3 Down, 12 to Go

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When Donald Trump began his second term in the White House, there were fifteen original heads of executive departments like State, Defense and Treasury. There were seven additional cabinet-rank officials. Of the fifteen, Trump has fired three.

Trump’s first term saw a revolving door of cabinet-level officials. A newcomer to the Washington bureaucracy, Trump took advice from Republican insiders and appointed several department heads who had some experience in government. They stupidly put their oath to uphold the law and Constitution ahead of their loyalty to Trump. The Donald was not going to make that mistake again.

The second time around Trump followed the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 gameplan closely. That’s the plan he swore he had never heard of during the election campaign. The plan mapped the transition of the American government into an authoritarian regime managed for the benefit of the moneyed elite, the billionaire class. The plan dictated that Trump install loyalists in these positions. That he did, putting into positions of power a motely group of the least qualified people ever entrusted to run the government of the United States.

Trump did not fire the three cabinet officers because of their incompetence. He fired them because they made him look bad.

Noem No More

Kristi Noem, Homeland Security secretary, was the first Trump cabinet secretary to walk the plank. Noem previously served at the governor of South Dakota and a member of the House of Representatives. She did have some experience in cybersecurity and state disaster management, but nothing at the national level.

The Republican controlled Congress showered Noem with money designed to turn the agency onto a super federal police force dedicated primarily to the mass deportation of immigrants. The scale was extraordinary. The reconciliation funding alone was nearly nine times DHS’s FY2024 budget. The list of Noem’s abuses of authority is long and cases suing her and the department are pending in scores of lawsuits from Los Angeles to Chicago to Minneapolis, all cities which her hastily hired and poorly training agents invaded and attacked people indiscriminately. In Minneapolis, two American citizens were killed by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol, both agencies reporting to Noem.

Noem also had a taste for luxury travel. In 2025, the Coast Guard (under DHS) signed a $172 million contract for two long-range Gulfstream G700 jets, marketed as having the “most spacious cabin in the industry.” DHS said the purchase was for safety reasons, noting the existing jet Noem used was over 20 years old and beyond operational limits. The jets were intended for official travel by Noem, the deputy secretary, Coast Guard commandant, and other top DHS officials.

Noem had intended to purchase a Boeing 737 Max 8 for personal and official travel. The plane was originally leased by her and her aide/Corey Lewandowski for domestic trips, including high-profile deportation missions, and also for Cabinet-level travel. It was equipped with a queen-size bed, showers, a kitchen, four flat-screen TVs, and a cocktail bar. ICE had initially bought it before Noem’s ouster, but after she was fired the White House took control of the purchase. The administration decided to keep the jet and make it available to Melania Trump and other cabinet secretaries.

Many of these excesses would be caught by the department’s Inspector General. But Trump learned his lesson about the IGs during his first term. In January 2025, Trump terminated at least 17 IGs at once via email, citing “changing priorities”. These officials, meant to be independent watchdogs over federal agencies, were widely described as part of a “purge,” with many removals occurring without the required 30-day notice to Congress. 

None of that had much to do with Trump’s decision to fire Noem. Trump fired Noem, a staunch loyalist, for violating the only rule the Trump administration cares about. The rule that says you don’t show up the boss.

In the end, it wasn’t the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis that cost Noem her job. Nor was it her immediate reaction to prematurely paint both the mom-of-three and the veterans’ nurse as wannabe terrorists and aspiring cop killers. It wasn’t the sexual relationship she allegedly had with Lewandowski (both are married and have denied the relationship), the exorbitant spending on executive jets, or the public messaging from her agency which was riddled with White nationalist dog whistles and error-prone descriptions of immigrants.

Before cameras and a packed audience at a Congressional hearing called to ask Noem how she was spending the money they had appropriated, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana asked a series of questions about the $220 million ad campaign Noem has executed, mostly for television ads featuring herself, and how that squared with Noem’s stated promise to root out waste from her agency. Kennedy had to ask more than once whether Trump approved that spending spree before Noem provided a direct answer: “Mmhmm, yes.”

That response, it turned out, was the embattled Cabinet secretary’s final straw. Kennedy got a call from Trump later that evening. The president, Kennedy told CNN, “Was pissed. Her version and the president’s version of whether the president, A) was informed and B) consented are decidedly different,” Kennedy said. (Trump told NBC News that he hadn’t known about the advertising campaign. “I wasn’t thrilled with it,” he said.)

