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1:00 PM ET, January 28, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Washington Post:
White House pauses all federal grants, sparking confusion  —  Trillions of dollars could be on hold, according to an Office of Management and Budget memo.  —  The White House budget office is ordering a pause to all grants and loans disbursed by the federal government …
RELATED:
Steve Vladeck / One First:
120. The Impoundment Crisis of 2025  —  The Trump administration's Monday spending freeze is likely to provoke a crisis over the constitutionality of “impoundment”—one that the justices could well have to resolve *very* soon.  —  Welcome back to “One First,” a weekly newsletter that aims …
Jack Blanchard / Politico:
Playbook: Trump's massive power grab  —  With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine  —  Good Tuesday morning.  This is Jack Blanchard, currently drinking tea and reading up on the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.  What a life.  —  DRIVING THE DAY
Discussion: The Transom and Associated Press
Chris Cameron / New York Times:
White House Budget Office Orders Pause in All Federal Loans and Grants  —  The full extent of the order was not immediately clear, but the directive sent to government agencies on Monday threatened to paralyze a vast swath of federal programs.  —  The White House budget office has ordered a pause in grants …
Jennifer Hansler / CNN:
All federal grants and loan disbursement paused by White House  —  The White House budget office has ordered a pause on all federal grants and loans, according to an internal memorandum sent Monday, potentially impacting trillions in government spending and halting public programs that affect millions of Americans.
David Dayen / American Prospect:
Trump's Most Lawless Action Yet  —  Pausing funds appropriated by Congress is a deliberate taunt to draw a legal challenge that the White House's most radical architects think will give them unilateral spending power.  —  President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force …
Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo
Chicago Sun Times:
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 …
Marisa Kabas / The Handbasket:
Breaking: The Handbasket is first to report catastrophic OMB funding memo  —  Posted on Bluesky earlier this evening, other major outlets have since confirmed.  —  The Handbasket is 100% subscriber-funded.  If you want to support independent media during these dark times for democracy, become a paid subscriber today.
NBC News:
White House orders freeze on federal aid to focus on Trump's conservative agenda
David Super / Balkinization:
Unlawful Funding Freeze Sows Chaos
Discussion: Roll Call
Jennifer Scholtes / Politico:
Trump administration targets thousands of programs in funding freeze
Discussion: NBC News and Daily Mail
Melissa Nann Burke / The Detroit News:
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.
RELATED:
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Scoop: Pete Buttigieg taking “serious look” at Michigan Senate race in 2026 … - “Pete is exploring all of his options on how he can be helpful and continue to serve,” said a person close to Buttigieg.  — “He's honored to be mentioned for this and he's taking a serious look.”
Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:
Trump Ousts Top Labor Board Leaders Who Backed Broader Worker Rights  —  Jennifer Abruzzo says she was fired by email late on Monday  —  Donald Trump is forcing out top leaders of the US labor board, ushering in a swift reboot of workplace law enforcement while testing the limits of presidential authority.
RELATED:
Hamilton Nolan / How Things Work:
Confirmed: Unions Squandered the Biden Years
Discussion: New York Times and EWOC
Daniel Wiessner / Reuters:
Trump fires US labor board member, hobbling agency amid legal battles
Discussion: Axios, HuffPost, RedState and Breitbart
Edward Luce / Financial Times:
Trump and the Dr Strangelove experiment  —  The president revels in his unpredictability but over time he risks sowing distrust in America's good faith  —  Do as I say or I might be crazy enough to blow everyone up.  That is the essence of the Dr Strangelove playbook — that acting the madman will scare your enemies into concessions.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Trump's perceived enemies brace for retribution with plans, dark humor
Discussion: Raw Story and E&E News
New York Times:
States Plan to Sue to Block Trump's Federal Grants Freeze
Discussion: New Jersey Online
Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
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: Eschaton
Washington Post:
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 …
Jonathan Lemire / The Atlantic:
The Strategy Behind Trump's Policy Blitz  —  The staff was still setting up dinner on Mar-a-Lago's outdoor patio on a balmy early-January evening when Donald Trump sat down.  He was surrounded by several top advisers who would soon join him in the West Wing and who wanted to get his input …
RELATED:
Adam Cox / Just Security:   Trump's Dictatorial Theory of Presidential Power - What the Executive Orders, in the Aggregate, Tell Us
The White House:
Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, and to ensure the readiness and effectiveness of our Armed Forces, it is hereby ordered:
RELATED:
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Trump signs 4 new executive orders, transforming military
NBC News:
Trump signs executive order barring transgender people from military service
Politico:
House Republicans brace for tough talk on cuts  —  DORAL, Florida — House Republicans are in for a long day of tough conversations about how to pay for President Donald Trump's massive legislative agenda at their Florida retreat, with various factions already drawing red lines over the package.
RELATED:
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
Emmer cheers Trump's federal aid freeze
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
Lindsay Wise / Wall Street Journal:
Tillis Assured Hegseth's Former Sister-in-Law Her Testimony Could Convince GOP Senators to Vote No  —  North Carolina senator provided pivotal 50th ‘yes’ vote to confirm Hegseth as defense secretary  —  WASHINGTON—A key witness in the contentious Senate confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth …
David Edwards / Raw Story:
Kristi Noem calls human beings ‘dirtbags’ as she cosplays as ICE agent in New York City  —  Kristi Noem began her tenure as Department of Homeland Security secretary by dressing up as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and calling human beings “dirt bags.”
Discussion: Breitbart and New York Post
RELATED:
ABC News:
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joins immigration enforcement operations in NYC
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Acosta La Vista  —  The anchor signaled to associates in private conversations over the weekend that he intends to depart the network, Status has learned. … The anchor, I'm told, signaled to associates in private conversations over the weekend that he intends to depart the network …
Jonathan Cohn / HuffPost:
Trump Administration Payment Freeze May Delay Money For Critical Preschool Program  —  Head Start providers logging onto the online funding system this morning found a message warning of delays because of “potentially unallowable grant payments.”  —  LOADING
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Week One inside Trump's DOJ: ‘It feels like a non-violent war’  —  Fear reigns among the staff at the beleaguered law-enforcement agency as a new reality sets in.  —  Career lawyers and staff at the Department of Justice say the rush of changes in the first week of the Trump administration make them feel like they're under siege.
Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:
The MAGA terror has begun  —  Their leader is glorifying political violence and weaponizing the threat of it.  —  ⛓️‍💥 ✍️ ⚖️ With corporate outlets obeying in advance, supporting independent media is more important right now than ever.
Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
CNN panelist dares Scott Jennings to perform Musk salute on live TV  —  CNN political analyst Scott Jennings and Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell got into a heated debate on Monday over billionaire Elon Musk's widely-debated gesture during an inaugural event for President Trump last week.
Annie Karni / New York Times:
Johnson Joins the Trump Entourage, Shrinking the Role of House Speaker  —  In positioning himself as a junior partner to the president and doing his bidding on matters large and small, the Louisiana Republican is diminishing a job that involves leading a coequal branch of government.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Sally Goldenberg / Politico:
An embattled Adams gathers his union allies at Gracie Mansion
Carmen Paun / Politico:
Trump's beef with the World Health Organization is personal
Discussion: Breitbart
Tierney Sneed / CNN:
Lawsuit alleges new Trump administration email system for federal employees raises privacy concerns
G. Elliott Morris / ABC News:
Once again, Trump starts a term with a weak approval rating
Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
Alaska House urges Trump to retain Denali name
Discussion: Associated Press and Alaska Beacon
Clea Caulcutt / Politico:
France floated sending troops to Greenland, foreign minister says
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Daily Mail
Dave Troy / America 2.0:
No Limits: Crypto Scams Set to Proliferate in 2025
Discussion: Futurism
 Earlier Items: 
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Google says it will change Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’ in Maps after government updates
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Ryan Coleman / Entertainment Weekly:
Hulu faced technical difficulties during its live airing of the Oscars; in the Oscars' first hour, 34K+ users told Down Detector that the service wasn't working

Marc Tracy / New York Times:
No Other Land, about Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes, won Best Documentary at the 2025 Oscars, a rebuke after no distributor picked it up in the US

Lois Beckett / The Guardian:
Patrick Soon-Shiong says LAT opinion pieces will show an AI-generated rating of their political content, and an AI-generated list of alternative political views

 
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