MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow pulled back the curtain on what she said is really behind the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to access sensitive government databases containing the personal information of millions of Americans.

The primetime host on her show Tuesday walked viewers through the various actions the Trump administration has taken at the request of DOGE – an agency which she called “bizarre” and “very mysterious.”

“Now we're getting to what I think of as the really heavy part of it – the really heavy part of this authoritarian project – because some of the stuff that they have been doing that has seemed inexplicable is starting to become explicable....

“It’s not just rummaging around in there and flipping switches and seeing what breaks. Part of what is now emerging is that they've been in these government systems because they're trying to use the government to hurt people as much as they can,” the MSNBC host said Tuesday.

Among the most disturbing ideas floated by the Trump administration in recent weeks is the possibility that it will send U.S. citizens to be imprisoned by the Salvadoran government.

Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s Trump-friendly president, reportedly made the offer in recent weeks. Trump raised the possibility with reporters in the Oval Office last week, though he conceded that he “[doesn’t] know what the law says on that.”

Bryce Mitchell, who once declared he'd "take a bullet and die" for Donald Trump, was instead subdued and choked out on the UFC 314 canvas with (Trump) looking on.

The bout took place at Miami's Kaseya Center on Saturday night, where Mitchell faced off against Jean Silva in a highly anticipated match on a star-studded card. The event turned sour for Mitchell as he suffered a humiliating defeat in front of Trump, who had made an impressive entrance, and his entourage, including Elon Musk.

Mitchell set the tone by refusing to touch gloves with Silva at the outset, nearly getting finished in the opening round after a failed takedown led to Silva securing a tight guillotine choke. Mitchell escaped after some struggle, but the end came in the second round.

Despite the Miami crowd rallying behind Mitchell with chants of "U-S-A," he was thoroughly outclassed. Rejecting another glove touch at the beginning of round two, Silva quickly landed a significant blow and then cinched in a ninja choke that made Mitchell tap out—and pass out as Silva let go.

The lie that won’t die is that Republicans are better for the economy than Democrats. By every measure possible, that is just not correct. Republicans break shit, Democrats fix it, and voters reward them by ushering Republicans back in power. Lather, rinse, repeat. 

Now, the stock market is not “the economy,” and even boom times have seen economic decline for a significant percentage of people in the United States, particularly in its decaying rural regions. But the market is a proxy for strong economic performance, however inequitable it might be distributed. 

At that very least, there’s no scenario in which we have economic development without a strong market. If companies are to create jobs, there has to be a strong market—or investors, in anticipation—pumping money into that job growth. 

That’s all to say that Republicans are terrible for the job market. Just take a look at Wall Street’s 10 worst crashes: 

In a stunning rejection of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, Louisiana voters turned down all four of his constitutional amendments Saturday, including the governor’s plan to overhaul the state’s tax and budget laws.

Nearly two-thirds of voters rejected all of the amendments in an election that could have broader political implications for the rest of Landry’s term.

The governor, who has sometimes relied on strong-arm tactics to get his agenda through the Louisiana Legislature, could become more vulnerable to pushback after failing to pass his most ambitious policy proposal at the ballot box.

In a statement after the outcome was certain, the governor attributed the defeat of Amendment 2 to billionaire George Soros, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who conservatives have targeted for several years for his support of liberal causes.

“Thousands of Lithuanians lined the streets with dignity and respect to honor the four lost American soldiers,” Matt McDermott posted on X. “Trump prioritized golf over their dignified transfer.”

He later added above a link to the NBC News report: “No words.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs is ending a program that has helped over 17,000 veterans attain homeownership. It is just the latest in a series of attacks and slights against veterans from President Donald Trump.

The VA announced on Thursday that it was putting an end to the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase Program. The program purchases defaulted mortgage loans for veterans facing financial hardship and then offers them as direct loans with a fixed 2.5% interest rate.

Donald Trump is once again targeting the very veterans he claims to love—this time by reportedly gutting the Department of Veterans Affairs call centers and replacing human staff with automation.

According to CNN, which cited multiple sources familiar with the planned cuts, the agency is moving to automated systems, drastically reducing the need for live agents.

“This is heartless and dangerous,” one Democratic congressional staffer told CNN after being briefed by VA officials on the layoffs. “Veterans in need of life-saving care and compassion should be met with a person who understands their needs and can provide them the information and resources they seek, not a lifeless machine.”