Chelsea Donaldson
banner
overcookingmytoast.bsky.social
Chelsea Donaldson
@overcookingmytoast.bsky.social
lawyer, social worker, advocate, organizer. depresso with a shot of espresso.

serving those who served with @ctveteranslegal.bsky.social

opinions are home grown and personal.
I will never stop representing, advocating for, or shielding our trans sisters and brothers — no matter what the law of the land purports to be.

Call me radical, but I think we should honor our promise to the people who served by taking care of their burdens when they come home.
VA rescinds transgender veterans' health guidance as department denies policy change
In an internal VA memo seen by NPR, the VA says it's rescinding a directive that contains detailed guidance on the kind of care transgender veterans can receive at VA facilities.
www.npr.org
March 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
This is extraordinarily dangerous behavior. I am shocked that this isn’t bigger news.
President Trump on Friday opened a third attack against a private law firm, restricting the business activities of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison just days after a federal judge ruled such measures appeared to violate the Constitution.
Trump Expands Attacks on Law Firms, Singling Out Paul, Weiss
Experts have warned that the president’s efforts threaten the ability of lawyers to do their jobs and private citizens to obtain legal counsel.
www.nytimes.com
March 15, 2025 at 2:32 PM
The federal government is snatching up legal permanent residents who are exercising their right to free speech.

We need Congress to do something about it - but instead, we have lawyers stepping up to do the work they should be doing.

Hard not to be exhausted 24/7 in the work, but here we are.
He's the highest ranking Democrat in the country! The arrest happened in his state!
Chuck Schumer has not commented on the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil
March 12, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
Secretary Collin's assertion that the VA's Office of Equity Assurance is "no longer needed" is, frankly, ludicrous.

🧵1/3
The Office That Investigates Disparities in Veterans’ Care Is Being “Liquidated”
The closure effectively hobbles the VA’s efforts to investigate and eliminate long-standing racial inequities that the department itself has acknowledged. “The consequences will be dire, wide-reaching...
www.propublica.org
March 12, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Data has shown that the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and the Dept. of Defense have a large racism and sexism problem.

For years, claims by Black veterans & survivors of MST have been denied at a far higher rate than white veterans or combat survivors.

The OEA serves a necessary function.
The Office That Investigates Disparities in Veterans’ Care Is Being “Liquidated”
The closure effectively hobbles the VA’s efforts to investigate and eliminate long-standing racial inequities that the department itself has acknowledged. “The consequences will be dire, wide-reaching...
www.propublica.org
March 12, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
Americans root for people who stand up for themselves, whether they do it in a newsletter, at a press conference, through an influencer, or on social media. But they won’t root for a pushover, just because he happens to be on TikTok. www.offmessage.net/p/democrats-...
Democrats Need A Battle Plan—And A War Room
They shouldn't "roll over and play dead"—they should understand what their advantages are, and seize them.
www.offmessage.net
February 28, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
Current and former federal workers: We’re here in D.C. sending out our signal 🚨

Contact us confidentially on Signal at 917-512-0201 or go to propublica.org/tips.
February 27, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
We are united: Connecticut Veterans Legal Center stands beside Trans service members and Veterans without exception. 🗽🏳️‍⚧️⚖️

Read more ⬇️
ctveteranslegal.org/cvlc-respond...
CVLC Responds to Transgender Service Ban - Connecticut Veterans Legal Center
CVLC Responds to Transgender Service Ban Learn more from The Connecticut Veterans Legal Center, providing free legal assistance to help them overcome legal barriers to housing, healthcare, income, and...
ctveteranslegal.org
February 28, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Authoritarian regimes have often relied on tactics of snitching on your own neighbors and loved ones.

Malicious compliance at its best, in these replies.
Hey everyone -- Moms of Liberty and Dept of Education launched a snitch line portal today to rat out teachers and anyone promoting anything DEI.

FLOOD THE PORTAL

Spam the hell out of it.

