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7:30 PM ET, February 5, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
New York Times:
C.I.A. Sends White House an Unclassified Email With Names of Some Employees  —  The list of partial names was provided in an effort to comply with an executive order to trim the federal work force.  —  The C.I.A. sent the White House an unclassified email listing all employees hired …
RELATED:
Daniel W. Drezner / Drezner's World:   The Story That Perfectly Encapsulates Trump 2.0's Foreign Policy Carnage
Benjamin Guggenheim / Politico:
Two Dem lawmakers barge into House speaker's office in backlash against Musk  —  Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) barged into House Speaker Mike Johnson's office unscheduled on Wednesday and challenged him about Elon Musk's team gaining access to a sensitive payment system at the Treasury Department.
Discussion: Axios, Raw Story and New Republic
RELATED:
Emma Dumain / Politico:
Senate's top appropriator says Elon Musk has gone too far
Discussion: OutsideTheBeltway
Nicholas Wu / Politico:
New Democratic bill targets Elon Musk
Discussion: Fortune and TechCrunch
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
Inside the Elon Musk-Jim Jordan ‘mind meld’ shaking up Capitol Hill
Discussion: Twitchy
Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
There Is No Going Back  —  Even if anyone had elected Elon Musk to anything, the past week would still be one of the most serious examples of executive branch malfeasance in American history.  —  Musk has seized hold of critical levers of power and authority within the federal government …
Discussion: DNyuz and Marketplace
RELATED:
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Judge eyes short-term block on Musk allies' ability to share Treasury records outside the department  —  The move comes in a lawsuit alleging that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency is compromising Treasury's payment system.  —  A federal judge said Wednesday she's prepared …
Discussion: Ars Technica, CBS News and Fox Business
Dana Hull / Bloomberg:
White House Says Musk Will Police His Own Conflicts of Interest  —  The White House said Elon Musk, the billionaire leading President Donald Trump's government cost-cutting efforts, will determine if there are conflicts of interest between his work reviewing federal spending and his overlapping empire of six companies.
RELATED:
David Corn / Mother Jones:
Trump White House Moves to Allow for a Musk Takeover of Government IT  —  The Office of Personnel Management is trying to make it easier to put ideologues and cronies in key tech roles.  —  It's a rather wonky position in the US government: chief information officer.  Most federal agencies and departments have one.
Mike Brock / Techdirt:
The 24-Hour Reality Check: Musk's Impossible Power Grab And America's Crisis  —  There are twenty-four hours in a day.  This isn't a matter of political opinion or technological disruption—it's as immutable as the fact that two plus two equals four.  No amount of genius, innovation …
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA  —  Employees working for the agency now known as DOGE have been ordered to stop using Slack while government lawyers attempt to transition the agency to one that is not subject …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Trump's suggestion that US ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip is rejected by allies and adversaries alike  —  President Donald Trump's proposal that the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents was swiftly rejected and denounced on Wednesday by American allies and adversaries alike.
RELATED:
The Guardian:
Trump officials try to walk back president's comments on Gaza ‘takeover’ - live
New York Times:
Trump Proposes U.S. Takeover of Gaza and Says All Palestinians Should Leave
Wall Street Journal:
DOGE Aides Search Medicare Agency Payment Systems for Fraud  —  Elon Musk's allies have been on site at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services offices this week  —  Representatives of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency have been working at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services …
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Trump Brazenly Defies Laws in Escalating Executive Power Grab  —  In the radical opening weeks of his second term, President Trump has appeared to feel little constraint by any need to show respect for the rule of law.  —  In his first term, President Trump seemed to relish ripping through …
Discussion: The Daily Caller
RELATED:
New York Times:   List: Examples of Trump's Actions That Are Defying Legal Limits
NBC News:
Lawsuits imminent over Trump's dismantling of USAID
Discussion: Associated Press
RELATED:
Politico:
Musk's cost-cutters to ‘plug in’ to air traffic control system, Trump's transportation chief says
Discussion: The Hill and CNBC
Fox News:
Trump signs 'No Men in Women's Sports' executive order  —  President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the “No Men in Women's Sports” executive order, fulfilling one of his major campaign promises of keeping biological men out of girls and women's sports.  —  Trump signed the executive order …
RELATED:
Matthew Xiao / freebeacon.com:
Trump Signs Executive Order Banning Biological Men in Women's Sports
Brooke Migdon / The Hill:
Trump says transgender athletes will not be permitted entry to 2028 Olympic Games
Discussion: Politico
NBC News:
Trump administration evicts former Coast Guard leader from her house with 3 hours notice  —  Trump fired Linda Fagan, the first female Coast Guard commandant, on his second day in office.  A Trump official told her she had three hours to leave her house on Tuesday.
Lucas Ropek / Gizmodo:
Elon Musk's Enemy, USAID, Was Investigating Starlink's Contracts in Ukraine  —  The agency was in the midst of a probe into the billionaire's equipment at the time of Musk's assault. … Since coming into power, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has barraged USAID …
Discussion: The National Pulse, E&E News and DNyuz
Wired:
This DOGE Engineer Has Access to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  —  Sources tell WIRED that NOAA employees were ordered to give an engineer from Elon Musk's DOGE task force access to all of the agency's Google sites by the end of business Wednesday.
Fox News:
Politico pays employees late; staffers believe Elon Musk's crackdown on government spending played a role  —  Politico has received at least $8.2 million from the US government  —  Politico staffers received their bi-weekly direct deposits late this week, irking staffers who believe Elon Musk's crackdown …
RELATED:
Axios:
DOGE targets government media subscriptions after MAGA attacks
New York Times:
Cows Have Been Infected With a Second Form of Bird Flu  —  A new version of the virus is widespread in wild birds but had not previously been detected in cows.  —  Dairy cows in Nevada have been infected with a new form of bird flu that is distinct from the version that has been spreading through herds …
Discussion: STAT, DNyuz, Ars Technica, KLAS and Beyer
April Rubin / Axios:
Trump-voting states have more to lose if Education Department dismantled … - States that voted for Trump last November, on average, use more federal funding in their education apportions than states that voted for former Vice President Harris.  — “That dependence is, in large part …
Discussion: Democrats and USA Today
David Dayen / American Prospect:
L.A. Times Owner Has Financial Motivations for Boosting RFK Jr.  —  Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong's biotech firm is preparing three applications needing approval from the Food and Drug Administration.  —  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during a Senate HELP Committee hearing for his pending confirmation …
Discussion: New Republic
David Bauder / Associated Press:
‘60 Minutes’ publicly releases transcripts of interview at heart of its dispute with Trump  —  CBS' “60 Minutes” posted online Wednesday the unedited transcripts of its October interview with Kamala Harris that sparked a lawsuit by Donald Trump, saying that they proved its broadcast was not “doctored or deceitful.”
Miles Kruppa / Wall Street Journal:
Google Kills Diversity Hiring Targets  —  Search giant is eliminating goals to hire more minority employees and reviewing DEI programs, part of a pullback across Silicon Valley  —  Google is eliminating its goal of hiring more employees from historically underrepresented groups and reviewing some diversity …
ABC News:
Judge issues nationwide injunction blocking Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship  —  The judge heard arguments from lawyers for five pregnant undocumented women.  —  President Donald Trump speaks to the press after signing an executive order to create a US sovereign wealth fund …
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
McConnell slips and falls outside Senate Chamber  —  Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) slipped and fell on the stairs leaving the Senate Chamber on Wednesday afternoon, prompting concerned aides to rush to help the 82-year-old lawmaker.  —  McConnell appeared to slip …
Jake Lahut / Wired:
Elon Musk's Takeover Is Causing Rifts in Donald Trump's Inner Circle  —  “He's getting too big for his britches,” says one Trump world source.  —  Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, publicly at least, are on good terms.  —  Yet when it comes to the staff in and around the new administration, it's a different story.
Discussion: NBC News, Raw Story and HuffPost
Sarah Longwell / The Bulwark:
The Real Reason Musk Is Mad at Us  —  The anatomy of a conspiracy theory  —  ELON MUSK, OUR NEW UNELECTED OVERLORD, is mad at Bill Kristol.  Very, very mad.  And because this is the world we live in now, his hordes of online minions are mad, too.  —  Let me explain.
Shannon Pettypiece / NBC News:
Head Start childcare programs are still unable to access federal money after Trump's funding freeze  —  Programs serving 20,000 children have faced funding delays since Trump's administration announced (and then announced rescinding) a temporary freeze on federal aid last week.
Discussion: NHSA, Associated Press and Daily Kos
 
