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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Aug 7

Some ~professional news~

After 10 years with NBC, I’ll be joining @msnbc.com next month as a reporter covering all things Washington, Trump administration, + politics

HUGE thanks to @sudeepreddy.bsky.social for the opportunity — excited for this new adventure. www.thewrap.com/msnbc-new-hi...

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Aug 5

NEW: OPM is officially ending the Musk-led "5 things" weekly email requirement for federal employees

OPM Dir. Scott Kupor: "We communicated w/ agency HR leads that OPM was no longer going to manage the 5 things process nor utilize it internally"

+ adds managers have other tools to stay informed

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Reposted by Julia Jester

Verified Account Tracker @verified.pds.mmatt.net · May 23

✅ @julesjester.bsky.social has been verified by @nbcnews.com.

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · May 21

A senior White House official calls Shaheen's letter "pointless."

"SGEs are already required to abide by executive branch ethics rules including the rules relating to misuse of position or other government resources or information," the official told NBC News in a statement.

Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · May 21

Scooplet: In a letter first shared w/ @nbcnews.com, Sen. @shaheen.senate.gov urged President Trump to require Elon Musk + other special government employees involved in DOGE to sign a certification that they won't use nonpublic information to their benefit.

MORE: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · May 21

Scooplet: In a letter first shared w/ @nbcnews.com, Sen. @shaheen.senate.gov urged President Trump to require Elon Musk + other special government employees involved in DOGE to sign a certification that they won't use nonpublic information to their benefit.

MORE: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Apr 15

NEW: Jeremy Lewin – a DOGE associate & close ally of Elon Musk who was instrumental in dismantling USAID – is now serving as the Acting Director of Foreign Assistance at the State Department, a spox confirms. His appointment comes after Pete Marocco abruptly left the position.

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Apr 13

NEW: Pete Marocco, the key figure in dismantling USAID + U.S. foreign assistance, is OUT at the State Dept

Marocco “conducted that historic task” of conducting “an exhaustive review of every dollar spent on foreign assistance,” per a senior admin official in part to @nbcnews.com

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Apr 9

Hi bsky 👋🏻 I’m an @nbcnews.com journalist reporting on Elon Musk, #DOGE, government agencies + the federal workforce.

I’m looking for reporting tips, insights, + human impact stories. Reach out on Signal if you have any leads, intel, documents, &/or experiences that may be helpful to our reporting.

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Reposted by Julia Jester

Amanda Terkel @aterkel.bsky.social · Mar 20

Interesting anecdote about AOC's popularity and how even moderate Dems recognize how effective she is

www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Mar 20

National Transportation Safety Board concludes: if MDTA had conducted the vulnerability assessment recommended by AASHTO in both 1991 + 2009, “MDTA would have known the risk and could have taken action to safeguard the Key Bridge … Had they done that, the collapse could have been prevented” (4/x)

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Mar 20

MORE from Chair Homendy of NTSB, which is issuing 4 urgent safety recommendations to bridge owners across 19 states, the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, & U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a result of its investigation into the March 2024 Baltimore bridge collapse (3/4)

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Mar 20

NTSB Chair Homendy: Bridge's risk was 30x greater than threshold set by AASHTO

"What's frustrating is not only did MDTA fail to conduct the vulnerability assessment on the Key Bridge, they did not provide - nor were they able to provide - NTSB with the data needed to conduct the assessment" (2/4)

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Mar 20

NEW: ~A year after the Baltimore bridge collapse, the NTSB concludes "had the MDTA conducted a vulnerability assessment of the Key Bridge based on recent vessel traffic [it] would have been able to proactively identify strategies to reduce the risk of a collapse and loss of lives" (1/4)

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Reposted by Julia Jester

Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · Mar 19

Elon Musk has tweeted about impeaching judges more than a dozen times in the last 24 hours, per @julesjester.bsky.social

Dave Itzkoff @ditzkoff.bsky.social · Mar 19

when you're such a high-level genius that you think 60 is 2/3rds of 100

Elon Musk tweet: "This is a judicial coup.

We need 60 senators to impeach the judges and restore rule of the people."

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Mar 13

Not just affecting the nation's capital – from DC to TX to NC to OR to the Middle East: Pregnant federal employees who were fired grapple with stress of losing insurance and looking for work

Important reporting by @janetimm.bsky.social + @natashakorecki.bsky.social www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

Pregnant federal employees who were fired grapple with stress of losing insurance and looking for work

NBC News spoke with a half-dozen pregnant women who recently lost their jobs as part of the Trump administration's layoffs across the federal government.

www.nbcnews.com

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Mar 4

By the # s — since President Trump took office, at least 90 lawsuits have been filed against his administration

21 re: immigration
19 re: DOGE
18 re: impacts on govt employees
13 re: funding freezes
11 re: gender/equal rights
2 re: USAID
6 others (ex. DEI, CFPB)

h/t @garygrumbach.bsky.social

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Feb 24

House Oversight Ranking Member Gerry Connolly (D-VA): “Can you imagine if we privatized the postal service, how expensive a letter would be?”

He called #USPS the “one constant” during COVID: “The whole country understood how valuable you are.” + stressed its importance for rural communities

Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Feb 24

The National Association of Letter Carriers is rallying in DC against the dismantling + privatization of the U.S. Postal Service

NALC President Brian Renfroe calls the potential “illegal” takeover of the USPS “a direct attack” on 640K postal workers + every American who relies on its deliveries

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Feb 24

The National Association of Letter Carriers is rallying in DC against the dismantling + privatization of the U.S. Postal Service

NALC President Brian Renfroe calls the potential “illegal” takeover of the USPS “a direct attack” on 640K postal workers + every American who relies on its deliveries

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Feb 24

🫠 www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...

Redfin Report: A Minimum-Wage Worker Would Have to Work 106 Hours a Week to Afford the Typical U.S. Apartment

(NASDAQ: RDFN) —The average minimum-wage earner in the U.S. would have to work 106 hours per week to afford the $1,599 median-priced apartment. That’s

www.businesswire.com

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Feb 7

Currently: Letter by letter, crews remove the "U.S. Agency for International Development" signage from its HQ — a striking visual of the abrupt dismantling of USAID, which was est. by JFK in 1961 & delivered humanitarian aid around the world for decades (a small fraction will be folded into State)

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Feb 6

no more news pls

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Feb 5

Happening now: Hundreds of protesters rally outside of the Capitol in support of #USAID + its staffers, nearly all of which have been placed on admin leave as President Trump / Elon Musk dismantle the international aid + development agency. @nbcnews.com

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Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Feb 4

Senators on USAID: "Mass personnel furloughs of dubious legality & abrupt, blanket stop-work orders w/o regard to relevant appropriations laws are causing immediate harm to US nat'l security, placing US citizens at risk, disrupting life-saving work & breaking the US govt's contractual obligations.."

Julia Jester @julesjester.bsky.social · Feb 4

NEW: 38 Democratic senators - led by Kaine - send Secretary of State Rubio a letter seeking answers re: Trump admin's "brazen & illegal attempts to destroy" USAID

Dems NOT signing on:

Cantwell + Murray (WA)
Hassan + Shaheen (NH)
Alsobrooks (MD)
Fetterman (PA)
Lujan (NM)
Ossoff (GA)
Schumer (NY)

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Reposted by Julia Jester

Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur.bsky.social · Feb 3

Rep. Jamie Raskin notes that the entire US foreign aid budget is ~$40 billion. "We have a Pentagon budget of $900 billion. The Pentagon budget is where the defense contractor Elon Musk—who became the richest man in the world off of our money—he collects his payments from."

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