memeorandum: Elon Musk's team has gotten access to the Treasury Department's payments system. (New York Times)

6:45 PM ET, February 1, 2025

Top Items:

Elon Musk's team has gotten access to the Treasury Department's payments system. — Trump tariffs: The Canadian government has been notified by the United States government that goods exported to the United States will be subject to a 25 percent tariff, with a lower rate for Canadian oil …

Discussion: The Guardian, Politico, The Post Millennial, CNN, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

New York Times:

Elon Musk's Team Now Has Full Access to Treasury's Payments System — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Mr. Musk's representatives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency a powerful tool to monitor and potentially limit government spending.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, Althouse and Truthout

John Paul Tasker / CBC News:

Trump launches trade war against Canada with with 25 per cent tariff on most goods — U.S. president slaps 25% tariff on most Canadian goods — Canada braces for threatened U.S. tariffs — President Donald Trump launched a trade war against Canada on Saturday by imposing a 25 per cent tariff …

Discussion: New York Post, UPI, PBS NewsHour, Daily Mail, Global News and Reuters

Marisa Kabas / The Handbasket:

Did you hear about the Friday coup? — The Handbasket is 100% subscriber-funded. If you want to support independent media during these dark times for democracy, become a paid subscriber today. — Story updated 4:35pm ET — This week felt like the first battle of a long war—and that's because it was.

Discussion: Tusk

The United States Senate Committee on Finance:

Wyden Demands Answers Following Report of Musk Personnel Seeking Access to Highly Sensitive U.S. Treasury Payments System — In New Letter to Treasury Secretary Bessent, Wyden Warns That Political Meddling in Treasury Payments Risks Severe Economic Damage, Calls Out Dangerous Conflicts …

Discussion: CNN, Truthout, The Gateway Pundit, DNyuz, New York Times, Mediaite and Salon

Shannon Pettypiece / NBC News:

Trump slaps tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, risking higher prices for U.S. consumers — The new levies on America's top trade partners could drive prices higher for cars, electronics, lumber and more, threatening to crimp an economy that the president has vowed to improve.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Politico, Reuters, Forbes, The Guardian, DNyuz, Daily Mail, Breitbart, Scripps News, CBS News, Fox Business, The Verge, E&E News and Business Insider

Thomas Seal / Bloomberg:

Canada Poised to Retaliate Against Trump Tariffs, Rethink US Reliance — Freeland, a candidate for PM, calls for tariffs on Tesla cars — Levies will first hit goods easy to substitute, minister says — Canada is set to introduce escalating retaliatory counter-tariffs to try …

Discussion: New York Times, Fortune, The Register, DNyuz, Scripps News, Forbes, Reuters and Politico

Josh Boak / Associated Press:

Trump imposes tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, raising prospect of higher costs for US consumers — President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China, fulfilling a campaign promise but raising the prospect of increased prices for American consumers.

Washington Post:

Trump signs order imposing tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China — It's the first official action of the president's second-term trade war. — President Donald Trump on Saturday imposed tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, the nation's three largest trading partners …

Wall Street Journal:
The Dumbest Trade War in History

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, Mediaite, Cafe Hayek, Raw Story, CBS News, Democrats, ABC News, Breitbart, UPI and CNBC

Business Today:
‘Make them pay’: Canada puts Trump's ‘first friend’ Elon Musk's Tesla in the crosshairs of tariff war

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Canadian Press, Althouse and InsideEVs

Jason Lalljee / Axios:
Trump tariffs will cost U.S. households $830 a year, study says

Discussion: Washington Examiner

NBC News:

Senior FBI official forcefully resisted Trump administration firings — Brian Driscoll pushed back so aggressively that some feared he would be dismissed. Driscoll has so far not handed over the names of thousands of FBI agents who worked on Jan. 6th cases.

Discussion: UPI, Associated Press, DNyuz, The Guardian, Fox News, USA Today, CBS News and WTOP News

Eric Reinhart / New Republic:

The RFK Jr. Op-Ed the Los Angeles Times Didn't Want You to Read — Editors note: As The New Republic reported on Friday, the Los Angeles Times—currently in a race to the bottom with The Washington Post to determine which of the two venerable institutions can sell out to Donald Trump the hardest …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daring Fireball, Techdirt and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Kamisar / NBC News:

Ken Martin wins election as the next chair of the Democratic National Committee — The DNC's chair election marks a first step for a party looking to fill a void of leadership after the 2024 election. — Ken Martin, the longtime leader of the state Democratic Party organization in Minnesota …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Mediaite, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, UPI, Raw Story, Associated Press, Fox News, The Floridian, Vanity Fair and The Guardian

Katie Glueck / New York Times:
Who Is Ken Martin, the New Leader of the D.N.C.?

