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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 …
Discussion:
NBC News, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, New Republic, CyberScoop, WBOY-TV and Townhall
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King Musk's Government Purge Hits a Snag — Before Elon Musk can exercise authoritarian power, he must purge the federal bureaucracy. But federal workers aren't playing ball. — Protesters gather outside the United States Office of Personal Management (OPM) headquarters, February 4, 2025, in Washington.
Discussion:
Axios, PoliticusUSA, EsstN and Fortune




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:
Vox, DNyuz and Marketplace
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Trump-Musk Purge Scandal at Treasury Takes Yet Another Unsettling Turn — In an effort to tamp down the outcry around Elon Musk's autocratic and illegal power grabs, the Treasury Department has sent a new letter to Congress that casts Musk's takeover of the agency in benign terms.
Discussion:
Techdirt, Raw Story, Military.com, The Register, Associated Press, CBS News, Fox Business, Bloomberg and DNyuz


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:
Business Insider and New Republic


Why Elon Will Be Trump's Undoing
Discussion:
The Kyiv Independent and Bangor Daily News


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 …
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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.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, The Contrarian, Fox Business, New Republic and Breitbart
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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 …


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.
Discussion:
NBC News, FedScoop, Blaze Media, Bloomberg and New York Magazine, more at Techmeme »


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.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Guardian, New York Times, BBC, Al Jazeera, Hürriyet Daily News, abc7NY, The Floridian, The Hill, Frontpage Mag, Fox News, Financial Times, Associated Press, CBS News, Reuters, Fortune, Raw Story, The Daily Sceptic, Bloomberg, Townhall, Exposing the role …, Daily Kos, MeidasTouch News, The American Spectator, Algemeiner.com, New Republic, Politico, DNyuz, The Defense Post, Informed Comment, Mediaite, Daily Mail, Slate and Florida Politics
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How Trump arrived at his stunning idea to ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip
Discussion:
ABC News, The Independent, IJR, DNyuz, Jewish Insider and Breitbart

Trump says the U.S. will ‘take over’ Gaza and relocate its people. What does it mean?
Discussion:
Reuters, New York Times, Al Jazeera, Breitbart, freebeacon.com, Daily Mail, DNyuz, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, RNS, New York Magazine, The Diplomat, Jewish Insider, USA Today, American Thinker, The Independent, The Guardian, israelhayom.com, Mediaite, New York Daily News, UPI, New York Post and Washington Examiner

Trump Proposes U.S. Takeover of Gaza and Says All Palestinians Should Leave
Discussion:
Bloomberg, USA Today, CNN, Jewish Insider, CBS News, Fox News, The National Interest, Mediaite, Politico, Vanity Fair, DNyuz, HuffPost, Breitbart, Los Angeles Times, Reason, The Daily Signal, RedState, Jacobin, American Greatness, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Foreign Policy, Rolling Stone, Reuters, Jerusalem Post, Asia Times, CIVIC TEXTS, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, LUIGI MANGIONE FAN, CNBC, Today's Edition Newsletter and OutsideTheBeltway

Trump officials try to walk back president's comments on Gaza ‘takeover’ - live
Discussion:
Fox News, New York Times, BBC, Reuters, CNN, Atlantic Council, ABC News, Agence France-Presse, RNS, Algemeiner.com, Human Events, NPR, Politico, israelhayom.com, NJTODAY.NET, DNyuz, Raw Story, Metro.co.uk, The Independent, NBC News, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Semafor, Daily Mail, The Poke and Al Jazeera

Behind the Curtain: Trump's wild Middle East vision
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Times, The Intercept, The Atlantic, Raw Story, Reuters, CBS News, Associated Press, The Forward, HotAir, Politico and Bloomberg

Pro-Trump Arab American group changes its name after the president's Gaza ‘Riviera’ comments
Discussion:
The Guardian, Reuters, Axios, ABC7, Bloomberg, Politico, freebeacon.com, RedState, DNyuz, Metro.co.uk and CNBC


