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Reposted by Merici

Chris Kuang @chriskuang.com · Sep 6

We are worse off, by far, without Direct File. Just look at the metrics!

I'm proud to know @merici.bsky.social and @cmgiven.bsky.social; thanks @mattbracken.bsky.social for covering.

fedscoop.com/direct-file-...

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Aug 6

The real work: building a gov that operates with the same user-centric, technology-strategic approach that made DF successful, but at an agency-wide scale.

The first rule of gov transformation: there are a lot of rules. And there should be-ish. We don't need to wait for permission to rewrite them.

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Aug 6

While Direct File accomplished a lot of things, it didn't change the institutions it touched.

Yes, we proved excellent digital experiences are possible. Yes, we achieved satisfaction rates higher than Netflix. But we also learned that brilliant products alone don't change institutions.

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Aug 6

I gave a talk at the @codeforamerica.org summit about what we learned building Direct File and why it should be the bare minimum standard for gov services, not some miraculous exception.

And the product model approach shouldn’t just be for product teams, but all teams.

fas.org/publication/...

Direct File Is the Floor, Not the Ceiling

"The first rule of government transformation is: there are a lot of rules. And there should be-ish. But we don't need to wait for permission to rewrite them. Let's go fix and build some things and sho...

fas.org

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Aug 6

The pro-cancer lobby rn 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥳🍾🎉😘💋💋💋

Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · Aug 6

He is a monster.

This is so beyond cruel.

Kennedy to halt $500 million in vaccine projects

The move ends investments in projects involving mRNA technology.

www.politico.com

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Aug 6

The pro cancer lobby has gotta be 🥰

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Amadi Lovelace @amaditalks.bsky.social · Aug 5

This administration just dropped the CFPB case against the Navy Federal Credit Union which defrauded our servicemembers to the tune of $95 million in illegal overdraft fees.

The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · Aug 4

Exclusive: The White House is preparing to step up pressure against big banks over perceived discrimination against conservatives and crypto companies with an executive order.

Exclusive | White House Preps Order to Punish Banks That Discriminate Against Conservatives

The president is expected to sign an executive order as soon as this week that targets so-called debanking of businesses including crypto companies.

on.wsj.com

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PBS News @pbsnews.org · Aug 4

The State Department is proposing requiring applicants for business and tourist visas to post a bond of up to $15,000 to enter the United States, a move that may make the process unaffordable for many.

U.S. may require visa applicants to post bond up to $15,000 to enter country

The State Department is proposing requiring applicants for business and tourist visas to post a bond of up to $15,000 to apply to enter the United States.

buff.ly

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jul 29

WIRED reported that DOGE decided to kill Direct File after a single meeting with lobbyists.

www.wired.com/story/doge-d...

DOGE Put Free Tax Filing Tool on Chopping Block After One Meeting With Lobbyists

A key operative from DOGE initiated plans to potentially kill Direct File, the free tax filing tool developed by the IRS, after offering assurances it would be spared from cuts.

www.wired.com

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jul 29

The IRS Commissioner confirms what we’ve known for months: Direct File is dead. After initial signals of interest from DOGE, turns out they aren’t actually interested in modern, efficient services that ppl love & the Trump admin finally admits it

news.bloombergtax.com/financial-ac...

IRS Chief Says Direct File Is ‘Gone,’ Other Audit Tech Is Coming

The Biden-era IRS free filing tool, Direct File, is “gone,” IRS Commissioner Billy Long said.

news.bloombergtax.com

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jul 24

‪6000 trucks are loaded and ready to deliver food. But are blocked by Israel, with the US and UK watching passively on the sidelines ‬

‪https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c0k77xm651jt‬

Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jul 24

Hospitals have no food for patients

news.sky.com/story/inside...

Inside Gaza's Nasser Hospital - where there's virtually no food for malnourished children

Huda, 12, is a patient at Nasser Hospital. But with almost no food left, medics are struggling to treat the children and toddlers.

news.sky.com

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jul 24

If starving children won’t move you to action, what about journalists?

apple.news/AUEoyDFk_TgS...

