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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:
Washington Post, Semafor, Alternet.org, FedScoop, IJR, Raw Story, HotAir, ClearanceJobs, The Guardian, Twitchy, The Bulwark, The Independent, E&E News, Washington Examiner 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:
Washington Post, Bloomberg, Mediaite, Alternet.org, Daily Mail, Defense One, GovExec.com, The Hill, RedState, Wall Street Journal and New York Post


Trump offering federal workers buyouts with about 8 months' pay in effort to shrink government — The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is offering buyouts to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by next week — an unprecedented move to shrink the U.S. government at breakneck speed.
Discussion:
New York Times, WRIC ABC 8News, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, The Guardian, E&E News, USA Today, Mashable, Newsbusters, Raw Story, ClearanceJobs, NPR, FOX 32 Chicago, Townhall, Bloomberg, Fox News, CBS News and WVEC


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:
Raw Story, Business Insider and The Bulwark, more at Techmeme »
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Elon Musk Is Running the Twitter Playbook on the Federal Government
Discussion:
New Republic, Ken Klippenstein, Twitchy, Daily Mail, ABC News and Scripps News


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.
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‘A 5 Alarm F-ing Fire’: Trump's Federal Funding Freeze Is Jolting Some Dems Into Fight Mode

Illinois shut out of Medicaid after Trump administration halts federal grants and loans
Discussion:
New York Times, Ars Technica, Alternet.org, New Republic, NBC News and Wirepoints

Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration freeze on federal grants and loans
Discussion:
USA Today, The Free Press, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Heatmap News, Kentucky Lantern, CNBC, NonDoc, Oregon Capital Chronicle, Missouri Independent, KASW-TV, Politico, Off the Kuff, Axios, The Moderate Voice, KTVU-TV, Benzinga, Deadline, Time, The Texas Tribune, New Republic, NPR, Washington Examiner, PolitiFact, The Japan Times, Washington State Standard, Press Telegram, WUSA, PBS NewsHour, GovExec.com, Reuters, Raw Story, Bloomberg, Houston Public Media, VTDigger, Louisiana Illuminator, Deseret News, Associated Press, Daily Mail, Fox Business, Minnesota Reformer, CT Mirror, WHDH-TV, The News-Herald, Business Insider, KXAN-TV, The Independent, WVEC, The Colorado Sun, Los Angeles Times, E&E News, LAist, New Jersey Globe, MPR News, PoliticusUSA, Roll Call, Houston Landing, Al Jazeera, NewsNation, The Guardian, Bridge Michigan, The Daily Caller and Mother Jones

Trump is holding hospitals ‘hostage’ in brazen ‘power grab’: AOC
Discussion:
Twitchy and New Republic


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 …
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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:
Reuters, The White House, NPR, Missouri Independent, ABC News, Vox, HuffPost, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, The Independent, MeidasTouch News, Fox News, Bloomberg, Mother Jones and The 19th

Trump Signs Order Restricting Gender-Affirming Treatments for Minors
Discussion:
Associated Press, Axios, Bloomberg and Roll Call


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.
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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:
RedState, TheGrio, Talking Points Memo and NPR
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SCOOP: RFK Jr. Secretly Recorded Second Wife During Divorce and Acknowledged Being “Polygamous” — One recording might have violated state law. It was part of a messy saga that ended with her suicide. — In the early 2010s, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went through a contentious divorce with his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy.


RFK Jr., Trump's Pick for Health Secretary, Faces First Senate Confirmation Hearing — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies in confirmation hearings before the Senate's Finance Committee on Wednesday, and will appear Thursday before the health committee. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. …
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Examiner, USA Today, Fox News, Time, Washington Post, MedPageToday.com, New York Daily News, Associated Press, CBS News and The 19th
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RFK Jr. is ready to make his case to senators
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Fox News, NOTUS, The Atlantic, Mediaite, Associated Press and NPR


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 …
Discussion:
Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »


Caroline Kennedy warns of ‘predator’ RFK Jr. in searing letter, video — The former ambassador urged senators to reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination for health secretary, questioning his ethics and views on vaccines. — Caroline Kennedy warned senators Tuesday about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. …
Discussion:
Axios, The Guardian, The Independent, ABC News, CBS News, Deseret News, Futurism, FOX 13 Tampa Bay, Mother Jones, STAT, New York Daily News, New York Magazine, Alternet.org and Forbes
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Caroline Kennedy warns senators that cousin RFK Jr. is a ‘predator’
Discussion:
New York Times, CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, NPR, The Guardian, Raw Story, FOX 13 Tampa Bay, The Independent, Fox News, Twitchy, Metro.co.uk, Al Jazeera, Digby's Hullabaloo, Washington Examiner, Reuters, Fortune, The Hill, Mediaite, Deadline, Rolling Stone, Scripps News and Axios


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.


Karoline Leavitt's first briefing: Press room enters new era … Two seats along the wall next to the podium — which used to be occupied by White House press and communications staff — have been opened to “new media voices” that don't have assigned seats. — The seats' first two occupants …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Independent, The Hill and Associated Press
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STAT+: Private emails show RFK Jr. making false claims about Covid-19 shots, linking vaccines to autism — On the eve of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation hearings, his physician niece has shared a trove of private emails in the hopes of derailing his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Discussion:
New York Post


'Biden's Book Ban Hoax': Department of Education claims book bans are a ‘hoax’ and dismisses all complaints — The fear that book bans would worsen under Donald Trump's presidency has become a reality. The Department of Education announced it is dismissing book ban complaints as a hoax …


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


OpenAI says it has evidence China's DeepSeek used its model to train competitor — White House AI tsar David Sacks raises possibility of alleged intellectual property theft — OpenAI says it has found evidence that Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek used the US company's proprietary models …
Discussion:
Benzinga, Fortune, BGR, The Verge, Forbes, Semafor, TechCrunch, Associated Press, Fox News and Fox Business, more at Techmeme »


State Department Permits Distribution of H.I.V. Medications to Resume — for Now — Experts fear a resurgence of infections in low-income countries if the ban were to continue. The waiver remains in place, while officials review foreign aid programs. — The Trump administration …
Discussion:
The Index, World Health Organization, Inside Medicine, NPR and Roll Call


Trump administration may pull money from TSA, Coast Guard to help ICE afford costly deportations — The average cost to ICE to deport a single person during the Biden administration was about $10,500, sources told NBC News. — Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the principal agency tasked …


Iowa Democrats flip Senate seat in special election to cut into Republican majority — Iowa Democrats have flipped a state Senate seat vacated earlier this year by Chris Cournoyer, who resigned to become the state's new lieutenant governor. — Democrat Mike Zimmer has defeated Republican Kate Whittington …
Discussion:
Iowa Starting Line


Pamela Brown asks GOP lawmaker if he'd support cutting free lunches for vulnerable students — CNN's Pamela Brown asks Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) about President Trump's administration pausing aid for federal grants and loans that could affect millions of Americans.
Discussion:
USA Today
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Republican congressman suggests some children receiving free school lunches should work at McDonald's instead
Discussion:
New Republic, Alternet.org, Raw Story and HuffPost


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:
Benzinga, more at Techmeme »


FCC chair says landlords can force bulk internet service on residents — Trump's FCC head says reducing competition will lower prices. — Trump's FCC head says reducing competition will lower prices. … The Federal Communications Commission is eliminating a Biden administration proposal …