Top Items:


Trump administration will offer all 2 million federal workers a buyout to resign — An email is set to go out to federal workers beginning Tuesday. — President Donald Trump's administration is set to offer every single federal worker the chance to take a “deferred resignation” …
Discussion:
The Bulwark, Washington Examiner, Politico, Business Insider, CNBC, CBS News, New York Post and The Post Millennial
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Scoop: Trump offering buyouts to all federal workers, source says … We're five years past COVID and just 6 percent of federal employees work full-time in office. That is unacceptable," a senior administration official tells Axios.
Discussion:
The Hill, Wall Street Journal, NOTUS, GovExec.com, RedState and NBC4 WCMH-TV


D.C. federal judge temporarily blocks Trump plan to pause federal aid spending — The order from Judge Loren AliKhan runs through next Monday, when further arguments in the case are scheduled. — Trump administration freezes nearly all federal grants and loans
Discussion:
CNBC, Fox News, The Hill, Business Insider, WVEC and The Gateway Pundit


White House incentivizes federal workers to resign — The email sent to the federal workforce is the most sweeping effort yet by the new Trump administration to shrink the ranks of government employees. — The White House's Office of Personnel Management sent an email blast Tuesday …


Trump offers all federal workers a buyout with 7 months' pay in effort to shrink size of government — The White House on Tuesday began offering buyouts worth seven months of salary to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by Feb. 6 — part of President Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the U.S. government.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Fox News, USA Today, Townhall, The Independent and FOX 32 Chicago


Trump's funding freezing temporarily halted by federal judge
Discussion:
ABC News, Associated Press, RedState, New York Post and VINnews

Trump's Freeze on Grant Funding Temporarily Halted by Judge
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Examiner, CBS News, Missouri Independent, Fox Business, The News-Herald, Roll Call and Scripps News

Live updates: Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump's federal funding freeze
Discussion:
Raw Story, Alternet.org, Deseret News, Associated Press, New Jersey Online and NewsNation

Democrats to hold ‘emergency’ meeting on Trump's spending freeze
Discussion:
Reuters, NBC News, Politico, Vox, NOTUS, New York Post, Virginia Mercury, Roll Call, Business Insider, GovExec.com and The Register


Illinois shut out of Medicaid after Trump administration halts federal grants and loans — The Trump administration's federal freeze has shut Illinois out of Medicaid, according to Gov. JB Pritzker's office. The government-funded health insurance program covered about 3.9 million people …
Discussion:
New Republic, New York Times, Ars Technica, Semafor, Fortune and Raw Story
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White House says Medicaid portal ‘will be back online shortly’ after Trump funding freeze blamed … Medicaid reimbursement portals were down Tuesday in every U.S. state on the heels of a funding freeze ordered by the Trump administration of federal grants and loans, Sen. Ron Wyden said.
Discussion:
The Hill, NBC News, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Daily Mail, Daily Kos, Futurism, The Mahablog, Baltimore Sun, Alternet.org, NewsNation and Hollywood Life


Republican congressman suggests some children receiving free school lunches should work at McDonald's instead — Rep. Rich McCormick said that the freeze on federal aid would allow the government to review all programs including ones that provide free school lunches to low-income children.
Discussion:
CNN, USA Today, New Republic and Raw Story


Medicaid, Head Start, health centers say they're locked out of federal funding website — A wide range of organizations and agencies that depend on federal health department funds say they have been locked out of the online system responsible for tracking and depositing their money …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Quartz, HuffPost, New Republic, WUSA, Mock Paper Scissors and Center For Children …


Legal battle looms as Trump orders a funding freeze during a review of federal loans and grants — The White House is pausing federal grants and loans starting Tuesday as President Donald Trump's administration begins an across-the-board ideological review of its spending …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, CBS News, St. Louis Business Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Business Insider, The Atlantic, Roll Call, Reuters, PBS NewsHour, LAist, GovExec.com, NPR, KXAN Austin, WVEC, Press Telegram, Associated Press, Daily Mail, Raw Story, Heatmap News, Houston Public Media, VTDigger, MPR News, BridgeDetroit, Pluribus News, CT Mirror, WUSA, WHDH-TV, Minnesota Reformer, Time, HuffPost, USA Today, KSNT-TV, Mother Jones, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The Hill, Pandemic Info, Bloomberg, Hollywood Life, Forbes, New Jersey Globe, E&E News, The Verge and Mediaite


Live Updates: White House Defends Trump's Funding Freeze as Opponents Rush to Block It
Discussion:
Washington Post, Daily Kos, Axios, Associated Press, Politico, The Guardian, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, New Jersey Monitor, Fox News and Reuters, more at Techmeme »

As some Medicaid sites freeze up, White House acts to clarify pause on grants and programs
Discussion:
The Hill, NPR, PBS NewsHour, Washington State Standard and Daily Mail

Special counsel prosecutors were fired on instructions of White House
Discussion:
New York Times

Judge blocks Trump's spending freeze
Discussion:
CNBC, Rolling Stone, HuffPost, USA Today, The Japan Times, Daily Mail, New Republic, The Daily Caller, NC Newsline, New York Post, MeidasTouch News and PoliticusUSA

States' Medicaid portal access restored after lapse under Trump, but it's ‘not functioning correctly’

How the Trump Administration Is Scrutinizing Federal Spending
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Palo Alto Online and Michigan Advance