Journalists In Gaza Are Documenting Their Own Starvation — TIME

As hunger tightens its grip on Gaza, local journalists documenting the crisis are now starving alongside the people they cover.

apple.news

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jul 24

A fifth of the children in Gaza City are malnourished and 100 people, most of them youngsters, have died of hunger the UN reports

news.sky.com/story/people...

People in Gaza are 'walking corpses' - with one in five children malnourished, says UN

Most of the youngsters the UN sees are "emaciated, weak and at high risk of dying if they don't get the treatment they urgently need", while the UNRWA's frontline health workers are surviving on "one ...

news.sky.com

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jul 24

I cannot believe that the dems, dnc, and most electeds on every side are sitting on the sidelines as this happens.

I don’t know how you can ask for voters’ trust if you can’t work towards humanity here-

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jul 24

news.sky.com/story/inside...

Inside Gaza's Nasser Hospital - where there's virtually no food for malnourished children

Huda, 12, is a patient at Nasser Hospital. But with almost no food left, medics are struggling to treat the children and toddlers.

news.sky.com

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jul 15

New from me for @meidastouch.com - How Musk Monetized Government While Killing What Actually Works

www.meidasplus.com/p/how-musk-m...

How Musk Monetized Government While Killing What Actually Works

Guest article by Merici Vinton, former DOGE worker

www.meidasplus.com

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jul 4

The Guadeloupe River rose from seven feet at midnight in Hunt, Texas, to over 29 feet at 4 a.m, stranding campers and devastating RV Parks . www.nytimes.com/live/2025/07... via @NYTimes

Here is the latest.

www.nytimes.com

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jun 26

“Three Things in Trump’s Budget That Aren’t Getting Enough Attention”, with a Direct File shoutout.

@petebuttigieg.bsky.social you forgot to mention that Direct File is a huge hit with users-user satisfaction is higher than Netflix or Apple💥

Great read 👇

petebuttigieg.substack.com/p/three-thin...

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Alexis Goldstein @alexisgoldstein.bsky.social · Jun 24

➕! “We’d better listen to what voters are screaming in our faces,” says @alyssacass.bsky.social, “which is that they want real, authentic voices… leaders who bear no resemblance to the status quo & they want people who are fighting on the issues that are close to them”

on.ft.com/44qUwFX

FINANCIAL TIMES headline:
Andrew Cuomo vs Zohran
Mamdani: New York mayoral race showcases
Democratic party rift
Former governor and 33-year-old progressive represent two poles of the party
Andrew Cuomo, left, and Zohran Mamdani are duelling in

FINANCIAL TIMES
Alyssa Cass, a Democratic strategist, said the message of Mamdani's popularity has lessons for Democrats across the country.

"We'd better listen to what voters are screaming in our faces, which is that they want real, authentic voices, they want leaders who bear no resemblance to the status quo and they want people who are fighting on the issues that are close to them, not those that are dear to the elite intelligentsia."

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Micah @rincewind.run · Jun 22

the political lesson everyone should take from Iraq is that you will regret being in favor of this sooner or later and the earlier you were against it the better off you’ll be

ignore the media frenzy and stake your position now, it’s the right thing to do and it’s the ambitious thing to do too

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Brian Beutler @brianbeutler.bsky.social · Jun 22

Will the Dem leaders and frontline members be “popularist” (join the large majority in opposition to war) or will they fold in the face of Republican bluster (which would tell us a lot about the role popularism actually plays in Dem politics)? www.offmessage.net/p/18-thought...

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Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · Jun 22

And as Trump’s poll numbers are in the toilet - never forget.

Trump tweet from 2012 saying “Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin - watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.”

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Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jun 22

😭😭🤮

Merici @merici.bsky.social · Jun 22

A reminder - only the President has the sole authority to order a nuclear strike, even if every adviser in the room is against it.

By @mknight.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...

Opinion | Only one American can start a nuclear war: The president

The American president has the sole authority to order a nuclear strike, even if every adviser in the room is against it.

www.washingtonpost.com

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