Bye Bye, Bondi

Attorney General Pam Bondi was the next to bite the dust. Bondi, who had been one of Trump’s personal lawyers and the Attorney General of Florida, turned the Department of Justice into the primary instrument of Trump’s revenge on political opponents. She fired career attorneys who had worked on investigations into Trump during the Biden administration. And she allowed FBI Director Kash Patel to fire FBI agents who had worked on those investigations. These people are nonpartisans who are assigned by the top political officers. They are not in a position to pick and choose their cases. She also turned traditionally nonpartisan employees, including assistant U.S. Attorneys, Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), and the Office of the Pardon Attorney into political hacks.

But that is not why Trump fired her. Pam Bondi was fired by President Trump due to dissatisfaction with her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and perceived underperformance in pursuing investigations against his political adversaries. In other words, she didn’t cover-up enough, and her efforts to deliver of his promise of retribution against his perceived enemies fell short. Trump cannot understand why some lawyers and many judges take seriously their oath to uphold the law and the Constitution. Bondi was a true believer and completely loyal to her liege lord. But she couldn’t bend everyone in the judicial system to her will.

Lori Leaves

Trump’s labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, appears to have left after a misconduct investigation, not simply for routine political reasons. Reports say the probe involved allegations of misconduct and possible abuse of power, including claims that led to senior staff being placed on leave or resigning.

One account says she had been under a watchdog probe, senior staff were placed on leave or quit, and her schedule was increasingly disrupted because the controversy had made her politically toxic. There were also related allegations involving her husband, which added to the turmoil around the department.

Chavez-DeRemer’s resignation was not announced by President Trump, unlike the other recent Cabinet firings, but by White House communications director Steven Cheung on social media. The moral here is don’t create a scandal that takes the focus off the president or he won’t know you. The White House framed her exit as a move to a private-sector role.

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13 Hours and $240 Later

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Did you file your tax return? Are you getting a refund or do you owe money? Did you fill out the form yourself? Did you use tax software? Did you hire an accountant?

Each year we spend an average of $240 to prepare and file our annual tax returns, according to the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service. We spend on average thirteen hours filling out the forms. People in other countries think we’re nuts.

While the U.S. requires taxpayers calculate their own liability, in approximately 36 countries the government provides a pre-filled statement of income and tax due based on third-party data.

How do other countries do it?

Denmark, Norway, and Sweden use Tax Agency Reconciliation: In this system, the tax authority generates a fully completed return. Citizens simply review it online and click “confirm” if they agree or submit amendments if they have additional deductions or income. The process can take as little as fifteen minutes and cost taxpayers nothing.

The United Kingdom and Japan use Exact Withholding: The system aims to withhold the exact amount of tax from paychecks throughout the year. For many salaried workers, this eliminates the need to file a year-end return entirely.

In Australia and France, the process is called Partial Pre-filling: The government fills in common data like salary and bank interest, but the taxpayer must still add more complex information manually.

Why doesn’t the United States use one of these methods?

Tax Code Complexity: The U.S. tax code is heavily reliant on individual-specific deductions and credits (like dependents or business expenses) that the IRS cannot easily predict without taxpayer input.

Reporting Lag: The IRS often doesn’t receive third-party W-2 and 1099 data until mid-year, long after the April filing deadline has passed.

Industry Lobbying: The multi-billion-dollar tax prep industry has historically lobbied against government-run filing tools to protect their market share.

The first item can be solved with a simplification of the U.S. Tax Code, which runs a whopping 6,871 pages (more than 75,000 if you add the IRS regulations, a 14-week reading assignment). The complexity of the code reeks of special provisions designed to serve special interests. It is why the average taxpayer believes, with justification, that the tax code is rigged against them and in favor of the rich and powerful individuals and corporations. See Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt) Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act.

The second item can also be handled with changes to IRS procedures. Already, third-party data must be filed with the IRS before the tax filing deadline. There are penalties if they are not. These penalties, which are money fines, can be raised and enforcement diligently applied. The late filings will undoubtedly be greatly reduced.

And then we come to the third item on my list. Like everything else in the good old U S of A, industry lobbying is the juggernaut elected officials at all levels of government, in desperate need of money to finance their elections, cannot resist.