Elon Musk Lackeys Have Taken Over the Office of Personnel Management — Sources tell WIRED that the OPM's top layers of management now include individuals linked to xAI, Neuralink, the Boring Company, and Palantir. One expert found the takeover reminiscent of Stalin.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, more at Techmeme »
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Trump Hit With New Lawsuit for Funneling Sensitive Info to Elon Musk
Discussion:
CNN, NPR, Daily Mail, Washington Examiner and Nextgov/FCW


Caroline Kennedy warns senators of ‘predator’ RFK Jr. in searing letter — In a letter to lawmakers, the former U.S. ambassador to Australia and cousin of Trump's HHS nominee, questions Robert F. Kennedy's ethics and views on vaccines. — Caroline Kennedy on Tuesday warned senators …
Discussion:
New York Post, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, New York Daily News and The Independent
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Caroline Kennedy warns senators that cousin RFK Jr. is a ‘predator’
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Examiner, Reuters, ABC News, The Hill, Rolling Stone, Al Jazeera, USA Today, FOX 13 Tampa Bay, Digby's Hullabaloo, Scripps News, Fortune, Deadline, Axios and New York Post

Caroline Kennedy calls her cousin, RFK, Jr., a “predator” ahead of his confirmation hearings
Discussion:
Metro.co.uk, New York Post and The Guardian


Americans sour on some of Trump's early moves, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds — Americans have a dim view of some of President Donald Trump's early barrage of executive orders, including his attempt to do away with so-called birthright citizenship and his decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
Discussion:
Carolina Journal


Trump moves to fire members of EEOC and NLRB, breaking with precedent — The dismissals target two independent agencies that oversee large swaths of U.S. workers, employers and labor unions. — President Donald Trump has moved to fire Democratic members of two independent federal commissions …
Discussion:
New York Times, Raw Story, HuffPost, TheGrio, GovExec.com and Talking Points Memo
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Trump Ousts Top Labor Board Leaders Who Backed Broader Worker Rights
Discussion:
How Things Work, Raw Story, Truthout and Washington Examiner

Trump fires acting Labor Board chair in legally dubious move
Discussion:
The Guardian, Washington Examiner, American Prospect, Reuters, RedState and New Republic


Trump's Order on Transgender Troops Will Likely Ban Their Service, Again — In an executive order issued Monday night, the president said transgender service members “cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary” for the military. — Hours after President Trump signed …
Discussion:
The White House, ABC News, Vox, Missouri Independent, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Advocate, Bloomberg, MeidasTouch News, Fox News, The Independent, NPR and them.
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Departing the New York Times — As many people reading this know, last month I retired from my position as an opinion writer at the New York Times—a job I had done for 25 years. Despite the encomiums issued by the Times, it was not a happy departure. If you check out my Substack …


Michigan's Gary Peters won't seek reelection to U.S. Senate. Here's why — Washington ― Gary Peters, Michigan's senior senator and a former congressman, said he won't seek reelection next year and will retire from the U.S. Senate when his second term ends in January 2027.
Discussion:
Associated Press, New York Times, NBC News, Axios, RedState, USA Today, One America News Network and Bridge Michigan
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Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation — By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: — Section 1. Policy and Purpose. Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming …
Discussion:
USA Today, Washington Examiner, Mother Jones, Townhall, RedState, The Federalist, The Guardian, femboy fagdyke little …, them., FOX 32 Chicago, Fox News and The Daily Caller


France floated sending troops to Greenland, foreign minister says — The comments came as Denmark's prime minister travels to Berlin, Paris and Brussels to shore up support from allies. — PARIS — France has discussed with Denmark sending troops to Greenland in response …
Discussion:
Breaking Defense and Raw Story
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Kansas' tuberculosis outbreak is now the largest in the U.S. since the 1950s — The outbreak started last January. Kansas health officials say numbers are trending downward, but they still expect to find more cases. — A tuberculosis outbreak that started in Wyandotte County, Kansas …
Discussion:
New York Times, Esquire and WHDH-TV
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Pentagon pulling Gen. Milley's security detail and clearance ‘immediately,’ may face demotion in retirement — EXCLUSIVE: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce he is “immediately pulling” retired Gen. Mark Milley's personal security detail and security clearance, multiple senior administration officials tell Fox News.
Discussion:
New York Post, RedState, Mock Paper Scissors, The Post Millennial, Twitchy and The Gateway Pundit


Democrats' playbook for Trump 2.0: Tune out the noise and focus on economic issues — As Trump floods the zone in his first week in office, Democrats are departing from their “resistance” strategy in his first term and zeroing in on issues that cost them the last election.
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Digby's Hullabaloo


Trump's Attempt to Usurp Congress's Spending Power — The Trump Administration is undertaking what amounts to a wide-ranging assault on Congress's power of the purse, seeking instead to usurp authority over federal spending. Today, the Office of Management and Budget issued a memo mandating a …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Robert Reich, Raw Story, The Dispatch, AMERICAN HERITAGE, Los Angeles Times, Esquire and Bloomberg
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Google reclassifies U.S. as ‘sensitive country’ alongside China, Russia after Trump's ‘Gulf of America’ comments … Google's maps division on Monday reclassified the U.S. as a “sensitive country,” a designation it reserves for states with strict governments and border disputes, CNBC has learned.
Discussion:
New Republic, more at Techmeme »