New York Times:
Democrats choose a political operator from Minnesota as their next leader.

Discussion: Semafor, @macleod, NOTUS, ABC News and Althouse

Michelle Cottle / New York Times:

The Truth About Democrats, According to Amy Klobuchar — Let's skip the happy talk: Democrats are in a dark place. It's not merely that Donald Trump has rolled back into Washington with an everything-everywhere-all-at- once approach to grabbing power. The new president is buoyed by eager …

Griffin Eckstein / Salon: “There is no common ground with fascists”: Progressives rip Klobuchar's call for bipartisanship

Brian Stelter / CNN:

Pentagon to swap traditional media with pro-Trump outlets under new rotational program for Defense Department workspace — One America News Network would soon replace NBC News and Breitbart would swap with National Public Radio in coveted Pentagon press corps workspace under a plan shared with journalists Friday night.

Discussion: The Guardian, Twitchy, Instapundit and The Daily Caller

Amanda Terkel / NBC News:
Pentagon removes major media outlets, including NBC News, from dedicated workstations in new ‘rotation program’

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Business Insider, DNyuz, The Desk, RedState, Reuters, Vanity Fair and One America News Network

Alex Galbraith / Salon:
Defense Dept. evicts NBC, NPR, NYT from Pentagon offices to make way for Breitbart, OANN

Discussion: DNyuz, Mediaite and NPR, more at Mediagazer »

Axios: Behind the Curtain: Purges, punishments, payback

Garrett M. Graff / Doomsday Scenario:

Musk's Junta Establishes Him as Head of Government — Imagining how we'd cover overseas what's happening to the U.S. right now — I've long believed that the American media would be more clear-eyed about the rise and return of Donald Trump if it was happening overseas in a foreign country …

Stephanie Nolen / New York Times:

Health Programs Shutter Around the World After Trump Pauses Foreign Aid — Lifesaving treatment and prevention programs for tuberculosis, malaria, H.I.V. and other diseases cannot access funds to continue work. — Lifesaving health initiatives and medical research projects have shut …

Josh Boak / Associated Press:

Trump fires the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — President Donald Trump has fired the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, in the latest purge of a Biden administration holdover. Chopra was one of the more important regulators …

Discussion: New York Times, NPR, The Verge, CNN, The Hill, Washington Examiner, RedState, Politico, Axios, Tennessee Star, Reuters, CBS News, Bloomberg and The Gateway Pundit, more at Techmeme »

Kos / Daily Kos:

Red states love Trump—and mooching off the federal funds he wants to cut — West Virginia is one the nation's most reliably Republican states, as is Louisiana. Voters there overwhelmingly pulled the lever for Donald Trump in 2024, striking a decisive blow against former Vice President Kamala Harris …

Discussion: Breitbart

Michelle R. Smith / Associated Press:

Pro-RFK Jr. letter to the Senate includes names of doctors whose licenses were revoked or suspended — A letter submitted to the U.S. Senate that states it was sent by physicians in support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination as secretary of Health and Human Services includes the names …

Associated Press:

Air traffic controllers were initially offered buyouts and told to consider leaving government — Just a day before a deadly midair collision at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., employees at the Federal Aviation Administration were sent an offer to resign with eight months' pay.

Discussion: Raw Story, CNN, Fortune, New York Times, HuffPost, Hollywood Life and NPR

Rolling Stone:
Air Traffic Control Offices Are in Chaos in Trump's New Administration

Discussion: DNyuz, Reason and The Post Millennial

Joseph Goldstein / New York Times:

N.Y. Hospital Stops Treating 2 Children After Trump's Trans Care Order — The hospital canceled their appointments the same week an executive order from President Trump threatened to punish doctors and hospitals for offering gender-affirming care. — A leading New York City hospital system …

Discussion: IJR

CNN:

Elon Musk spent more than $290 million on the 2024 election, year-end FEC filings show — Elon Musk spent a total of more than $290 million on the 2024 election, new federal filings show, boosting President Donald Trump and Republicans in a staggering effort that has helped to secure unprecedented access …

Discussion: The Independent

Tess Bridgeman / Just Security:

Can the President Dissolve USAID by Executive Order? — President Donald Trump may be preparing to issue an Executive Order (E.O.) purporting to dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and fold some or all of its functions into the State Department, according to reporting that emerged on Friday, Jan. 31.