By Catherine Austin Fitts, solari.com
“A complete reengineering of the U.S. government through the digital systems is now possible at high speed.”
~ Catherine Austin Fitts, Feb. 6, 2025
Note: This is a dynamic checklist, first published on April 16, 2025. As new developments arise, we are adding them to the checklist, noting the date of their addition.
Introduction
A digital control grid is an electronic network of digital telecommunication and information systems that allows individuals to be surveilled, tracked, and made subject to invasive controls applied to their financial transactions and resource use (such as electricity, food, water, transportation)—compromising, if not ending, all human rights and liberties. Control grids operate with significant data collection and AI to apply social credit systems that can be dictated on a highly centralized basis. A digital control grid ends financial freedom, replacing markets with technocracy—a system run by rules created and maintained centrally by “experts.”
Is the Trump Administration building a digital control grid? We provide the following checklist to assess the steps the Administration is (and is not) taking in a variety of areas to facilitate a rapid control grid build-out. We invite subscribers to post suggestions in the Comments section below.
Money
Summary: An all-digital currency and monetary system is essential to institute a digital control grid.
The GENIUS Act
There is support for legislation to create digital stablecoin infrastructure. Presumably, this can be used to create a programmable money system in both the U.S. and globally—in essence, a private CBDC.
More on the GENIUS Act (added July 18, 2025)
Exposing the Darkness Substack: Stablecoins “would likely eventually replace all cash, and would enable governments to freeze the accounts of anyone declared in violation of ‘lawful’ federal or state executive branch regulations, such as the vaccine mandates passed down in 2021 by [HHS]. Trump is doing the exact opposite of what he pledged…. He said he would ban CBDCs … but Stablecoins are in every important respect CBDCs.”
Armstrong Economics: “[E]ssentially, the government is turning the stablecoin into a digital dollar of sorts. The concern here is that this could delve into digitizing all currency and creating a CBDC. The act specifically provides the government with the authority to ‘block, freeze, and reject specific or impermissible transactions.’ This provision is not intended to protect the world against drug smugglers and thieves. This provision is intended to grant government unlimited control over how people spend stablecoins.”
While You Were Distracted: Trump’s GENIUS Act CBDC Will Allow Government to Punish Vaccine Mandate Refusers by Freezing Bank Accounts (Exposing the Darkness)
While the World Was Distracted by Epstein (Armstrong Economics)
GENIUS Act = Programmable Money (added July 23, 2025)
Posted @solari_the: “Worried about Epstein? Congress & Administration signed into law the Genius Act with NO PROTECTIONS against programmable money. So the genociders and pedophiles will be able to track/turn your money on and off—so guess what happens when they want your kids?”
Also posted @solari_the: “Why Secretary Bessent @SecScottBessent are there no financial freedom protections against programmable money in your stablecoins in the Genius Act? Are you trying to create a global financial kill box for every person on the planet? Could these systems be managed by social credit systems with Palantir type data analytic systems? Would this provide individualized integrated enforcement ranging from financial sanctions and financial kills to actual individual manhunt drone kills? And who would control this extraordinary system?”
“Worried about Epstein? Congress & Administration signed into law the Genius Act….”
“Why Secretary Bessent are there no financial freedom protections against programmable money…?”
GENIUS Act plus BBB = a “1984” Scenario (added July 31, 2025)
“[T]he Big Beautiful Bill plus the GENIUS Act has actually given all the tools of apparatus for the “1984” scenario…. We’ve actually consolidated all of the data of all the different departments and … we handed it over to Palantir…. The Orwellian data nightmare to build the social credit score and a global social credit score is here.”
BlackRock and Palantir Have a New Plan… You Should Be Terrified w/ Simon Dixon (Rebel Capitalist Interviews)
GENIUS Act Opens Door for Freezing/Seizing Assets (added July 31, 2025)
Breeauna Sagdal: “If a U.S. citizen’s stablecoin holdings or related bank accounts are flagged, their access to those funds can be restricted without immediate recourse. While this applies to stablecoin transactions rather than traditional bank accounts, the integration of stablecoins into the broader financial system (e.g., through bank partnerships) creates indirect exposure to ALL monetary assets, holdings, and even real estate…. THIS is why it’s being called a backdoor to the digital control grid as it creates an alternative path to seize private property from U.S. Citizens OUTSIDE of the Constitution.”
