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Democratic Senator Says He Will Stall Trump Nominees Until USAID Is Back — Schatz said he would hold up Trump's diplomatic confirmations — WASHINGTON—Sen. Brian Schatz (D., Hawaii) said he would place a “blanket hold” on all of President Trump's State Department nominees until …
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Democrats push back after Musk says Trump agrees to close USAID and workers are kept out — The Trump administration and billionaire ally Elon Musk moved to shutter an agency that provides crucial aid to fund education and fight starvation overseas, sparking a showdown with congressional Democrats …
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Trump Advisers Weigh Plan to Dismantle Education Department — Administration officials are discussing executive order that could shut down key functions of the agency — Trump administration officials are weighing executive actions to dismantle the Education Department as part of the campaign …
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Reuters, Politico, Washington Examiner, RedState, The Guardian, Raw Story, USA Today, Scripps News, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit and Jewish Insider


Trump preps order to dismantle Education Dept. as DOGE probes data — Closing the agency would require congressional approval, so the new administration hopes to diminish it in the meantime. — President Donald Trump is preparing an executive order aimed at eventually closing the Education Department and …
Discussion:
USA Today, Forbes, CBS News, New York Times and Reuters


Elon Musk Suggests Getting Rid Of All Regulations In Midnight Call — “If it's not possible now, it'll never be possible,” Musk said of his proposal to simply ignore all federal regulation as a baseline. — LOADING — President Donald Trump's “government efficiency” …
Discussion:
Fortune, Politico, The Daily Wire, The Information and USA Today


USAID personnel told to stay away from headquarters after Elon Musk's shutdown comments — Marocco held several national security positions during the first Trump administration, including at USAID, where he tried to consolidate power and slash funding. — WASHINGTON — Secretary …
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Daily Mail, The Root, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, Forbes and The Hill


Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz puts a hold on Trump's State Department nominees — The move comes after Elon Musk said he and Trump would shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development. — WASHINGTON — Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said Monday he's placing a “blanket hold” …


USAID workers at Washington HQ told to stay home on Monday in unexpected, early-morning email

‘What is happening here is illegal’: Dem senator confronts security at USAID headquarters
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CBS News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, GovExec.com and MPR News

Hakeem Jeffries wants funding freeze ‘choked off’ in spending deal
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Democratic Leader …, Axios and Associated Press

Trump II Punishes Fed Workers For Attending Trump I Diversity Training
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ABC News

Trump administration moves to further undercut USAID
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CNN, Bloomberg, HotAir, Mercury News, Sun-Sentinel, CBS News, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, Blaze Media, Washington Examiner, MeidasTouch News, Scripps News, Hollywood Life, Forbes and DNyuz

The trade war in Trump's mind
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New York Times, New York Post, Breitbart, The Daily Wire, USA Today, 19FortyFive, DNyuz, New York Daily News and Washington Examiner

Trump administration finalizing plans to shutter Education Department
Discussion:
Forbes

Congressional Democrats denied entry to USAID building
Discussion:
ABC News, NPR and Baltimore Sun


Inside Musk's Aggressive Incursion Into the Federal Government — The billionaire is creating major upheaval as his team sweeps through agencies, in what has been an extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual. — The billionaire is creating major upheaval as his team sweeps through agencies …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Reuters, Chicago Tribune and E&E News
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I'm a Federal Worker. Elon Musk's Government Data Heist Is the Entire Ballgame. — On Friday night, reports emerged that Elon Musk's aides had tussled with Office of Personnel Management and Treasury staffers while demanding access to troves of information about federal employees.
Discussion:
Vox


Musk's superteam of former iPad babies — Read to the end for Plimbo … Many other government websites faced outages throughout the weekend as they scrambled to figure out exactly how to comply with the instructions being sent out by the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM).


Warren Questions Bessent Over Musk Access to Treasury Payment System

Elon Musk is serving as a ‘special government employee,’ White House says
Discussion:
Business Insider, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Forbes and Mediaite

Musk associates given unfettered access to private data of government employees
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USA Today, Raw Story, The Atlantic, Mediaite and The Column

Unions sue to block Musk team's access to Treasury payments
Discussion:
Bloomberg and PoliticusUSA


Federal Workers Block Doors of Admin Building Over Elon Musk Data Breach
Discussion:
New Republic and The Daily Signal


Trump to pause promised tariffs for 30 days after speaking with Trudeau — Trump, Trudeau spoke last hour for the second time today — Trump, Trudeau have 2nd phone call as tariff deadline nears — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump will hold off …
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Reuters, USA Today, Detroit Free Press, DNyuz, Breitbart, The Guardian and Daily Mail
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Live Updates: Mexico Reaches Deal With U.S. to Delay Trump Tariffs
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Vox, Reuters, NPR, Washington Post, CNBC, New York Post, New York Daily News, PBS NewsHour, Global News, HotAir, KFMB, WTOP News, Slate, Jacobin, The Contrarian, American Enterprise Institute, freebeacon.com and NBC News

