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Education Secretary Linda McMahon has issued a warning to 60 universities that they're being investigated for antisemitism and could face penalties. Her warning came days after the Trump administration withdrew $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University and as the administration attempts to deport Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil over his involvement in campus antiwar protests at the school. At the same time, President Trump has pledged to abolish the Education Department entirely, with plans announced this week to fire an additional 1,300 employees, effectively cutting the agency's workforce in half. "It's pretty clear what this administration is trying to do, and it has nothing to do with antisemitism," says former Education Department official Tariq Habash, who resigned last year to protest the Biden administration's support of Israel's war on Gaza. "It has everything to do with Donald Trump's vision for America, which is consolidating his authoritarian power."
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Mr. Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has largely been shrouded in secrecy, but court cases are one way opponents of President Trump's overhaul efforts have sought clarity.
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We speak with Valerie Costa, an organizer behind the grassroots Tesla Takedown movement peacefully protesting outside Tesla showrooms to oppose billionaire owner Elon Musk's role in government. Since Donald Trump's return to the White House, Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency have led mass firings of federal workers and dismantled entire agencies. As protests against Tesla grow and sales plummet, the company's stock has lost about 40% of its value since the start of the year. This week, President Trump personally intervened on behalf of his adviser and held a promotional event with Musk at the White House, where he said he would buy an electric vehicle and declared attacks on Tesla dealerships to be "domestic terrorism." Meanwhile, Musk personally attacked Costa, falsely accusing her of "committing crimes" in a post on his X social network. "They're peaceful, nonviolent protests," says Costa, an activist and organizer in Seattle. "Protesting Tesla … is ultimately about hitting Elon Musk's bottom line."
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Reporters, workers and now judges across the country are disputing the cost-cutting claims of Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which has targeted federal employees across multiple sectors with firings, forced resignations and threatened layoffs. One of the millions of Americans being impacted by DOGE's draconian measures is Latisha, an employee at the Department of Veterans Affairs. She says that Musk's recent demand ordering federal employees to email a summary of their work from the past week was "insulting" and "disrespectful," and that "his real goal is to gut public services in the federal workforce and pave the way for privatization of public services, goods and programs that we all need and love." She outlines how Black Americans and veterans, who are disproportionately represented among the ranks of federal workers, are being particularly affected by these cuts. We also speak to ProPublica editor-in-chief Stephen Engelberg about his recent reporting on a "clearly wrong, clearly disproved" statistic being cited by the Trump administration about the number of federal employees who are working remotely. The statistic is being used to justify the "king-like powers" claimed by Trump and the nepotistic hires at DOGE, says Engelberg.
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