 
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 More Items: 
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Collins: Trump has empowered Musk ‘far beyond’ what is appropriate
Zeb Larson / Dame Magazine:
We're Living in a New Age of Robber Barons
Discussion: Resolute Square
The White House:
Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports
Discussion: Axios and WTOP News
Politico:
Phil Murphy hands Republicans an attack line with immigrant housing gaffe
Discussion: New York Post
Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:
Foreign Aid Freeze Leaves Millions Without H.I.V. Treatment
 Earlier Items: 
Janus Rose / 404 Media:
You Can't Post Your Way Out of Fascism  —  If there's one thing I'd hoped people had learned …
Aaron Wiener / Washington Post:
Trump ordered workers back to the office. They ask, where, exactly?
Discussion: The Independent
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Bondi's DOJ Day 1 directives: Fight weaponization of justice, eliminate cartels, lift death penalty ban
Ben Fox / Politico:
‘Frankly Insane’: Trump's Plan to Ship Migrants to Guantanamo Could Quickly Collapse
Discussion: Military.com and IJR
Reuters:
Top Trump prosecutor in DC dropped federal case against Capitol rioter he represented
Discussion: Rolling Stone
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Why Elon Will Be Trump's Undoing
Discussion: The Kyiv Independent
Morgan Lee / Associated Press:
Thousands protest Trump administration policies in cities across the US
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Paramount says it expects its merger with Skydance to close on August 7; the new company will trade on Nasdaq as PSKY

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Meta will no longer accept political, election, or social issue ads in the EU from October, like Google, with both citing incoming regulation

Ellie Wolfe / The Baltimore Banner:
The Johns Hopkins University Press will license its authors' books to train AI models, citing concerns that “the window may be closing” for making AI deals

 
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