Trump pauses tariffs on Canada imports for 30 days after doing the same for Mexico
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Fox News, IJR, DNyuz, New York Post, Associated Press, Ace of Spades HQ, The Floridian, UPI, Variety and Semafor

White House: Mexico is ‘serious’, Canada appears to have ‘misunderstood’ Trump's executive order

Trump backs off tariff threat with Mexico, digs in on Canada
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Washington Post, Associated Press, Bloomberg, New York Post, CNN, Raw Story, Breitbart, ABC News, Global News, DNyuz, 6abc, The Gateway Pundit, PoliticusUSA, The National Pulse, Tennessee Star, The Guardian, American Enterprise Institute, The Daily Signal, The Independent, Blaze Media, Los Angeles Times, Texas Standard, American Greatness, Al Jazeera and Boston Herald

Republicans eye bigger farm bailout amid Trump trade wars
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Mediaite, Raw Story, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Axios and DNyuz

The oracle of Biden's inflation woes has a warning for Trump
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Raw Story, Business Insider, Fox News and Fortune

Trump backs off tariff threat with Canada and Mexico
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Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Fox News, NBC News, The Guardian, Business Insider, NPR, Global News, Politico, Reuters, Al Jazeera, West Virginia Watch, DNyuz, Blaze Media, CNBC, BBC, New York Times, Associated Press, The Independent, WAGA-TV, WHYY, Axios, Quartz, Deadline, New York Post, New Republic, Scripps News, CBS News and E&E News


DOJ Says Trump Administration Doesn't Have to Follow Court Order Halting Funding Freeze — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) argued Monday that a federal court order blocking President Donald Trump's federal funding freeze doesn't halt the administration's efforts.
Discussion:
Roll Call, Law & Crime and Washington Examiner
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Judge signals plan to further block Trump spending freeze — A judge said some nonprofits continued to be hampered by the freeze and still couldn't access promised funding. — A federal judge expressed concern Monday that the Trump administration is continuing to implement a blanket freeze …
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Axios, Bloomberg, Reuters, RedState, USA Today, Ohio Capital Journal, WTTG-TV, WUSA and Associated Press

Judge Further Blocks White House Spending Freeze
Discussion:
Civil Discourse … and DNyuz


Trump appoints speechwriter fired for attending conference with White nationalists to top State Department role — Darren Beattie, a former Donald Trump speechwriter who was fired in 2018 after CNN revealed he spoke at a conference attended by White nationalists, has been elevated to a top job …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Associated Press, The Independent and Mediaite
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CFPB halts work after Trump appoints Bessent as acting head — The consumer watchdog agency was formed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Elon Musk wants to “delete” it. — President Donald Trump on Monday appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as the acting director …
Discussion:
Reuters, Bloomberg Law, New Republic, NBC News and The Independent, more at Techmeme »
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Treasury Secretary Bessent, tapped to run CFPB, orders staff to halt work
Discussion:
Scripps News, Consumer Financial …, CNBC, Politico, New York Times, The Daily Caller, consumerbankers.com, UPI, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, RedState and Fox Business


Trump orders creation of US sovereign wealth fund, says it could buy TikTok — U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ordering the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments to create a sovereign wealth fund and said it may purchase TikTok. — “We're going to stand this thing up within the next 12 months.


Musk Says He's ‘Deleted’ Popular Free IRS Tax Filing Program — WHO ASKED FOR THIS? — The online tax filing option on the IRS website had a strong bipartisan 76% approval rating from registered voters. — Kanye West's Naked Grammys Stunt Could Cost Him $20M — THE NAKED TRUTH


E.P.A. Tells More Than 1,000 They Could Be Fired ‘Immediately’ — A spokeswoman for Lee Zeldin, the new head of the agency, said the goal was to create an “effective and efficient” federal work force. — The Trump administration has warned more than 1,100 Environmental Protection Agency employees …
Discussion:
Wired, Washington Examiner, The Daily Signal, New Republic, The Daily Wire and New York Post


RFK Jr. vote poses key test for Bill Cassidy, endangered Louisiana senator — The fate of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s bid to run HHS may rest with a Republican wrestling with his training as a physician and his instincts as a politician. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s bid to serve …
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State Dept. Fires About 60 Contractors Working on Democracy and Human Rights — The contractors helped enact programs that focus on building up civil society and democratic practices in authoritarian states such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba.
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Ford ‘ripping up’ Ontario's $100M contract with Elon Musk's Starlink in wake of U.S. tariffs — Musk part of President Donald Trump's team that wants to destroy families, Ford says — Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford is “ripping up” Ontario's nearly $100 million contract …