memeorandum: Donald Trump and the incredible shrinking Congress (Washington Post)

9:55 AM ET, February 2, 2025

Top Items:

‘Make them pay’: Canada puts Trump's ‘first friend’ Elon Musk's Tesla in the crosshairs of tariff war — Canada's EV adoption rate is outpacing that of the U.S., with nearly 17% of new cars sold in the third quarter of 2024 being fully electric, compared to just 8% in the US. — Business Today Desk

Discussion: Townhall and Crooks and Liars

New York Times:

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: TechCrunch, The Guardian, DNyuz, Atlantic Council, The Texas Tribune, Sun-Sentinel, The Post Millennial, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Lawyers, Guns & Money and CNN

CBC News:

B.C. premier announces countermeasures against U.S. tariffs, including ban on ‘red-state’ liquor — U.S. President Donald Trump will impose 25% tariff on most Canadian imports beginning Tuesday — B.C. Premier David Eby has announced immediate countermeasures in response to incoming U.S. tariffs …

New York Times:

Elon Musk's Team Now Has 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. — 1.4k

Discussion: Reuters, New York Magazine, The Handbasket, The United States …, Wall Street Journal, DNyuz, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Gateway Pundit and MM Press

Reuters:

Mexican president orders retaliatory tariffs against U.S. — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Saturday ordered retaliatory tariffs in response to the U.S. decision to slap 25% tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico, marking the apparent start of a trade war between the two countries.

Discussion: DNyuz, USA Today, The Independent, Business Insider and Atlantic Council

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:

Musk aides gain access to sensitive Treasury Department payment system — The access — granted by Scott Bessent, Trump's newly confirmed treasury secretary — comes after the ousting of the agency's top career official. — Billionaire Elon Musk's deputies have gained access …

Discussion: DNyuz and Mediaite

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 …

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump Favors Blunt Force in Dealing With Foreign Allies and Enemies Alike

Discussion: Raw Story

U.S. Chamber of Commerce:
U.S. Chamber: Tariffs Are Not the Answer

Discussion: The Business of Fashion

Jeanne Whalen / Wall Street Journal:
Tariffs Are Here. The Price Hikes Coming for These Items May Surprise You.

Discussion: Bloomberg, San Diego Union-Tribune and CBS News

William Eltherington / CTV News:
Hockey fans boo U.S. national anthem at Ottawa Senators game after Trump imposes tariffs

Discussion: TMZ.com and Fox News

Zia Weise / Politico:
China to retaliate after Trump fires first salvo in trade war

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Agence France-Presse, Tax Foundation, The Verge, DNyuz, Bloomberg and Paul Krugman

Fatima Hussein / Associated Press:
Elon Musk's DOGE commission gains access to sensitive Treasury payment systems: AP sources

Discussion: Reuters and New York Times

Zachary B. Wolf / CNN:
We do not know what exactly Elon Musk is doing to the federal government

Discussion: NBC News, Twitchy and The Daily Signal

Bloomberg:
‘Complete Betrayal’: Canada Reels as Trump Tariff Rattles Major Trading Relationship

Discussion: NBC News, Noahpinion and Forbes

Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
Mexico, Canada announce retaliatory measures following Trump tariffs

Discussion: CNBC, CBS News, The Guardian, Reuters, The Verge, DNyuz, The Post Millennial, Washington Examiner, ABC News, Grabien, Wall Street Journal and New Republic

Congressman Greg Stanton:
Stanton Leads 40+ House Democrats in Letter Calling on Trump to Immediately Rescind Tariffs on Mexico and Canada

Discussion: Politico

Fox News:
Trump imposes tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China: ‘National emergency’

Discussion: RedState, Fox Business and New York Post

Politico:
Trump administration gives Musk allies access to Treasury payment system

Discussion: DNyuz, The Gateway Pundit and No More Mister Nice Blog

API:
API Statement on Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China

Discussion: Bloomberg, DNyuz, Reuters and UPI

Associated Press:
Trump puts tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, spurring trade war as North American allies respond

Mike Ives / New York Times:

F.A.A.'s Main Warning System for Pilots Is Down, U.S. Official Says — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration was using a backup system while it worked to address the problem. — The Federal Aviation Administration was using a backup system to send real …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Fortune

Jessie Yeung / CNN:

Critical FAA warning system outage could cause ‘residual’ flight delays today — Flights across the US could experience “residual delays” Sunday morning as the Federal Aviation Administration works to restore a critical warning system that experienced an outage Saturday night, according to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.

Discussion: Reuters, Axios and New York Post

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: Raw Story, Digby's Hullabaloo, Associated Press, DNyuz and The Guardian

Jeremy Faust / Inside Medicine:

BREAKING NEWS: CDC orders mass retraction and revision of submitted research across all science and medicine journals. Banned terms must be scrubbed. — I believe we are breaking news some news here. To help sustain independent journalism and analysis, please support Inside Medicine.

Discussion: Transgender World

Karoun Demirjian / New York Times:

End Appears Near for U.S. Aid Agency, Democratic Lawmakers Say — A sense of crisis among aid groups was growing as U.S.A.I.D.'s website went dark. — The website for the U.S. Agency for International Development went dark Saturday afternoon as lawmakers and aid workers …

Discussion: The Guardian, Bloomberg, Reuters, DNyuz and Time

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

NTSB forces reporters to get plane crash updates on X — The agency says it will no longer notify reporters about plane crash press briefings via email. — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Saturday said it will stop e-mailing news organizations and reporters with updates …

Discussion: The Verge and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »

David McAfee / Raw Story: ‘This is not right’: Outrage as major government agency accused of ‘breaking the law’

Chris Prentice / Reuters:

Exclusive: SEC's Republican-led commission tightens oversight of probes, sources say — Lawyers at the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) have been told they need to seek permission from the politically appointed leadership before formally launching probes, two sources briefed on the matter said …

Discussion: Bloomberg

Henry Farrell / Programmable Mutter:

DOGE is ripping out the guts of government — DOGE is beginning to hit, and this piece, by Mike Masnick, provides the best overview I've seen of what's happening. … The gloss that I'd add to what Mike says is this. Just as happened with Twitter, we are seeing a Silicon Valley power fantasy playing out in real life.

Discussion: Breitbart and Wired

Washington Post:

Donald Trump and the incredible shrinking Congress — The framers of the Constitution imagined Congress as the preeminent branch of government. But many Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill seem content to play second fiddle. — Republican lawmakers spent the last two weeks deferring …

New York Times:

‘We Have No Coherent Message’: Democrats Struggle to Oppose Trump — More than 50 interviews with Democratic leaders revealed a party struggling to decide what it believes in, what issues to prioritize and how to confront an aggressive right-wing administration.