For the 2026 tax filing season, the IRS expects to receive approximately 164 million individual income tax returns. Filing trends show a nearly even split between those who self-prepare using digital tools and those who hire professional assistance.

As of March 27, 2026, filing broke down like this:

2026 Count% Change from 2025
Total Returns Received88,424,000-1.3%
Returns from Tax Pros45,854,000-1.1%
Self-Prepared Returns41,017,000+1.4%
Average Refund Amount$3,521+11.1%

The DYI Market

The do-it-yourself tax preparation landscape is primarily divided among a few major players:

  • Intuit (TurboTax): Dominates with 60% of the market.
    • While its overall unit count for lower-revenue filers declined by 2% in 2025, its total consumer revenue grew by 10% ($4.9 billion) as it successfully pivoted toward higher-income filers and more complex returns.
  • H&R Block: Holds the second-largest position in the digital space.
    • In the broader digital and accounting landscape, H&R Block often competes head-to-head for visibility, capturing a 35.8% click share in paid search (PPC) compared to TurboTax’s 32.17%.
  • FreeTaxUSA: Emerged as a significant challenger for budget-conscious filers, capturing roughly 14.5% of recent search interest.

Lobbying Surge and Industry Influence

Now… look at the lobbying by tax providers:

  • Record Spending: In 2025, Intuit (TurboTax) and H&R Block spent a combined $7.1 million on federal lobbying—the highest annual total on record for these two firms.
  • Long-term Investment: Since 2003, these companies have invested more than $103 million in federal lobbying, frequently targeting efforts to prevent the IRS from developing its own tax preparation software.
  • Political Contributions: Intuit alone contributed $1 million to President Trump’s inaugural committee and distributed approximately $1.8 million to Republican members of Congress in 2024 to solidify opposition to free government filing.
  • Revolving Door Strategy: Nearly 70% of Intuit’s 84 lobbyists in 2025 were former government employees, many of whom previously served on key tax-writing committees in Congress.

The Death of Direct File

The IRS did have a pilot program to allow taxpayers to file returns directly with an online site. It was called Direct File. The Biden administration pushed for it, fighting against industry lobbying. It served 141,000 taxpayers with virtually no promotion in 2024. The Trump administration killed it.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury cited high operational costs ($138 per return in the pilot year) and limited participation as the primary reasons for shuttering the program. Despite the “limited use” claim, participation actually doubled from approximately 141,000 users in 2024 to nearly 300,000 users in 2025 before the program was cut. The Trump administration’s explanation was like any of the other lies to come out of this pay-as-you-go administration.

Intuit and H&R Block stocks soared on the news.

Think about the cost in time and money the next time you vote.

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Artemis II

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I held off on this. Didn’t want to jinx it. Now that the Artemis II crew is back, safe and sound after a near perfect mission, I can write about the thrill once again of seeing humans reach the moon for the first time in 53 years. With all the divisiveness and strife of today’s world, it is nice, even if just for a moment, to reflect that somethings can still be achieved in the name of all mankind.

I still remember asking my parents for permission to stay home and the watch the flight of the first living thing America sent into space. It was 1961. The passenger inside the Mercury capsule was Ham, a chimpanzee. I was in grade school. Ham paved the route. Alen Shappard followed. Eight years later Apollo 11 landed on the moon.

Eight years from first flight to the moon landing in 1969. Fifty-three years from the sixth and last moon landing, Apollo 17 in 1972, to Artemis II. How did we get so distracted, and jaded, and why did we take so long?

Those were the questions in my mind as I watched the splashdown in the Pacific off the coast of San Diego. And listened to the mostly mediocre coverage from the television networks. I thought of Walter Cronkite, Frank McGee, Roy Neal, and Jules Bergman. They had gravitas. This time around the reporters hadn’t even bothered to read the history, and they wouldn’t shut up.

Of course, they were not even born when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon. I suppose they should be forgiven their ignorance. But it is hard to forgive their lack of homework.

If you follow this column, you know I frequently write about space. I’ve even published here what is thought to be the best-known photograph ever taken, the “Earthrise” photo, earth in color, taken by astronaut William Anders on the Apollo 8 mission. Apollo 8 went into lunar orbit but did not land. A copy of that photograph has hung in my office for decades.

