21 DOGE bros resign, and 2 other things to applaud today in political news
When 36 days feels like 360 days, and Presidents Trump and Musk are still at it
I don’t know the DOGE bros. (I’m having a tough time believing that Elon Musk has the patience to work with a woman engineer, but I could be wrong. I’m also not convinced that Trump would allow anybody who worked for former President Barack H. Obama around, so Amy Gleason running DOGE is hard for me to believe.) I may not agree with a single, solitary other thing that these 18-to-24-year-old men in DOGE say or do. But I have to give credit where credit is due when it comes to the 21 civil service employees who united and resigned today from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” the 21 staffers wrote in a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. “However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”
Karma has no time limit, and morals will kick in eventually. I’m glad they finally spoke up and tapped out. Today, there have been other signs of the tone shifting from the last 36 days.
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Has it been 36 days or 360 days?
When I was in high school, my mother and my (paternal) grandfather were lecturing me about why I needed to watch the news more and know what’s going on in the country. I told them it was depressing, and I had no interest in it. (This was when I was still dreaming of being a fiction novelist and had zero interest or knowledge of journalism. Fast-forward to 2005 when I did a complete 180-degree turn, reported on my first story while traveling to Louisiana and haven’t looked back since.)
The irony is that my grandfather (before he passed away at 95) switched from nonstop news to cackling over “Family Feud” and “Golden Girls.” My mother revisited her childhood years and is obsessed with MeTV. And I turned out to be the one listening and watching news 24/7. When I would bring up political news post-undergrad, their take sounded very familiar: The news is depressing. Well, well, well. I was right all along.
Up until today, I could kinda sorta see why anybody turned off their television and closed their news browsers. It has gotten worse every single day since almost 100 executive orders were signed by Trump on January 20, 2025 — until today. We are finally seeing some much-needed progress.
In addition to the DOGE bros tapping out — and although I’m still not convinced that the Trump administration will finally release USAID funds, even if U.S. District Judge Amir Ali has had it up to here with Trump’s attorneys — two other things made me breath a much-needed sigh of relief.
Trump lost three court cases in 1.5 hours
Three different federal judges delivered legal setbacks for Trump. In addition to Ali, in Washington D.C., Judge Loren AliKhan issued a preliminary injunction that indefinitely blocked the administration from freezing federal grants and loans. Second, Washington State Judge Jamal Whitehead issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday that stopped Trump’s executive order to suspend refugee admissions and funding.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett stood up for the jury system, AG Letitia James and Fani Willis
I have already spoken in great detail about how I had whiplash while serving on a jury, watching 11 other people show off all kinds of bias while lying to the judge about how fair they could be. #TalkAboutBias is underrated and startlingly true. It is one of many reasons that while I will complain about having to find someone to watch my dog while I go to jury duty, I’m always going to show up and be ready to serve. Black people especially need a juror who will actually look at their case and not the color of the defendant’s (or prosecutor’s) skin. And then I was a backup for a second jury and watched similar biases — even just observing how some jurors clicked up by race and tone.
Still, I 100% agree with Crockett who says she believes in the system, regardless of how flawed it may be, when getting the opinion of your peers. And you damn sure need 12 jurors because some of these people have no business deciding on a grocery list, never mind making sole decisions on someone’s civil or criminal lawsuit. But if those 12 people who may have nothing in common during Trump's lawsuits can all come to the same conclusion after carefully looking over a case, that’s worth its merit. I cringe and hope he never exposes them by name and address for doing their civic duty.
I also respected that Crockett spoke up in defense of New York Attorney General Letitia James and District Attorney Fani Willis. Listen to her opening statement with the House Committee on the Judiciary (below).
Among Black students in higher education, women are more likely than men to earn degrees: Black women get 64.1% of bachelor’s degrees, 71.5% of master’s degrees and 65.9%of doctoral, medical, and dental degrees. - American Association of University Women (AAUW)
While Trump is going after both women — and suspiciously taking up his anti-DEI debate with law schools after going after the education system, knowing full well that Black women are the most degreed group so crippling our education is the easiest way to attack the 92% who voted against him — Crockett pointed out how convenient it is that he’s focused on state-level concerns when he’s supposed to be focusing on federal-level issues. I respect what Crockett is doing. I respect that she’s not afraid to speak up when other politicians are shaking in their boots.
Honorable mentions earlier this week
I also respect other politicians like Maine Governor Janet Mills, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and my own Governor J.B. Pritzker. It is very easy to tap out when it seems like all hope is lost. What’s harder is to stay present and fight even if the odds may seem like they’re against you. Keep fighting, y’all!
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote” and “Window Shopping” too. Thanks for reading!