“This is exactly correct….” (@Breeauna9)
White House AI & Crypto Czar
The White House created a position to coordinate policy on AI and crypto.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The new SEC Commissioner is a crypto lobbyist; all indications point to a reversal of policies related to crypto.
$21 Trillion Missing Money
There is $21T in undocumentable adjustments at the Department of Housing and Urban Development ($1T) and the Department of Defense ($20T) in the U.S. federal government as of fiscal 2015. To the best of our knowledge, the Administration has made no mention of any effort to identify where that money went and to get it back.
Debt-Based Currency
There has been no discussion of the artificial nature of the U.S. debt and the possibility of issuing currency directly from the U.S. Treasury without debt. With as much as 50% or more of monthly spending coming from debt borrowings, the U.S. government is deeply dependent on the New York Fed and Treasury borrowings through the 24 primary dealers.
Banking
The number of banks in America continues to fall.
We know that the creation of small banks is one of the fastest ways to create real economic growth without inflation.
More community banks would be especially helpful to rebuild domestic capacity in the face of new tariff policies. The Trump Administration has indicated its intention to reengineer the FDIC. However, we do not yet know of any effort to encourage more community banks or the creation of State Banks.
The Trump Administration Is Targeting the FDIC, Putting Americans’ Financial Wellbeing at Risk
Organizing a Sovereign State Bank with Professor Richard A. Werner
Private Equity Straw in 401(k) Plans (added July 28, 2025)
On July 17, the Financial Times reported that President Trump plans to sign an executive order (EO) that “aims to unlock the $9 trillion retirement market by allowing 401(k) plans to invest in alternative assets.” According to the Financial Times’ assessment, such a move would “spur a radical shift in the way Americans’ savings are managed.” Regulators would give 401(k) plans a green light to include “non-traditional investments” such as “digital assets, metals, private loans, infrastructure deals, and corporate buyout funds.” The EO “could benefit major private investment firms such as Blackstone, Apollo, and BlackRock … which have all pinned much of their future growth on investing money on behalf of retirement savers.”
President Trump Plans to Open 401(k)s to Bitcoin, Crypto, Gold, and Private Equity: FT
For further discussion of the EO’s implications, listen to the July 24, 2025 episode of Money & Markets (“Crosshairs”)
Executive Orders and Actions: Strengthening U.S. Leadership in Digital Financial Technology
While banning CBDC, on the one hand, the Administration is aggressively working toward stablecoin adoption.
Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology (White House, Jan. 23, 2025)
Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology (July 2025 report of Working Group on Digital Asset Markets) (added July 31, 2025)
The War on Cash
Summary: An all-digital monetary system with complete central control requires putting an end to the circulation of cash and checks.
Cancellation of Pennies
President Trump has directed the Treasury to stop minting new pennies.
Trump Orders U.S. Treasury to Stop Minting New Pennies, Citing Rising Cost of Producing the Coin
Getting Rid of the Penny Introduces a New Problem: Nickels (added June 18, 2025)
Tracking Cash Tips (added May 21, 2025)
According to USA Today on May 17, a bill proposed by House Republicans “would create a temporary tax deduction through 2028 for employees and independent contractors in occupations that ‘traditionally and customarily received tips,’ likely servers, for example.” This appears to be part of the push to track cash flows and eventually supplant cash tips with digital QR codes (something already being widely encouraged by hotels).
Social Security Goes 100% Paperless (added July 21, 2025)
Over 73 million Americans (retired and disabled workers, survivors of deceased workers, and recipients of Supplemental Security Income) receive Social Security payments, most of which are made electronically. In March 2025, President Trump mandated the elimination of payment by check, forcing 520,000 people to choose either direct deposit or prepaid debit card payment. According to the Senior Citizens League, “The transition to electronic Social Security payments could pose significant challenges for unbanked individuals, those without internet access, or those who are not computer literate.”
