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10:10 PM ET, February 2, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Vittoria Elliott / Wired:
The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover  —  Engineers between 19 and 24, most linked to Musk's companies, are playing a key role as he seizes control of federal infrastructure.  —  Elon Musk's takeover of federal government infrastructure is ongoing …
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Musk Says DOGE Halting Treasury Payments to US Contractors  — Musk Calls USAID ‘a criminal organization’ that should ‘die’  — Billionaire expanding his reach across government spending  —  Elon Musk said his “DOGE team” of government efficiency enforcers is shutting down payments …
CNN:
Senior USAID security officials put on leave after refusing Musk's DOGE access to agency systems  —  Two top security officials at the US Agency for International Development were put on administrative leave Saturday night after refusing to allow officials from Elon Musk's Department …
Ellen Knickmeyer / Associated Press:
USAID security leaders on leave after trying to keep Musk's DOGE from classified info, officials say  —  The Trump administration has placed two top security chiefs at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas …
David McAfee / Raw Story:
‘This is a five-alarm fire’: Experts pounce on Musk's new ‘grave national security threat’  —  It was reported on Sunday that two officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were threatened with arrest and then put on leave after refusing to let Elon Musk access systems at the agency …
Wall Street Journal:
Musk Moves With Lightning Speed to Exert Control Over the Government  —  The billionaire's representatives gained access to a Treasury Department payment system and sensitive documents at USAID  —  Elon Musk's allies are moving swiftly to exert control over vast swaths of the U.S. government …
ABC News:   Turmoil inside USAID: DOGE reps take over offices, senior officials placed on leave
Washington Post:
Trump and allies make more moves to wrest control of USAID
Discussion: Reuters
Reuters:
More USAID staff ousted as Trump administration dismantles aid agency
Discussion: Axios, CBS News and NBC News
New York Times:
Top Security Officials at Aid Agency Put on Leave After Denying Access to Musk Team
Discussion: Oregonian and DNyuz
Pia Singh / CNBC:
Dow futures drop more than 450 points after Trump hits U.S. trading partners with tariffs: Live updates  —  Stock futures tumbled Sunday night to kick off a new trading month, as investors weighed new U.S. tariffs on goods from key trade partners and their potential impact on the economy and corporate profits.
Discussion: The Independent
RELATED:
Financial Times:
Trump faces backlash from business as tariffs ignite inflation fears  —  Experts warn aggressive trade measures against US allies will hurt consumers and roil supply chains  —  Donald Trump faced a backlash from business groups and some in his own Republican party after kicking off a trade war …
Lindsay Wise / Wall Street Journal:
Trump's Move to Put Tariff Hikes Ahead of Tax Cuts Has Spooked Almost Everyone
Discussion: Grabien
New York Times:
Trudeau Announces Retaliatory Tariffs Against the U.S.
Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Trump Tariffs Threaten to Upend Global Economic Order
Bloomberg:
Car Prices Face $3,000 Increase as Tariffs Hit Auto Sector
Discussion: Axios, The Verge, Fox Business and DNyuz
Laya Neelakandan / CNBC:
Ontario to remove U.S. alcohol from shelves after Trump's tariffs announcement
CBC News:
Doug Ford announces Ontario ban on American liquor in response to U.S. tariffs
Discussion: Saywhat Politics
Matina Stevis-Gridneff / New York Times:
Trudeau Details Canada's Retaliation Plans in Emotional Rebuke of Trump Tariffs
Zia Weise / Politico:
Brussels vows ‘firm’ response to threatened Trump tariffs as EU braces for trade war
New York Times:
Top F.B.I. Agent in New York Vows to ‘Dig In’ After Removals at Agency  —  James E. Dennehy, the highly respected leader of the largest and most important field office in the bureau, said in an email to staff that the F.B.I. was in a “battle of our own.”  —  The top agent at the F.B.I.'s …
Discussion: Washington Examiner
RELATED:
NBC News:
Agents ‘have started to pack up their desks’ as fear of FBI mass firings swirls  —  Some agents have been sent a 12-question survey about their role in Jan. 6 cases.  An FBI agent group advised agents overall to “stay calm and refrain from making any statements.”
Politico:   FBI agents, officials asked to detail their work on Jan. 6 cases
Amanda Friedman / Politico:
Sen. Mark Warner warns of ramifications for Trump's FBI and Justice Department firings
