Jeff Bezos’s e-commerce giant Amazon said it will cut 16,000 roles across the organization in its latest round of layoffs.
The news was confirmed in a blog post on Wednesday by Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon. Corporate roles are those affected by the new cuts. Back in October, Amazon had cut 14,000 corporate roles. The layoffs are Amazon’s biggest since 2023, when the company cut 27,000 jobs.
The ostensible reason for the layoffs is that the Post, like many other newspapers, is losing money. But unlike other newspapers, the Post is also in the midst of a demoralizing destruction of its brand that has alienated hundreds of thousands of subscribers and left even its staff unsure of what the paper is trying to do, both journalistically and business-wise. “I’m increasingly finding it hard to justify the cuts from a journalistic perspective,” said one staffer. “Of course, financially, the Post is in a deep hole and I understand that. But some of that hole, if not a lot of it, is because of Jeff Bezos.”
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The Post was once known for its independent accountability journalism, dating back to the Pentagon Papers and Watergate and running all the way through to January 6. It was also once known for being the foremost authority on goings-on in the nation’s capital. Now it no longer has a clear identity, a crucial component for any paper’s success, whether it’s the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. The Post finds itself in this no man’s land largely because of a series of editorial and business decisions made outside the newsroom, at the highest level of the company — most notably, Bezos’s 11th-hour decision to pull the editorial board’s endorsement of Kamala Harris in 2024, which led to 250,000 digital readers cancelling their subscriptions in protest of Bezos’s apparent kowtowing to Trump.
Going out with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"
In September, DHS claimed that Silverio Villegas González, who ICE killed by shooting him in the neck while he was coming home after dropping off his two children at school and day care, had hit and dragged an officer with his car. But there was no video evidence of this despite multiple angles of the incident being caught on camera, and one of the officers reported that his own injuries were “nothing major.”
Over the last year, immigration officials falsely accused protesters in Los Angeles of assaulting border patrol officers. They also inflated the number of assaults against officers nationwide and mislabeled footage of ICE operations in their advertisements.
Nearly one month after a federal immigration agent shot and killed Renee Good, 37, in Minneapolis, two of her siblings, Brent and Luke Ganger, appeared on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and urged lawmakers to move to rein in the deportation crackdown.
“In the last few weeks, our family took some consolation thinking that perhaps Nee’s death would bring about change in our country,” Luke Ganger told members of Congress, using a nickname for his sister. “And it has not.”
Reading from the eulogy he said he had given for his sister days earlier, Brent Ganger called Ms. Good “unapologetically hopeful.” Choking back tears as he described Ms. Good as a devoted mother, he likened his sister to a dandelion.
“They keep coming back stronger, brighter, spreading seeds of hope everywhere they land,” he said.
Ms. Good’s brothers spoke at a public forum held by congressional Democrats, which was focused on the use of force by federal agents conducting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Though Democrats have demanded limits on Immigration and Customs Enforcement throughout President Trump’s second term, their calls intensified after Ms. Good’s death and the killing weeks later of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old I.C.U. nurse who was also an American citizen.
During his testimony, Luke Ganger made clear that he viewed the shooting of Ms. Good, who was shot by an ICE agent while she was driving, as part of a larger pattern of abuses by immigration officers.
“This is not just a bad day or a rough week or isolated incidents,” Mr. Ganger said. “These encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours, forever.”
Tuesday’s event, led by Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Representative Robert Garcia of California, came as Democrats threatened to block long-term funding from the Department of Homeland Security if Republicans do not agree to new restrictions on immigration enforcement efforts.
Today, Blumenthal & U.S. Representative Robert Garcia are hosting a forum to hear public testimony from Americans who have experienced the violence & brutality of ICE & CBP agents firsthand
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, held a bicameral public forum to receive testimony on the violent tactics and disproportionate use of force by agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The following Americans shared their personal experiences with the lawless and deadly tactics used by DHS agents:
Marimar Martinez: Ms. Martinez is a U.S. citizen and resident of Chicago, Illinois. In October, she was shot five times by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. After being shot by the Border Patrol Agent, Ms. Martinez was later charged with assaulting the agents who shot her. All charges were dropped by the U.S. Attorney's Office six weeks later.
“I know that what happened to me in the matter of seconds on October 4 will unfortunately be with me for a lifetime. The physical scars will always be there,” Ms. Martinez said. “And perhaps even worse, the mental scars will always be there as a reminder of the time my own government attempted to execute me and when they failed at that to vilify me.”
“I know that by being a survivor it is my duty to be here today to let you elected officials know what is happening on the streets of our country because silence is no longer an option. This needs to stop now!”
Ms. Martinez’s written testimony is available here.
Aliya Rahman: Ms. Rahman is a U.S. citizen and resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is also a person with autism and a traumatic brain injury. In January, she was violently dragged from her car by immigration agents after telling them she had a disability; she was then detained without immediate access to medical care or accommodations.
“I now cannot lift my arms normally. I was never asked for ID, never told I was under arrest, never read my rights, and never charged with a crime,” Ms. Rahman said.
“Before I blacked out on the cell floor, my cell mate pleaded over and over to get me emergency medical care. A voice outside said ‘We don't want to step on ICE's toes.’ When I opened my eyes at Hennepin County’s emergency room, I learned I was brought there to be treated for assault.”
Ms. Rahman’s written testimony is available here.
Martin Daniel Rascon: Mr. Rascon, who goes by Daniel, is a U.S. citizen and resident of San Bernardino, California. Last August, Mr. Rascon was in a car with family members unlawfully stopped by ICE and CBP agents when a CBP agent fired on the car multiple times.