Executive Orders and Actions: “Modernizing” Federal Bank Payments
This order requires all-digital payments—no more checks and money orders.
Modernizing Payments to and from America’s Bank Account (White House, Mar. 25, 2025)
Financial Disclosure
Summary: Secrecy in government finances, and missing money past and present, permit funding of the control grid and those who support it.
Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) Statement 56
There has been no attempt to rescind this administrative policy, which essentially has taken U.S. financial statements dark; it was instituted by the first Trump Administration and Congress in October 2018.
Financial Disclosure
There has been no effort to publish reliable financial statements or to move toward compliance with laws related to financial disclosure, nor has there been any discussion of the possibilities of providing easily accessible disclosure by place, such as disclosure of U.S. federal budgets and financials contiguous to Congressional districts.
Discussion of Community Wizard software in “Hamilton Securities Group,” Chapter XI in Dillon Read & Co. Inc. & the Aristocracy of Stock Profits
DOGE
As the DOGE team determines and implements large layoffs and changes in systems, there is a real question as to whether it is “whiting out” institutional memory and documentation. There appears to be no effort to find the $1T missing from HUD, even as half of HUD employees are scheduled to be laid off. There have also been reports of layoffs in FOIA offices, including at FDA and CDC. To what extent are the DOGE team’s “efficiency efforts” being used to “white out” records about criminality, such as missing money or the poisoning of the citizenry?
Epstein Files
While the Epstein files remain undisclosed, the White House and Cabinet appear to have multiple appointees who were intimate with Epstein, including the President and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, who was Epstein’s next-door neighbor in Manhattan as chairman of primary dealer Cantor Fitzgerald.
Dual-Citizen Passports
There is no disclosure regarding how many Cabinet and subcabinet positions have more than one citizenship and passport—and no disclosure regarding the President, the First Lady, and their family—or about the financial privileges that such arrangements may provide.
White House Ethics
The White House Ethics officer was fired at the beginning of the Trump Administration, along with 18 Inspector Generals.
Digital IDs and Biometric Surveillance
Summary: A highly precise digital ID system is essential to operate a digital control grid. The U.S. has been trying to implement this type of digital ID since the immediate passage of the Patriot Act after 9/11, with the current drive to do so happening through the REAL ID system operated through the states.
REAL ID
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is aggressively promoting the REAL ID with a misleading campaign that is trying to persuade people that they will not be able to fly in the United States without a REAL ID. This is not correct.
Signs at airports and driver’s license bureaus inaccurately maintain that, starting May 7, 2025, an unconstitutional REAL ID in the works since 2005 is required to fly; however, the REAL ID Act only requires a federal ID (among other federal IDs, a passport qualifies). A number of states have mandated REAL ID driver’s licenses, and many others make acquiring a non-REAL ID difficult. REAL ID regulations allow federal agencies to require REAL ID for entry into federal buildings or take other agency-relevant actions involving REAL ID. Many expect that biometric features will be added to the REAL ID and that the REAL ID may be used to institute a social credit score or system to limit or condition receipt of federal benefits on REAL ID use.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Biometrics
TSA continues to aggressively promote biometrics with travelers who fly to the United States; many do not know they can opt out, and reports vary as to whether opting out is even still possible at some airports. TSA procedures are making it difficult to fly without entering biometric information.
Ground Travel Biometrics
A federal regulatory agency has implemented biometrics for commercial motor vehicle applications.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Biometrics (added June 10, 2025)
“ICE has engineered a multi-pronged enforcement infrastructure that has stitched together federal, state, local, and private systems. It’s a biometric reach that extends from fingerprints in county jails to facial scans in city streets, license plates in suburban neighborhoods, and income declarations in federal tax filings…. The question is no longer whether ICE is building a surveillance state, but whether it has already built one without anyone noticing.”