Discussion: Raw Story and CBS News
Ben Smith / Semafor:
MAGA intellectual Darren Beattie will fill key State Department role  —  The Scoop  —  Secretary of State Marco Rubio will appoint Darren Beattie, a speechwriter in President Donald Trump's first term, acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, two people briefed on the plans said.
RELATED:
ABC News:
Trump administration taps controversial conservative journalist for top job  —  Darren Beattie is the acting under secretary in a top State Department role.  —  A sign for the U.S. Department of State is captured on the outside of the Harry S. Truman Federal Building on Oct. 8, 2024 in Washington, D.C.
Discussion: The Post Millennial
Michelle Myers / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
ICE raided his family's North Philly car wash. Here is Jeffrey Lee's account of what happened.  —  Jeffrey Lee, 35, was en route to his family's business, Complete Autowash Philly, when a call came through his car's speaker.  The caller ID read “Dad” but there was an ICE agent on the other end …
Timothy Snyder / Thinking about:
The Logic of Destruction  —  What is a country?  The way its people govern themselves.  America exists because its people elect those who make and execute laws.  The assumption of a democracy is that individuals have dignity and rights that they realize and protect by acting together.
RELATED:
Reuters:
Trump to cut off all future funding to South Africa  —  U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would cut off all future funding to South Africa because he claimed, without evidence, that “certain classes of people” were being treated “very badly.”
RELATED:
Derek Wallbank / Bloomberg:
Trump Vows to Cut Off Aid to South Africa Over Land Policy
Discussion: RedState and DNyuz
Yamiche Alcindor / NBC News:
Union official says Education Department employees were placed on leave after taking diversity training during Trump's first term  —  A letter to the affected employees obtained by NBC News said they would continue to receive their full salaries and benefits and would not be required to do any work-related tasks.
Samuel Bagenstos / Inside/Outside:
Why Write About the Illegality of What Trump and Musk are Doing?  —  NYU Law professor Noah Rosenblum posted on Bluesky yesterday that “[t]here has never been a larger gap in my (admittedly quite short) professional life between how lay folks and law profs are talking about what is happening in government right now.
Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo
Associated Press:
Rubio says Panama must reduce Chinese influence around the canal or face possible US action  —  U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio brought a warning to Panamanian leader José Raúl Mulino on Sunday: Immediately reduce what President Donald Trump says is Chinese influence …
RELATED:
United States Department of State:
Secretary Rubio's Meeting with Panamanian President Mulino
David Bauder / Associated Press:
The power of independent journalism: From her Brooklyn apartment, she ‘scooped’ the nation's media  —  First word of the Trump administration's since-rescinded order to freeze spending on federal loans and grants came not from a major news organization, but from a woman working alone in her Brooklyn apartment.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
GOP rep says he supports ‘purging’ of State Department
Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech / The Hill:
Confusion over federal funding freeze prompts public health concerns
Jared Gans / The Hill:
Paxton weighs Cornyn challenge as Texas GOP rift deepens
KFF:
A Look at Federal Health Data Taken Offline
 Earlier Items: 
Robert B. Hubbell / Today's Edition Newsletter:
The coup rolls on, but we will prevail.
Discussion: DNyuz
Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:
GOP pollster says Trump voters ‘tired’ of being accused of racism
David Smith / The Guardian:
Wrecking ball: Trump's war on ‘woke’ marks US society's plunge into ‘dark times’
Ezra Klein / New York Times:
Don't Believe Him  —  This is an edited transcript of an audio essay on “The Ezra Klein Show.”
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Bill Simmons says he has agreed to a new Spotify contract and will continue his show for at least two years; he'll also serve as Spotify's head of talk strategy

Ruth Marcus / New Yorker:
Ruth Marcus explains why she quit WaPo, not wanting to tell readers “what Jeff Bezos thinks I should think”, and publishes her spiked column in The New Yorker

Saleah Blancaflor / Adweek:
SiriusXM undergoes another round of layoffs after reportedly cutting about 100 jobs in January; source: cuts affect the product and technology group primarily

 
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