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
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List: Examples of Trump's Actions That Are Defying Legal Limits — Other presidents have occasionally claimed a constitutional right to bypass particular laws. But in the opening weeks of his second term, President Trump and his administration have opened the throttle on blowing through …


Lawsuits imminent over Trump's dismantling of USAID — USAID employees and contractors are discussing potential litigation, four sources familiar with the talks told NBC News. — WASHINGTON — U.S. Agency for International Development employees and contractors are discussing potential lawsuits targeting …
Discussion:
Associated Press and New York Times


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 …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, USA Today, The Hill, Forbes, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Fox News, CBS News, Raw Story, Bloomberg, The Post Millennial and masslive.com


Thousands protest Trump administration policies in cities across the US — A movement to protest the early actions of President Donald Trump's administration took off Wednesday, as thousands of demonstrators gathered outside a federal courthouse in Philadelphia and at state capitols in Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin and Indiana.
Discussion:
New Republic, USA Today, WPR, Source New Mexico, Associated Press, Denver Post, WAGA-TV, WTOP News and WNYW-TV
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In photos: Thousands across the U.S. protest Trump and Musk's policies
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Florida Phoenix, USA Today, The Daily Wire, Florida Politics and Fox News

‘God bless Elon Musk’: How Jim Jordan plans to help the world's richest man
Discussion:
Raw Story


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 …
Discussion:
TMZ.com, Tennessee Star, The Guardian, New York Post, IJR and The Daily Wire
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Trump signs executive order banning trans women from women's sports
Discussion:
Axios, Scripps News, freebeacon.com, RedState, Metro.co.uk, Ace of Spades HQ, Advocate, The Guardian, Blaze Media, MPR News, UPI, CBS News, PinkNews, DNyuz, ZeroHedge News, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit and New York Daily News


Elon Musk says DOGE will make ‘rapid safety upgrades’ to the air traffic control system following deadly plane crash — Amid a blitz across the federal government, DOGE is set to take on the FAA next. — Musk said that DOGE would “aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.”
Discussion:
The Post Millennial, WNYW-TV, DNyuz, Blaze Media and New Republic
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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.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, GovExec.com and E&E News
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Doge staffers enter Noaa headquarters and incite reports of cuts and threats
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Axios, Orlando Sentinel, Washingtonian and E&E News


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, Beyer, DNyuz and Michigan Advance


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 …
Discussion:
freebeacon.com, HotAir, Human Events, Breitbart, Rolling Stone, The Gateway Pundit, Digby's Hullabaloo, Twitchy and Shore News Network
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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, USA Today, Instapundit, Bloomberg and Breitbart


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 and New Republic


The House speaker defends Trump's Gaza plan, while other Republicans express doubts. — Amid global alarm, top administration officials sought to soften elements of President Trump's proposal to force Palestinians out of the territory and take it over. Experts said the plan would violate international law.
Discussion:
New York Times, Al Jazeera, Salon, DNyuz and Vanity Fair


Senate's top appropriator says Elon Musk has gone too far — The Senate's top appropriator thinks Elon Musk has gone too far. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, is raising alarms about the influence that billionaire Elon Musk is wielding inside the Trump administration and across federal agencies.
Discussion:
OutsideTheBeltway and Bangor Daily News


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 …

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 …


Top Trump prosecutor in DC dropped federal case against Capitol rioter he represented — As President Donald Trump moved last month to free the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol, his newly appointed top prosecutor in Washington put his name on a request that a judge drop charges …
Discussion:
Rolling Stone


Foreign Aid Freeze Leaves Millions Without H.I.V. Treatment — President Trump's pause on aid, and the gutting of the primary aid agency, could jeopardize the health of more than 20 million people worldwide, including 500,000 children, experts say. — Two weeks into President Trump's sweeping freeze …
Discussion:
Washington Blade, The Japan Times and Forbes


LG Delgado won't endorse Hochul — SNUBBING HIS BOSS: Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado won't commit to endorsing his own boss, Gov. Kathy Hochul, for reelection in 2026. — “My focus right now isn't on the election,” Delgado told Playbook when asked if he would support Hochul's reelection in 2026.