Replace D.E.I. with a Humanitarian Code

February, 2025

Washington — The Trump administration is freezing funds, firing people, and cutting off institutions based on association with something called D.E.I., which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion.  But D.E.I.'s definition is slippery and is sowing confusion across the country not only in federal agencies, but in state and local governments, colleges and universities, non-profit organizations, and even contractors.  

Rather than trying to define D.E.I., it would be better to state clearly what organizations stand for.  That could be done in a simple code that comports with current law and would terminate any past associations, real or imagined. 

This would allow us to move forward rather than bicker and litigate endlessly about what D.E.I. was or was not.  Take note, party leaders and elected officials.

 Suggested code: 

 I.  In our organization, as a matter of policy, we base human resource and human development decisions on individual dignity and decency, not on a person's membership in any group defined by race, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, physical characteristics, or ancestry.  

II.  Our decisions are based on humanitarian ideals of improving individual lives and reducing suffering, as informed by moral and ethical codes of antiquity, such as the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, and of the Enlightenment, such as the Declaration of Independence, as well as many decades of American experience under the rule of law.  

III. Nothing in this code precludes geographical or economic classifications employed to improve individual lives, such as grants, tax preferences, and programs that may be targeted toward broad categories such as the Working Class, or consideration of individual circumstances that give rise to humanitarian action.

IV.  This code replaces any previous policies or administrative practices that could be interpreted otherwise.    

Nebraskans: Were You Born Yesterday?

February, 2025

Lincoln — On top of firing seventeen federal inspectors general in January, President Trump and his DOGE team have now moved to end much of the work of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES, an independent component of the Department of Education), and to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  

If the pronouncements of Nebraska's congressional delegation and top state elected officials are to be believed, my fellow Nebraskans are widely supportive of this "move-fast-and-break-things" approach to end federal fraud, waste, and abuse.  But is that support justified?

I worked at IES for over four years, 2001-2005.  I'll share my actual experiences working there, then revisit the question of what is going on with the Trump and DOGE purges.  My conclusions are much different from what Nebraskans are being told by their information sources and elected officials. 

As an independent researcher at IES, with a strong anti-fraud ethic, I wrote one of my first papers on the behavior of higher education institutions in response to federal student aid programs, to see if the programs were effective and that they were not being exploited.  I used IES's NPSAS database in a natural experiment methodology.  One of the findings was that schools too often put private loans into low and middle income students' financial aid packages, rather than federal Stafford loans with their better terms.  This was the era of close relations between schools and private lenders, often with kickbacks and favors.  I brought the findings to the attention of professional associations and consumer groups which worked to end the practices.  

Another finding from the paper was that Pell grants were being wastefully packaged by many schools in a way that undermined their intended benefits for the lower-income.   I circulated these findings within the academic research community; they have since been used to inform many subsequent papers.  

I would not have been able to do this work without the NPSAS database, which Trump has now targeted for elimination.  

In another research effort begun at IES, which wound up on the front page of the New York Times, I used financial statements and SEC filings of federal and state student loan secondary markets to identify a scheme to defraud the government of billions of dollars in illegal subsidies.  Among my first partners in this effort was the agency's inspector general.  I would not have been able to complete this research without the outstanding work of Patrick Howard, Helen Lew, and Howard Sorensen at the IG's office.

After the CFPB was created, its staff investigated one of these student loan entities with a history of fraud and abuse, discovering new schemes against veterans, borrowers in forbearance, and taxpayers. In 2024, CFPB debarred the company from further federal loan servicing contracts and required it to repay $120 million.*  

The point of recounting these examples is to illustrate how IES, NPSAS, CFPB, and the IGs fight fraud, waste, and abuse.

Why would anyone want them out of the way?  Would it be to make plundering the trillions in loan assets controlled by the Department of Education easier?   Well, yes.  Eliminating watchdogs and their tools is not about saving money, it's about paving the way for even greater exploitation of federal taxpayers. 

I can identify billions at the Department of Education that should be cut, but they won't be touched by Trump and DOGE because they are eyeing them for themselves and collaborators.  

Nebraskans: were you born yesterday?  If not, contact your elected officials and protest.   

