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6:40 PM ET, February 5, 2025

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 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 and New Republic
RELATED:
Emma Dumain / Politico:
Senate's top appropriator says Elon Musk has gone too far
Discussion: OutsideTheBeltway
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
Inside the Elon Musk-Jim Jordan ‘mind meld’ shaking up Capitol Hill
Discussion: Twitchy and Raw Story
Nicholas Wu / Politico:
New Democratic bill targets Elon Musk
Discussion: Fortune and TechCrunch
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: Vox, DNyuz and Marketplace
RELATED:
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
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.
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 …
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 …
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:
New York Times:
Trump Proposes U.S. Takeover of Gaza and Says All Palestinians Should Leave
The Guardian:
Trump officials try to walk back president's comments on Gaza ‘takeover’ - live
NPR:
Trump says the U.S. will ‘take over’ Gaza and relocate its people. What does it mean?
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:
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  —  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 …
NBC News:
Lawsuits imminent over Trump's dismantling of USAID
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:
Brooke Migdon / The Hill:   Trump says transgender athletes will not be permitted entry to 2028 Olympic Games
NBC News:
Trump signs executive order banning trans women from women's sports
RELATED:
Sam Ogozalek / Politico:
Musk's cost-cutters to ‘plug in’ to air traffic control system, Trump's transportation chief says
Discussion: CNBC
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: Ars Technica, STAT and Beyer
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
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, USA Today and Instapundit
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 …
Associated Press:
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.
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
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
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 …
Morgan Lee / Associated Press:
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.
Reuters:
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
 
 
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 More Items: 
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
Jason Beeferman / Politico:
LG Delgado won't endorse Hochul
Politico:
Phil Murphy hands Republicans an attack line with immigrant housing gaffe
Discussion: New York Post and NorthJersey.com
Alexander Tin / CBS News:
As Trump shuts down USAID missions, officials warn Ebola outbreak in Uganda will spread
Discussion: WTOP News and BBC
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
Jake Lahut / Wired:
Elon Musk's Takeover Is Causing Rifts in Donald Trump's Inner Circle
Discussion: NBC News and HuffPost
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, IJR and Breitbart
David Edwards / Raw Story:
Watch: Nancy Mace repeatedly shouts LGBTQ+ slur as Dems object at hearing
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Why Elon Will Be Trump's Undoing
Discussion: The Kyiv Independent
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Filip Timotija / The Hill:
A source says “most” Voice of America journalists were put on administrative leave, a day after President Trump signed an EO aimed at eliminating the USAGM

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
A look at the growing battle over how to define a podcast, as YouTube pushes deeper into podcasting and Spotify pursues video

Ben Smith / Semafor:
How Breitbart became “legacy” MAGA media, as Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow says the outlet is “trying to be the historical record of the Trump administration”

 
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