ICE Protests (added June 10, 2025)
“Roughly 700 Marines are deploying to the Los Angeles area to protect federal buildings and personnel in the wake of protests over immigration that have already led President Trump to federalize National Guard troops.”
“One Big Beautiful Bill” (added July 3, 2025)
“The One Big Beautiful Bill Act … gives more than $175 billion in immigration funding for 2025 alone. While opponents of illegal immigration may cheer this funding, we should take note that $30 billion is for ‘digital modernization efforts’ involving AI and biometric surveillance…. The mention of a biometric entry/exit system and surveillance towers is perfectly in line with the long-term plans of the US government and Donald Trump during his first administration…. These types of technological encroachments—facial recognition, gait detection, and retina scanning—have often been known as a ‘smart’ or ‘virtual’ border wall.”
More on Passage of One Big Beautiful Bill (added July 14, 2025)
“The BBB passed amidst carping from every conceivable corner of the political spectrum…. But few spotted, or cared about, the Trojan Horse that just snuck in with a ginormous payload for Technocracy, AI, and biometric surveillance. This is on par with the Patriot Act.”
Palantir and the Facial Recognition Database (added July 21, 2025)
The Last Refuge reports, “Palantir continues benefiting from govt contracts not just for military application but also for facial recognition processes within (1) the deportation operation, (2) implementation of Real ID, (3) DHS/TSA use at entry points.” Palantir’s stock value has gone from $51.13 on the day after the 2024 election to $153.99 as of July 18, 2025.
Election Fraud
The Administration is citing election fraud as an excuse to push for digital IDs. The proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act would amend the National Voter Registration Act to require Americans seeking to register or re-register to vote to present a REAL ID-compliant ID proving U.S. citizenship. People whose federal ID names (e.g., on their passports) do not match their birth certificates would be required to provide proof of name change or a marriage certificate.
Financial and Other Data, Payment Systems, and AI
Summary: To build a digital control grid, digital IDs must link with programmable money and interoperable systems across multiple platforms (banks, credit cards, online payment systems), which can be integrated with social credit and surveillance systems. The data capacity required for an all-digital monetary system combined with programmable money and a social credit system is significant, as are the related energy demands.
Stargate LLC (Data Centers and AI)
The Stargate initiative involves the building out of data centers sufficient to support a complete control grid and all-digital monetary system.
Stargate LLC (Wikipedia)
The Stargate proposal for personalized mRNA “vaccines” for cancer (and everything else) indicates a plan to roll out the injection program sufficient to implement the Internet of Bodies and continue to lower life expectancy. Stargate funding also helps support the ongoing global rollout of “mega” vaccine factories. It is not clear how Musk’s desire through Neuralink to insert mesh networks inside human brains fits in, as it appears that injections can get the system most if not all of the way to where it wants to go—and it is much easier to market injections that are “good” for you.
DOGE
Based on detailed reporting by WIRED magazine, it appears that significant federal data are being privatized on the “just do it” method, presumably through Musk’s Xai and its partnership with Palantir. There is also a push for digitizing federal systems and records and updating systems. DOGE is focusing on agencies that handle high-quality payment data for most or all Americans, including Social Security, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Treasury. These are some of the agencies whose data would be most appropriate for implementing programmable money with a social credit system.
New book by Etienne de la Boetie2 exposes that the government and Hollywood have been running a multi-generational, trillion-dollar psychological operation on the population to indoctrinate them into accepting a ruling class, confiscatory taxation, and inflationary fractional reserve currency issued by private banks.
The book details 25 unethically manipulative techniques the “government” and monopoly media have been secretly using on the population, ranging from a hidden curriculum in their mandatory schools and scouting to the secret placement of propaganda in over 1,000+ movies and 1,000+ television shows. These techniques include subliminal messages and product placement of the American flag “anchored” to moments of high-positive emotion during the “programming”.
See the Press Release with more details HERE.
Buy the book at SeeTheCage.com
Substack readers can get the book for FREE by “Going Paid” to ANY of the Art of Liberty Foundation’s four Substacks AND get access to all four of those Substacks! Simply “Go Paid” and we will reply with details.