Pass it on! It works!

enddei.ed.gov
February 28, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
BREAKING: NASA's acting administrator Janet Petro says Elon Musk's DOGE is planning to examine the space agency's spending.

Musk’s company SpaceX has $15 billion in NASA contracts.
February 13, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
Not enough attn to this. Main Justice ordered New York office (SDNY) to drop the charges agst Eric Adams on Monday. Most - me included - thought that meant it was done. Already happened. But as of right now no one has filed a motion to drop the charges. We're going on three days later.
February 12, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Very large mystery where this policy is coming from.
President Trump on Friday ordered that all foreign assistance to South Africa be halted and said his administration would prioritize the resettling of white, "Afrikaner refugees" into the U.S. because of what he called actions by the country’s government that "racially disfavored landowners."
Trump Orders Halt to Aid to South Africa, Claiming Mistreatment of White Landowners
The president ordered that all foreign assistance to South Africa be halted and said his administration would prioritize the resettling of white, “Afrikaner refugees” into the United States.
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
Farmers are reporting that millions of dollars they were promised by the U.S. Agriculture Department is missing.

The Trump administration promised that a federal funding freeze would not apply to projects directly benefiting individuals.

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Farmers on the hook for millions after Trump freezes USDA funds
The White House had repeatedly said the funding freeze would not impact benefits that go directly to individuals.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 10, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
One was fired by email at 12:47 a.m. Another wept as security escorted her from the office. A third frantically tried to fill a prescription after she got a 24-hour notice that her health care was ending. These workers are grappling with the Trump administration’s war on the federal bureaucracy.
Federal Workers Grapple With Trump’s War on Bureaucracy
One thing lost in the Trump administration’s war on the federal bureaucracy is the collective voice of the employees. But some have begun to speak out.
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
Kendrick Lamar's Superbowl performance is why funding arts and humanities matters. We have Kendrick because his teacher introduced him to poetry and writing.
February 10, 2025 at 5:13 AM
A protester unfurled a combined Palestinian and Sudanese flag on the field during Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime performance. The NFL said in a statement that the person was part of the 400-member field cast. nyti.ms/4186HWs
February 10, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Tom Robbins was one of the first books recommended to me by a beloved English teacher in high school. It changed my perspective on what good writing could be - funny, and not boring and hopelessly dry. I still have that book.
February 10, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
From the NCAA to hospitals and universities, “preemptive obedience” is the new norm when it comes to Trump's illegal anti-trans order.

@sarahszilagy.bsky.social reports:
Why are institutions bowing to Trump's illegal anti-trans orders?
From the NCAA to hospitals and universities, “preemptive obedience” is the new norm.
www.motherjones.com
February 10, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Resistance in the face of totalitarianism can take many forms, but giving up isn't one of them.

Folks are fighting, daily, to make sure people are safe. Our leaders need to do the same.
"What leverage do we have?" says Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. "They control the House, the Senate and the presidency; it's their government."
February 10, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
gritty has seized control of the federal government
February 10, 2025 at 3:31 AM
I about lost it at this exact moment.

#superbowllix
February 10, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Trans rights are human rights.

Connecticut is leading in protection folks who need it the most.
February 6, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Chelsea Donaldson
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Bureau of Prisons from enacting President Trump’s executive order to house transgender women with male inmates and stop medical treatment related to gender transitions.
Judge Blocks Trump Effort to Move Trans Women to Men’s Prisons
A temporary restraining order blocked the administration from transferring transgender women and from ending gender-transition treatment for prisoners.
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Beyond parody.
"Right here, on Rolling Stones"
February 5, 2025 at 7:48 PM
The WH claims it wants to protect women from "gender identity extremism," yet the Department of Defense is pausing all SAPR training which will... protect women?

Right.
U.S. Navy has paused all Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) training, per Navy memo leaked to me
February 5, 2025 at 7:45 PM