_____________________________________

* Whether borrowers and taxpayers have actually received relief as of February, 2025, is not clear, because DOGE has frozen CFPB activities.  

Nebraska Oaths and the U.S. Constitution

February, 2025

Lincoln — If I were a public official in Nebraska, registered as a Republican, I'd be following events in Washington very closely in case any of President Trump's actions use force or violence to dismantle or replace the U.S. constitutional structure of checks and balances.  

This would be with an eye to an oath taken upon assuming office under Nebraska law:  

I, .........., do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Nebraska, against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or for purpose of evasion; and that I will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of the office of .......... according to law, and to the best of my ability. And I do further swear that I do not advocate, nor am I a member of any political party or organization that advocates the overthrow of the government of the United States or of this state by force or violence; and that during such time as I am in this position I will not advocate nor become a member of any political party or organization that advocates the overthrow of the government of the United States or of this state by force or violence. So help me God. [Emphasis added]

This past week we have witnessed several Trump actions that violate the rule of law, some of which have been stayed by federal judges. If those stays are violated by force or violence, such as preventing federal employees from protecting sensitive personal and national security databases, a line will have been crossed.  A legal review service provides this analysis: "In essence, dismantling or replacing the U.S. constitutional structure outside its prescribed legal mechanisms would likely be viewed as an overthrow of the government’s foundational framework."  

If we have a constitutional crisis, as seems inevitable, Republican elected officials in Nebraska (and in seven other states with similar laws) may want to change their registration to independent to indicate that they did not sign up for overthrow of this kind, and at the same time remove any question as to whether public actions taken in violation of their oaths are lawful.  

When I was a Nebraska state fiscal official, I took the above oath at least twice.  If I were still in office and my party registration raised doubts, I'd change it in a heartbeat to be faithful to my oath, or leave my position.  So help me God.

Dangerous Data Breaches Must be Stopped

February, 2025

Washington — Within the past few days, federal departments like Treasury and USAID have been coerced by individuals reporting to Elon Musk to divulge huge databases of financial, organizational, and personal information, previously considered to be protected from potential misuse.  Will the Department of Education's massive databases on student financial aid programs, including its $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio, be next?

If departmental inspectors general might have stood in the way of such colossal data breaches — likely the largest in history — they won't now, as they have been fired.

Can you imagine what could happen with a breach of FAFSA data? The information could be used to identify whole families for deportation.  

Can you imagine what could happen with the student loan portfolio?  Borrowers could be notified that their forbearances and deferrals are being ended.  Loan cancellations under Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Borrower Defense could be eliminated, via email.  The Secretary's powers of loan modifications under 20 U.S.C. 1082 could be applied viciously in the service of Musk's dubiously established Department of Government Efficiency.  Borrowers could be coerced into either paying up immediately or seeking a private lender to take over their loans, a move that would doubtless please those in the private loan business.  

A large data breach happened once before, at a cost of billions to federal taxpayers before it was finally shut down.  I recounted the occasion in a previous blog post at 

https://viewfromthreecapitals.blogspot.com/2022/02/loan-servicer-victims.html

The Senate will soon take up the nomination of Linda McMahon to be Secretary of Education.  At the top of the list of questions for her would be whether she will consent to these data breaches.  Of course, the breaches might happen before she is confirmed. 

A possible remedy for this would be a federal district court stay against DOGE access.  Another would be for Congress to exercise its power of the purse to cut off all funding for these dangerous misadventures.  The latter might be combined with a move by Congress to cut off all support for the misguided External Revenue Service and reassert congressional authority over tariffs and trade.  In a few days, citizens all over the country — especially from the heartland — may be reeling from both DOGE and tariffs, and start to demand congressional action.

_____________________________  

UPDATE:  Within a day after the above was posted, several news reports confirmed that DOGE has gained access to ED's student financial aid databases.  And in a development that will reverberate in the heartland, DOGE is cutting off payments to Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota, citing allegations that Lutherans are money-launderers, not a religious faith.  Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota: Musk has directly challenged you.  Will you stand up to his dangerous nonsense?  Same question for my Nebraska congressional delegation, as LSS of Nebraska was also cited by DOGE.