And in your employees’ mouths
If it was not clear before, the executive branch of the U.S. government is now a fully owned subsidiary of the Trump Organization.
“The White House ballroom, should it be completed, will stand as another symbol in the ongoing project of rebuilding American democracy in the image of one man’s brand,” the Trump brand, proposes Debbie Millman, brand strategist and host of the “Design Matters” podcast.
She illustrates her own op-ed:
Between Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and Trump’s own remora, and Russ Vought, OMB director and principal author of Project 2025, the functioning of the executive branch down to its finest details is now the Trump Organization too.
I’ve said frequently that the GOP does not want to govern, it wants to rule. That’s true of Donald Trump as well, but in his mind dominating is a byproduct of branding. His logo is not yet on government stationary, but he’s got people working on it (Federal News Network):
Furloughed staff at the Education Department say out-of-office messages for their government email accounts have been automatically updated.
The new out-of-office message blames an ongoing government shutdown on Senate Democrats who didn’t vote on a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government funded through Nov. 21.
“Thank you for contacting me. On September 19, 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean continuing resolution. Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations,” the new out-of-office message says. “Due to the lapse in appropriations I am currently on furlough status. I will respond to emails once government functions resume.”
An Education Department employee told Federal News Network that they discovered the updated message on Thursday.
“Those were not my words,” the employee said.
The New York Times adds:
In response to a request for comment, an automatic reply from an Education Department spokeswoman, Madi Biedermann, did not include the politically charged language. Instead, it read, “Thank you for your email. There is a temporary shutdown of the U.S. government due to a lapse in appropriations.”
About an hour later, Ms. Biedermann sent another response referencing the continuing resolution that would have funded the government: “The email reminds those who reach out to Department of Education employees that we cannot respond because Senate Democrats are refusing to vote for a clean C.R. and fund the government. Where’s the lie?”
Did they up her dosage in the interim? The Times does not include a current photo that might indicate whether Biedermann posseses a thousand-yard stare, the flat affect found among cult members and combat veterans suffering PTSD.
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Our friend Susie Madrak is experiencing a cash crunch. She’s looking for whatever help you might lend this week. Making things worse is an insurance settlement delayed on account of paperwork. Plus:
In the meantime, my neurologist suspects I have an obscure lupus-like autoimmune disorder that’s causing all kinds of weird symptoms (for one thing, she says the signals my brain are sending to my feet aren’t making it through and I’m off balance) but first she has to rule out blood cancers, etc. There’s also a lesion on my lung and they want an MRI.
Susie has been posting at Suburban Guerrilla and Crooks & Liars for 20 years. It’s a calling, not a great-paying gig. We need to stick together. Help out Susie if you can.