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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 …
Discussion:
NPR, The Atlantic, The Hill, Raw Story, HuffPost, Associated Press, CBS News, Baltimore Sun, Forbes, Reuters, Mock Paper Scissors, WVEC, RedState, Axios, Mediaite, The Guardian, The Post Millennial, Fortune, Good Politics/Bad Politics, Heatmap News, E&E News, NOTUS, Chase 🌾 …, Wall Street Journal, 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:
Business Insider, Vox, AMERICAN HERITAGE, Alternet.org and Digby's Hullabaloo
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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, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Independent and Business Insider
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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:
Baltimore Sun, Associated Press and Digby's Hullabaloo
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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 …
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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.
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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
Discussion:
Reuters, The Transom, CBS News and Raw Story
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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.
Discussion:
The Hill, Reuters, Roll Call, USA Today, Daily Mail, Forbes, Fox News, One America News Network, Hollywood Life, American Greatness, FOX 13 Tampa Bay, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Reason and IJR
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Democrats declare ‘constitutional crisis’ on funding freeze
Discussion:
Scripps News, PoliticusUSA, NBC News and The Hill
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White House orders freeze on federal aid to focus on Trump's conservative agenda
Discussion:
The Verge, Daily Kos, ABC News and Daily Mail
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Trump administration orders federal funding freeze on all public loans, grants and more aid
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Raw Story
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Trump administration targets thousands of programs in funding freeze
Discussion:
NBC News and Daily Mail
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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.
Discussion:
The Hill, Axios, New York Times, CBS News, Washington Examiner, Scripps News, Fox News, HuffPost, WXYZ-TV, Politico, Bridge Michigan, Townhall, The Guardian, Michigan Advance and The Daily Caller
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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.”
Discussion:
Roll Call, Breitbart and Talking Points Memo
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Michigan Sen. Gary Peters will not run for reelection, opening a key Senate seat
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fox News, Axios, Bloomberg, The Independent and Associated Press
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Democratic Sen. Gary Peters won't run for re-election in battleground Michigan
Discussion:
The Hill
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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.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Raw Story and New York Times
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Confirmed: Unions Squandered the Biden Years
Discussion:
New York Times and EWOC
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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.
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Read the Memo Pausing Federal Grants and Loans
Discussion:
Washington Post, Bloomberg, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and Semafor
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Emmer cheers Trump's federal aid freeze
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal
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He Did It: Trump Calls for Ending the Federal Income Tax!
Discussion:
Baltimore Sun and Louder With Crowder, more at Techmeme »
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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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Trump's Dictatorial Theory of Presidential Power - What the Executive Orders, in the Aggregate, Tell Us — In a flurry of executive orders and proclamations this past week, President Donald Trump took decisive action on a range of significant issues including border enforcement, energy policy …
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Trump Is Ignoring the Law — and Congress Doesn't Care
Discussion:
USA Today, Fox News, HuffPost and The Guardian
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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 …
Discussion:
Reuters, CBS News, Washington Post, BBC, KRQE NEWS 13, them., NOTUS, Axios, ABC News, Al Jazeera, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, Associated Press, Scripps News, PBS NewsHour, New York Post, USA Today, Townhall, MeidasTouch News, The Guardian, IJR and Fox News
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Trump signs executive order barring transgender people from military service
Discussion:
HuffPost, Raw Story, The Independent, Associated Press, New York Times, Advocate, Rolling Stone, ABC News, MPR News, RedState and Fox News
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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:
Vanity Fair, The Bulwark, Townhall, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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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:
New York Post and Daily Mail
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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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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
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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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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.
Discussion:
The Hill, The Bulwark, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, NPR, CNN, NBC News, Reuters, Raw Story, RedState, emptywheel, Daily Mail, USA Today, Bloomberg, HuffPost, Fox News, Dark Maga Returns, New York Post, Alternet.org, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Signal, CNBC and The Post Millennial
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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.
Discussion:
Deseret News, Fox News and New York Times
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Congressional Republicans' coming war on poor people
Discussion:
Politico, Fox News, Punchbowl News and E&E News
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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.