Weaponizing the Government

Originally published 10/17/2025

Trump's Shutdown, DOGE, and Starlink Are Dismantling the Republic

Today's Republicans don't just lie. They lie to your face while picking your pocket. They lie while gutting your government. They lie while stealing your data.

This isn't spin. This is theft in broad daylight. And they're betting you won't do a damn thing about it.

Our system runs on one assumption: that rules matter. That Congress votes. That oversight happens. That criminals face consequences. When that breaks Democracy dies. Not with a bang, but with a shutdown, a backdoor network, and a shrug.

A Shutdown Built to Kill

This shutdown isn't about budgets. It's arson.

Federal Judge Susan Illston caught them red-handed trying to fire 4,000 federal workers mid-shutdown. She called it what it was: politically motivated and illegal. ¹ Reuters confirmed they targeted offices that dared oppose Trump's agenda.²

At the CDC? 1,300 employees axed, including the people tracking diseases. ³ Housing offices? Gutted. Civil rights divisions? Destroyed.

This isn't reform. It's a hit job.

Stealing Your Money

They're not just firing people. They're stealing Congress's wallet.

The Office of Management and Budget illegally froze grants Congress already approved. ⁴ Courts called it what it is: a violation of the Impoundment Control Act. ⁵ The Government Accountability Office said it straight: You can't steal money Congress allocated. They did it anyway.

Trump tried withholding $34 million in anti-terror funding from New York's subway system. Why? Punishment for being a sanctuary city. A federal judge called it "arbitrary and capricious" and shut it down. ⁶ 

Then came the "reorganization," code for destroying Health and Human Services by decree. Courts blocked it for violating the Administrative Procedure Act. ⁷

128,000 government jobs eliminated. ⁸ Not streamlined. Eliminated. While you watched.

Stealing Your Data

The Department of Government Efficiency was supposed to cut waste. Instead, it became a data theft operation.

Whistleblowers say DOGE gave unvetted contractors access to Social Security and IRS databases . They didn't just look. ⁹ They copied Social Security data to unsecured cloud servers. ¹⁰ Lawmakers are investigating how the hell this happened. ¹¹

Your Social Security number. Your tax records. Stolen from secure government custody and dumped into private servers. No oversight. No accountability. No consequences.

Starlink: The Shadow Network

They built their own internet.

Whistleblowers found Starlink terminals on federal buildings, including the White House roof. Cybersecurity officers went ballistic. Fortune confirmed these terminals created unlogged data links to external servers. ¹²

Think about that. A private satellite network. On government buildings. Moving data with zero records. Zero oversight. Zero trace.

This is how you disappear evidence. This is how you move money. This is how you steal a country.

Encrypted and Erased

High-level officials are using Signal and WhatsApp for official business. The AP documented how encrypted apps are destroying government transparency. ¹³ Customs and Border Protection uses TeleMessage, which clones personal messages for "archiving." That’s a massive security breach waiting to happen. ¹⁴

Leaked government group chats exposed senior officials conducting operations on apps designed to leave no trace. ¹⁵

Every deleted message is evidence destroyed. Every encrypted chat is oversight evaded. Every private phone is democracy subverted.

The Con

Here's the game: Destroy the workforce. Steal the money. Hide the data. Kill the oversight. Then stand in the wreckage and declare government doesn't work—so hand it over to us.

They call it "efficiency." It's a coup with spreadsheets.

Fight Back or Lose Everything

• Demand congressional hearings on DOGE and Starlink. Now.
• Sue to enforce public records laws.
• Protect whistleblowers before they're silenced.
• Fund independent media before official channels go dark.
• Vote like democracy depends on it. Because it does.

This isn't politics. This is theft. This is sabotage. This is the systematic destruction of your government while they tell you it's for your own good.

They're counting on your exhaustion. Your distraction. Your surrender.

Prove them wrong.

© 2025 Gophergrad. All rights reserved.

Endnotes

1.  Har, Janie. “Judge Temporarily Blocks the Trump Administration from Firing Workers during the Government Shutdown.” AP News, AP News, 16 Oct. 2025, apnews.com/article/b312b3ca77cbdbc72e778ece3b2cbffc. 

2.  Wiessner, Daniel. “US Judge Blocks Trump’s Plan to Lay off Thousands of Government Workers | Reuters.” Reuters, 15 Oct. 2025, www.reuters.com/world/us-judge-says-she-will-likely-block-trumps-mass-layoffs-during-government-2025-10-15/. 

3.  Wiessner, Daniel. “US Judge Blocks Trump’s Plan to Lay off Thousands of Government Workers | Reuters.” Reuters, 15 Oct. 2025, www.reuters.com/world/us-judge-says-she-will-likely-block-trumps-mass-layoffs-during-government-2025-10-15/. 

4.  “2025 United States Federal Government Grant Pause.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Oct. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_United_States_federal_government_grant_pause. 

5.  “Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 July 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Budget_and_Impoundment_Control_Act_of_1974. 

6.  “Judge Blocks Trump Cuts, Restores $34 Million in Anti-Terror Funds for New York City Transit System.” AP News, AP News, 16 Oct. 2025, apnews.com/article/kristi-noem-counterterrorism-funding-nyc-subway-855b49e774808a85d5de240cd49ef142. 

7.  “2025 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Reorganization.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Aug. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_U.S._Department_of_Health_and_Human_Services_reorganization. 

8.  “2025 United States Federal Mass Layoffs.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Oct. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_United_States_federal_mass_layoffs. 

9.   Nazzaro, Miranda. “Doge Employees Uploaded Social Security Database to ‘vulnerable’ Cloud, Agency Whistleblower Says.” FedScoop, 26 Aug. 2025, www.fedscoop.com/doge-social-security-database-whistleblower-cloud-environment-data-vulnerabilities/. 

10.  Steakin, Will. ABC News, ABC News Network, 26 Aug. 2025, abcnews.go.com/US/whistleblower-complaint-alleges-doge-uploaded-social-security-numbers/story?id=124995870. 

11.  Miller, Maggie. “POLITICO PRO: Lawmakers Reviewing Whistleblower Finding That Doge Put Social Security Data at Risk.” Politicopro.Com, 26 Aug. 2025, subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/08/lawmakers-reviewing-whistleblower-finding-that-doge-put-social-security-data-at-risk-00527425. 

12.  Nolan, Beatrice. “Elon Musk’s Starlink Was Installed on the White House Roof-Dems Say It May ‘undermine National Security’ by Exposing Sensitive Data to Hackers.” Fortune, Fortune, 10 June 2025, fortune.com/2025/06/10/elon-musk-starlink-terminal-white-house-roof-security-risk/. 

13.  Masquelier-Page, Alice. “Encrypted Messaging Apps Promise Privacy. Government Transparency Is Often the Price.” The Associated Press, 24 Mar. 2025, www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/encrypted-messaging-apps-promise-privacy-government-transparency-is-often-the-price/. 

14.  Newman, Lily Hay. “Customs and Border Protection Confirms Its Use of Hacked Signal Clone TeleMessage.” Wired, Conde Nast, 7 May 2025, www.wired.com/story/cbp-confirms-telemessage-use/. 

15.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_group_chat_leaks

© 2025 Gophergrad. All rights reserved.