“I will never forget the fear and having to quickly duck my head as the shots were fired at the passenger side of the car. Any one of those bullets could have killed me or two people that I love,” Mr. Rascon said.
Mr. Rascon’s written testimony is available here.
Luke and Brent Ganger: Luke and Brent Ganger are brothers of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a U.S. citizen and resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in January.
“Our family is a very American blend. We vote differently, and we rarely completely agree on the finer details of what it means to be a citizen of this country. We attend various churches and some, not at all. Despite those differences, we have always treated each other with love and respect,” said Luke Ganger. “We have gotten even closer during this very divided time in our country, and we hope that our family can be even a small example to others to not let political ideals divide us. To be Good, like Renee.”
“Renee is not gone from us—she’s in the light that finds us on hard days. She’s in the resilience we didn’t know we had until we needed it. She’s in the laughter, the memories, the love that continues to grow,” said Brent Ganger.
Luke and Brent Ganger’s written testimony is available here.
Antonio Romanucci: Mr. Romanucci is an attorney representing the family of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a U.S. citizen and resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in January.
“I have handled excessive force cases across the country for decades. My colleagues and I are deeply distressed at these invasions onto fellow Americans’ civil rights by our own government that have gone well beyond the initial scope of removing criminals,” said Mr. Romanucci. “The occupation by ICE and CBP in our cities is way beyond their mission, leading to unnecessary provocation that causes needless harm and death.”
Mr. Romanucci’s written testimony is available here.
Seth Stoughton: Mr. Stoughton is a former police officer and Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he is the Faculty Director of the Excellence in Policing & Public Safety (EPPS) Program.
“The current administration’s approach to immigration enforcement falls far short of professional norms This is not policing. It is not normal. And it is not professionally acceptable,” said Mr. Stoughton.
Mr. Stoughton’s written testimony is available here.
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Sen. Blumenthal called the hearing “extraordinary and unprecedented” because Good and Pretti were “murdered by their own government” and “were killed in cold blood.”
He called for a complete overhaul of DHS and a revamping of policies, resulting in bodycams for each ICE agent, “masks off all the time,” and additional training and monitoring for all officers.
“These stories are not just about Minneapolis,” he said. “The nation is Minneapolis. We are all Minneapolis. These stories are a call to action.”
Murray: “We cannot fund DHS if we do not rein in DHS.”
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the Senate Democratic Leadership press conference regarding negotiations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“Last week, we wrapped up 11 of our 12 funding bills, and passed those bills that rejected the devasting cuts from Trump and the House Republicans, it ended the slush fund continuing resolution, and it took Congress’ power of the pen back from Russ Vought, and rejected every far-right poison pill.
“But our work is not done—there is one bill left: DHS. Because we cannot fund DHS if we do not rein in DHS.
“That is a clear, hard line. Law enforcement cannot be lawless—but that’s exactly what we have been seeing from ICE and CBP.
“What is happening in Minneapolis has not been subtle, federal agents are going door to door—asking for papers. And just as often ignoring papers—taking in people who are legally seeking asylum—like little 5-year-old Liam and his father, who a judge forced them to release this week.
“We have people that have done nothing wrong being abducted by masked agents with no warrant, shipped across the country, and herded into overcrowded detention centers, for who knows how long. Some of them—taken in Minneapolis mind you—are being left out in the street in Texas, no way to get home when ICE is forced to grapple with the reality that they were here legally all along.
“The response to this lawless catastrophe has been understandable: outrage from everyone who believes this is a country where law, order, due process, and basic human decency matters.
“People have protested peacefully, people have documented the chaos as legal observers, and the Trump Administration’s response to that has only grown more unhinged and infuriating.
“We saw protesters tear gassed—even as they were pinned on the ground. We saw the shocking murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and we heard the Administration lie every step of the way. They lied about little Liam and his dad being here illegally. They lied about Alex Pretti brandishing a weapon and called him a terrorist.
“Just this week, we all saw a video of a woman who
was abruptly cut off and pulled over, guns immediately drawn on her,
nearly arrested before the local police stepped in and saved her from
ICE. And yet—the Trump Administration is trying now to lie about that
too.
“Enough. We are not going to fund a rogue Department with its unchecked agents and officers.
“We
are going to have accountability at DHS or there will not be Democratic
votes to fund a lawless agency. If Republicans refuse to make the
changes the American people are demanding—they are forcing a Republican
shutdown of DHS.
“The chaos, the brutality—all of it has happened at the explicit direction of this President and a Republican Congress that wrote him a blank check. If Republicans want Democratic votes to fix this—then they need to understand that half-measures won’t cut it. It really is that simple.
“This is somber stuff—legal immigrants being brutalized, American citizens being detained, American citizens being shot and killed by our own immigration enforcement. The Trump administration needs to take these abuses seriously and understand that what Democrats are demanding is reasonable and it is necessary.
“End the roving patrols. Hold federal agents accountable and hold them to the same standards as local law enforcement on the basic things like use of force. Get ‘masks off,’ get body cameras on, and ensure proper identification.
“So, my message to Trump and this entire administration: Stop the lying. Stop slandering American citizens and lawful immigrants. Stop insulting our intelligence and spitting on the Constitution. This country sees right through this. The people recognize that Democrats are fighting to protect basic, American principles and basic American rights.
“My message to Republicans: We are at the table, and we are ready to negotiate serious measures to rein in these rogue federal agencies. We are focused on getting a bill—and it has to be a bill that reins in the abuses we are seeing done by ICE and CBP.
“Americans deserve accountability, we will settle for nothing less.”
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