances. Many in the community of gay women I knew decided to reject me because they saw me as rejecting womanhood in favor of male privilege. Privilege. It's hard to describe how isolated that made me feel at a really isolating time already. But you in particular, you didn't do that. Every time I saw you, you welcomed me for exactly who I am, and I've never forgotten that kindness. I never had the chance to thank you for that in person, so I'd like to thank you for that. Here. Here's a photo of our sweetest little girl. She's 11 years old, wildly protective of my wife and I when we're out in public, and the biggest cuddle bug when we're on the couch. Her kisses and cuddles and unconditional love are more reasons I know it's not my time to leave this world.

C (57:38)

I'm still trying to get myself together. Anonymous thank you for this submission. I'm so sorry that this is happening happening. I'm sorry that those of us who are trying to fight it are having a hard time figuring out where to start. And then you guys, I'm sorry I use the Guys, you all are on the receiving end of this. I just. I need people to understand that the trans community is between.0, 5.5 and 1.6% of the entire population of the United states. There's over 330 million people in this country, and there's maybe 3 million trans people. And as my friend said On a podcast, er Fightmaster, you're paying attention to the wrong 1%. Actually, you know what?

Dana Goldberg (58:33)

That was Laverne Cox.

C (58:35)

Laverne Cox said that in an interview. 1% of the population is transgender. We are paying attention to the wrong 1%. I read an article HuffPost the other day. It was hard to read. It was about a transgender woman who was telling us her story of having to go through tsa. She had transitioned some time ago, but was getting her surgery and vocal and feminization surgeries and things and had to travel back and forth from San Francisco. And that a horrifying experience at tsa, where, of course, when you go through the screener, TSA pushes a button, because they push a button whether they think.

Dana Goldberg (59:18)

You are male or female. And if they say female and they.

C (59:22)

They catch something in the groin area, it.

Dana Goldberg (59:24)

It flags it.

C (59:25)

And then that is a horrifyingly embarrassing experience for most trans people that have to go through the tsa.

Dana Goldberg (59:31)

And this TSA person who they kept anonymous insisted that the experience was much harder for her. Oh, this is much worse for me than it is for you. And this trans woman said, I don't think so. And the TSA agen her heels and oh, yes, it is.

C (59:45)

And there's a story. The story continues. And I just want this anonymous submitter and every other trans person out there to know that there are some angels. The end of this. Excuse me. The end of this article says, a.

Dana Goldberg (59:59)

Few weeks ago, I flew back to San Francisco to see how my voice was recovering from surgery. To do that, I had to run the TSA gauntlet yet again. Upon exiting the security scanner and being asked to stop, I made peace with the humiliating pat down that I knew was coming.

C (60:15)

As a TSA agent pointed to the.

Dana Goldberg (60:17)

Screen and said she'd have to search me, I said, let's just cut to the chase. Do what you have to do. Yes, it's a penis. I was surprised when she smiled and grabbed my hand instead of, you know, my other parts.

C (60:31)

And this is a quote.

Dana Goldberg (60:33)

Dear.

C (60:34)

She said, dear, I'm a proud mom of a trans son. She said, I understand. You're beautiful. Have a safe trip. And she told me before I left, I just Hope that for all of the hate that is being thrown at the community, the trans and non binary, two spirited, anyone that they don't see confirming to their fucking binary of male and female bullshit, I just hope there's angels that you're coming across out there and if I had any sort of a positive influence. Anonymous thank you for that because sometimes right now it feels like this work is in vain. And I promise that I will not continue to think that I'll continue to fight. And I need you to continue to fight. And I'm so grateful you have your wife and your family and your friends. Please stay. That's all I can ask. Please stay. Because the world is better with you in it.

Alison Gill (61:36)

Thanks, Dana. Thank you for that. Thank you all for listening. Send us, Send us your submissions@daily beanspod.com and click on contact. I apologize. I'm.

C (61:51)

I don't think we need to apologize. I think the, I mean I hear.

Dana Goldberg (61:55)

You because I want to say I'm sorry too. But I think the listeners over and over and over have told us through.

C (62:00)

Submissions and comments that they appreciate our humanity. So let's stop apologizing for the tears years.

Alison Gill (62:07)

I will do my best.

C (62:09)

Yeah, having a.

Alison Gill (62:10)

Being a recovering Catholic I can't make. I will do my best. That's incredible what happened where the woman took her hand and said, you're beautiful and I see you.

Dana Goldberg (62:28)

Yeah.

Alison Gill (62:29)

And hey, if, if you are a trans al, I do that. Do those things always support that one kind word? That kind phrase could change someone's day. It could change someone's life. It could make, make them realize they're not alone. And it's so important to always just be kind.

C (62:51)

Absolutely.

Alison Gill (62:52)

Just be kind. I'm going to try to do. I'm just going to try to say five kind things to strangers on the street every day.

Dana Goldberg (62:58)

Oh my God. I compliment people constantly. Like, and just a really nice way. Like there was a woman that on the plane she got out of the bathroom, I looked down, she the best shoes. They were these incredible orange like shoes. They were amazing. And I told her and she just smiled, just smiled even as something as that of like, oh my God, those shoes are amazing. I love the frames on your glasses. Like just something small people. It feels good. It feels good.

Alison Gill (63:25)

It feels good to hear and it feels good to say it. So thank you everyone for all of your submissions today and we will be back in your ears tomorrow. I think you're probably good with final thoughts.

Dana Goldberg (63:38)

Yeah, yeah, I'm good with final thoughts today. Welcome back my friend. It's nice to have you.

Alison Gill (63:43)

Oh, it's good to see you and it's good to be here again with this community. Just an incredible community of support. Thank you so much. We'll see you tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health and take care of your family. I've been AG and I've been DG and them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcast tests dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information Please visit msw media.com msw media.