Artemis II Commander Reis Wiseman paid homage to that historic picture with what is now being called, “Earthset.” Captured on April 6, 2026, at 6:41 p.m. EDT, the image shows a crescent Earth slipping behind the rugged lunar horizon as the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, flew over the Moon’s far side.

On the same day the Artemis II crew captured a historic total solar eclipse from a unique vantage point on the far side of the Moon. This event, lasting nearly 54 minutes, provided a perspective never before witnessed by humans, showing the Moon as a dark orb fully obscuring the Sun while revealing the solar corona and several distant planets. These are the awe-inspiring photos reproduced above.

Donald Trump made the traditional presidential call to the crew. There is an irony here. Richard Nixon, a Republican got to talk to the Apollo 11 crew after the first moon landing even though the entire program had been championed by Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, Democrats. Nixon cancelled the last three Apollo flights.

Trump told the Artemis II crew, “Today, you’ve made history and made all America really proud”. He emphasized that the mission was a precursor to a permanent lunar presence, saying, “We’ll plant our flag once again… we’ll establish a permanent presence on the moon”.

Empty words in my book. Trump’s FY 2027 budget request proposes a 23% decrease in NASA’s overall funding, reducing it to $18.8 billion from its current level of $24.4 billion. Despite overall cuts, funding specifically for the Artemis moon missions would increase by nearly 10% to $8.5 billion. This is intended to fully fund lunar landers, spacesuits, and transportation to ensure astronauts return to the surface by 2028.

But the “Science Mission Directorate” faces a 47% cut, dropping from $7.25 billion to $3.9 billion. This would likely lead to the termination of over 40 missions, including those focused on Earth observation, climate research, and astrophysics. No need for those egghead scientists to continue to explore the cosmos. Or to use NASA’s unique ability to look down on the earth and monitor what we are doing to the environment, a topic Trump calls a “hoax.” Endangered projects include a follow on to the fantastic space telescopes and the mission to pick up and bring back to earth soil samples still being collected by the amazing Perseverance Rover, searching for signs of ancient microbial life since landing on Mars in 2020.

This request mirrors a similar proposal for the 2026 fiscal year that was soundly rejected by Congress, which ultimately restored NASA’s funding to roughly $24.4 billion. Space advocates, including The Planetary Society, have labeled the new 2027 proposal an “extinction-level event” for space science. The final budget will be determined by Congress later this year.

I wonder if Trump realized the hypocrisy of his conversation with the astronauts. I also wonder if he realized the crew included a woman, an African American, and a Canadian. Just the kind of diversity he decries as “woke” and undesirable.

There appears to be something about viewing the entire earth with one’s own eyes that changes a person. Earth, with all its people, seems so small and insignificant. Ruth Graham of The New York Times writes about the philosophical and theological aspects of that impact. She quotes from the Book of Psalms, the Greek astronomer Ptolemy, theologian Andrew Davison of the University of Oxford, and actor William Shatner, Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, among others.

My thoughts on this subject turn to Carl Sagan’s novel Contact. The alien making first contact with a human tells our protagonist, Eleanor Arroway, that humans are newcomers and technologically backward, yet promising, often referencing the vastness of the universe to put humanity in perspective. In his screenplay for the film (Contact, 1997), three different characters ask the same question, “Are we alone?” Three other characters give the same answer, “The universe is a pretty big place. It’s bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before. So, if it’s just us… seems like an awful waste of space.”

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Let’s See…..

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Let’s see if I have this straight.

Donald Trump set a deadline of 8pm April 7 for Iran to stop attacking ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Over the Easter weekend, Trump posted an obscene threat to Iran promising Iranians will be “living in hell” if they do not comply by the deadline. On the morning of April 7, Trump posted another threat, promising, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

A little more than an hour before the deadline, with some reports saying that long-range bombers were already enroute to the Middle East from their bases in the United States, Trump announced an agreement for a two-week ceasefire.

Trump and his supporters see this as an example of superior deal-making. Keep your opponent under pressure and uncertain of your next step.

Critics see it as just another example of what they call Trump’s TACO tendency, as in, “Trump Always Chickens Out.”

The whiplash alone will kill us.

Trump justified his attack on Iran with the claim that the country was very close to having a nuclear warhead and the missiles to deliver it. Nothing has been released to back up that claim. Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman have reported in The New York Times details about Trump’s decision-making process. They say their information comes from reporting for their forthcoming book, “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.” The article indicates there was considerable skepticism from most of Trump’s national security staff about the decision. Strong support came only from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Hegseth has argued that the sole purpose of the military is “lethality,” specifically, the efficient killing of enemies to break their will. Hegseth has also characterized the conflict with Iran as a religious battle.

