Notes and Essays -- John Brown

Layoffs hit a heating aid program The Trump administration has  abruptly laid off  the entire staff running a $4.1 billion program to help low-income households across the United States pay their heating and cooling bills, my colleague Brad Plumer reports. Most of that money has already been distributed to states. But some $378 million that was approved by Congress hasn’t been sent out yet.  “If there’s no staff, how do you allocate the rest of this money?” said Mark Wolfe, the executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, a nonprofit that represents state aid officials in Washington. The Department of Health and Human Services said it intended to comply with federal law. The department is undergoing a dramatic reorganization in line with the Department of Government Efficiency’s drive to shrink the federal work force. Image Voting in Waukesha, Wis., on Tuesday. Credit... Jim Vondruska for The New York Times

Since Trump’s return to office, his administration has taken aim at federal funding for universities and colleges, with significant attention on  Ivy League  institutions, accusing them of allowing alleged antisemitism to run rampant on campus.   By  Brianna Tucker The Washington Post , "45 minutes ago" Joanne Liu says her alma mater’s health system pulled her scheduled talk, which included discussions about funding cuts to humanitarian aid organizations and casualties among aid workers in Gaza. Joanne Liu, left, international president of Doctors Without Borders, receives an award for clinical medical research in New York in 2015. (Richard Drew/AP) 45 minutes ago

Elon Musk speaks at a town hall event on Sunday in Green Bay, Wis.  Photo:  Jeffrey Phelps/Associated Press Search Labs | AI Overview Learn more "Que bello ragazzo" translates to " What a handsome boy" or "That's a beautiful boy" explanation/tranlation found on the Web, note via WSJ] But image still  still From the wall street journal

Musk Visits C.I.A. to Discuss Downsizing Efforts A federal judge ordered the agency to reconsider its firings of employees who had been assigned to diversity recruiting.  The George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Va. Credit... Tom Brenner for The New York Times By  Julian E. Barnes Reporting from Washington Washington Post, March 31, 2025,  6:22 p.m. ET

Kim Delaney, ‘NYPD Blue’ actress, arrested after alleged domestic dispute   By  Lisa Respers France  and  Alli Rosenbloom , CNN  2 minute read  Published 11:20 AM EDT, Mon March 31, 2025 Follow: Crime See your latest updates Kim Delaney on "General Hospital."   Todd Wawrychuk/ABC/Getty Images  CNN   —   Kim Delaney, best known for her roles in”NYPD Blue” and “All My Children,” was arrested over the weekend, according to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Lt. Jose Salgado, watch commander at the Marina Del Rey Sheriff’s Station, said Delaney was arrested at her residence on Saturday on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.  She was still in custody as of Sunday evening is scheduled to be in court on Tuesday for arraignment, Salgado said. ... 

“I would argue that’s what Dan Caine has,” McKenzie said. “Is he going to be successful? I don’t know. I think it’s impossible to predict any w success because it is a uniquely difficult job.” ent, in a Friday night social media post, said that he had fired Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and other senior military leaders, and was appointing a retired three-star general as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." Caine with his father, Steve, in the early 1990s in Syracuse, New York. (U.S. Defense Department) https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/03/31/dan-caine-joint-chiefs-chairman/