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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 …
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Raw Story, CBS News, Axios, RedState, Reuters, The Post Millennial, Heatmap News, Fortune, E&E News, Chase 🌾 …, HuffPost, Good Politics/Bad Politics, NOTUS, Althouse, Saywhat Politics and Mourning Dove
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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 …
Discussion:
American Prospect
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Trump administration orders sweeping freeze of federal aid — In a two-page memo, the Office of Management and Budget ordered all federal agencies to temporarily suspend payments. — One week in, the Trump administration is broadening its assault on the functions of government …
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CBS News, MeidasTouch News, Scripps News, NBC News, Justin's Political Corner and E&E News
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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
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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.
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The Hill, Reuters, Fox News, Daily Mail, Bloomberg, NBC News, The Guardian, FOX 13 Tampa Bay, Hollywood Life, Reason, Associated Press, IJR and Roll Call
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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 …
Discussion:
Jill Filipovic, The Guardian, The Independent and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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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
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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 …
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Read the Memo Pausing Federal Grants and Loans
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider and Semafor
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Mette Frederiksen's diplomatic dash to save Greenland from Trump
Discussion:
Reuters, New York Times, Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Raw Story, E&E News, Metro.co.uk and Daily Mail
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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.
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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.
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The Bulwark, NPR, NBC News, New York Times, Reuters, Raw Story, RedState, Daily Mail, HuffPost, emptywheel, USA Today, New York Post, Alternet.org, The Gateway Pundit and The Post Millennial
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Trump administration fires DOJ officials who worked on criminal investigations of the president
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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 …
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Fox News, Variety, Mediaite, Deadline, TVLine, The Gateway Pundit, The Independent, The Hollywood Reporter, IJR, Breitbart, RedState, The Post Millennial and HuffPost, more at Mediagazer »
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Google says it will change Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’ in Maps after government updates … Google said Monday it will change the name of Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” after the government updates its “official government sources.” — The company also said it will start using Mount McKinley …
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Fortune, Associated Press, Must Read Alaska, Benzinga, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, The Verge and USA Today, more at Techmeme »
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Top USAID career staff placed on immediate leave — “This is like taking out all the generals,” said a former Trump administration official informed of the decision. — The Trump administration has ordered dozens of top career employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development …
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Fox News, New York Times, Associated Press and NBC News
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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.
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Axios, Scripps News, Fox News, NBC News, Washington Examiner, HuffPost, The Hill, WXYZ-TV, Politico, Associated Press and Talking Points Memo
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Trump signs 4 new executive orders, transforming military — President Trump signed a bevy of new executive orders Monday evening that have the potential to significantly transform the Defense Department (DOD). — The new orders prevent transgender people from openly serving in the military …
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Reuters, BBC, Washington Post, NOTUS, CBS News, ABC News, Washington Examiner, KRQE NEWS 13, Axios, Al Jazeera, The Gateway Pundit, CNBC, Scripps News, PBS NewsHour, New York Post, USA Today, Townhall, MeidasTouch News, The Guardian, IJR, Fox News and Florida Politics
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Trump moves to ban transgender service members from military
Discussion:
them., CBS News, Advocate, Associated Press, New York Daily News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill, Daily Mail, New Republic and CNN
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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 …
Discussion:
The Bulwark, Townhall, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Trump's Victory Over Colombia Less Clear as Details Emerge — Colombia sends own planes to bring people home after showdown — Trump runs the risk of overuse of tariff, sanctions threats — A deportation arrangement with Colombia that the White House presented as a total victory …
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Trump Administration Halts H.I.V. Drug Distribution in Poor Countries — PEPFAR's computer systems also are being taken offline, a sign that the program may not return, as Republican critics had hoped. — The Trump administration has instructed organizations in other countries …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Advocate, Mediaite, Brown Babe and them.
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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.
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No Limits: Crypto Scams Set to Proliferate in 2025 — Donald Trump drew attention when he launched a so-called “meme coin” immediately before his inauguration. The value of the cryptocurrency, called $TRUMP, reached a price of $73 within a day of its release, giving it a total market valuation of about $72 billion.
Discussion:
Futurism
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Border Czar Tom Homan Responds To Selena Gomez Crying Over Deportations: ‘No Apologies’ — Trump's immigration enforcement pick had blunt words for the “Only Murders in the Building” star. — LOADING — Tom Homan, President Donald Trump's border czar, was not moved Monday by viral video …
Discussion:
Fox News, New Republic, Daily Mail, Billboard, New York Post, PinkNews, Townhall, ABC News, Daily Kos, Cosmopolitan, The Hill, RedState, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and Page Six
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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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He Did It: Trump Calls for Ending the Federal Income Tax! — President Trump has once again demonstrated his unwavering commitment to making America great again by proposing a return to the economic policies that once made the United States the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world, namely ending the federal income tax.
Discussion:
Louder With Crowder
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Trump To Tariff Chips Made In Taiwan, Targeting TSMC
Discussion:
Tom's Hardware, Reuters, The Information, HuffPost and Benzinga
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Man Pardoned in Jan. 6 Riot Is Fatally Shot by Sheriff's Deputy During Traffic Stop — The police said that Matthew W. Huttle, 42, of Hobart, Ind., who was sentenced to six months for his role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021, resisted arrest after he was stopped in Indiana on Sunday.
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Hill, The Guardian, Digby's Hullabaloo, FOX 32 Chicago, Associated Press, ABC7, USA Today, Daily Mail, Chicago Tribune and The Indianapolis Star
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The Largest Tuberculosis Outbreak in U.S. History Is Happening Right Now in Kansas — And the news comes as the Trump administration has “paused” all public messaging by the CDC. — I always thought I'd missed a lot not having been born in the 19th century. From The Topeka Capital-Journal:
Discussion:
The Guardian, CBS News, Gizmodo and Baltimore Sun
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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:
Discussion:
New York Times, Law Dork, Advocate, Mediaite, RedState, Raw Story, NPR, PinkNews, Transgender World, The Independent and Must Read Alaska
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Coalition of Jewish groups say they're leaving X over Musk's behavior … - It also came after Musk told members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party “there's too much focus on past guilt,” seemingly referring to the burden Germany carries for the Holocaust.
Discussion:
Union for Reform Judaism, Gizmodo, Raw Story and VINnews
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By killing remote work, DOGE will only bleed taxpayers dry — Republicans in Congress, bolstered by a 41-page report from the House Oversight Committee, have unleashed a wave of criticism against federal telework policies. Their claims, aired at a Jan. 15 congressional hearing titled …