There is no mention of these arguments in Trump’s post announcing the cease fire. There is a reference to the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz….” From that it is clear Trump’s mind is now focused on the price of gasoline, soaring to well over four dollars a gallon on average and as high as five dollars a gallon in some parts of the United States.

It is the price at the pump that will have the greatest impact on voters in November. Trump clearly fears he and his Republican enablers will suffer. History says he will be right. So now, and only now, the closing of the shipping lane which transports twenty percent of the world’s energy supply is of concern. Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security advisor to President Barak Obama, observes that Trump’s newly announced deal is a move to “reopen a Strait that was open before the pointless war he started”.

It is not clear that Trump’s two-week cease fire has even accomplished that goal. Iran’s response, which Trump himself posted, says “safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations.

Those “technical limitations” appear to include forcing ships to travel within Iran’s territorial waters and reportedly will include the payment of a toll to Iran. Trump has stated that perhaps the answer is for the United States and Iran to share that toll for passage.

In any event, Iran has kept the Strait closed, claiming it predicated opening the Strait on Israel ending its military action in Lebanon. Trump has denied any such promise was even discussed, let alone part of the agreement.

More negotiations are planned.

The Strait of Hormuz is not like the Suez Canal, or the Erie Canal, or the St. Lawrence Seaway. Those are manmade structures located completely within a sovereign nation. The Strait of Hormuz is a natural waterway, connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. It is bordered not only by Iran, but also by Oman and the United Arab Emirates. As such it is an international waterway. There is an established route in its center. No tolls are charged and interfering with the right of passage violates international law.

Not that Iran cares about any of that. As for Trump, he has admitted that he “goes with his gut.” He doesn’t take advice because he believes he is always the smartest person in the room. He also knows or cares little about history or he would know Iran has blocked or threatened to block the Strait many times before. Only now, with his MAGA acolytes screaming to their congressmen, is he paying attention.

Who benefits from Trump’s actions? Believe it or not, Iran and Russia. In an attempt to push gas prices down, Trump is temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian oil that is currently at sea, allowing it to be shipped to buyers around the world. The sanctions were designed to pressure Russia into ending its military campaign in Ukraine. Oil and gas exports are Russia’s primary source of revenue. Russian will rake in the profits, which it will use to further the war it is fighting with Ukraine.

As incredible as that seems, for his next act Trump waived sanctions on Iranian oil purchases at sea for 30 days. This will pour hundreds of millions of dollars into Iran’s treasury. Which they can use to buy and build more missiles, drones, and bombs to fire on America soldiers and bases in the region. And, naturally, at Israel. All to ease surging oil prices in the US.

You can’t make this stuff up.

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Mad as Hell

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I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore. Great line from a great movie (Network, 1976) and a line which perfectly matches my mood.

I am sick and tired of getting into a rage each day, sometimes more than once a day, because of something the monster in the White House has done. I am halfway through writing about one expression of outrage when another matter comes up, and I start all over again. I don’t know who I am most angry with. Donald Trump or the 77 million people who voted for him. I have spent the better part of a month not writing at all. And trying not to pay much attention to the news either.

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Where Were You?

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Some events you remember. I thought back, as I watched the men’s U.S. ice hockey team win the gold medal at the 2026 Milan–Cortina Olympics, to the last time the team won. I remember it well. It was the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, in an event known as the “Miracle on Ice.” The team secured the gold medal on February 24, 1980, after defeating Finland, having upset the Soviet Union two days before on February 22, 1980.

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Minneapolis, Minnesota

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The reason investigations are conducted before making a judgment is because no one knows all the facts in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy.

That didn’t stop Department of Homeland Security Director Kirsti Noem from announcing within hours of the killing of a then unknown woman in Minneapolis that the woman was a domestic terrorist and that the agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement had acted in self-defense after she ran him over with her car. The next day Vice President J.D. Vance displayed the fruits of his Yale law degree by proclaiming that the agent involved has “absolute immunity.” Vance also claimed, “She tried to stop him from doing his job. When he approached her car, she tried to hit him.”

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