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2:25 PM ET, February 5, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
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:
Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:
Meditations in an Emergency  —  So much is happening, so quickly.  The purpose of shock and awe is to bewilder and overwhelm.  It is important not to look away, or get discouraged.  Try to discern the what is a big and real threat.  Here is my best effort to do so.  —  Subscribe now
Discussion: The Nation
Nicholas Wu / Politico:
New Democratic bill targets Elon Musk  —  A veteran House Democrat is introducing new legislation to respond to billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk's overhaul of the federal government: Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Wednesday rolled out the Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy …
New Republic:
Transcript: Jamie Raskin's Brutal Takedown of Elon Musk Hits the Mark  —  The following is a lightly edited transcript of the February 5 episode of the Daily Blast podcast.  Listen to it here.  —  Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.
Punchbowl News:
DOGE-curious Dems dwindle after early Musk moves
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:
Wall Street Journal:
The CIA Is About to Get a Trump Makeover  —  Spy agency's workforce receives buyout-style offer  —  WASHINGTON—The Central Intelligence Agency offered buyouts to its entire workforce Tuesday, in what officials said is a bid to bring the agency in line with President Trump's priorities, including targeting drug cartels.
New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: C.I.A. Provides List of Recent Hires as White House Eyes Deep Cuts  —  Where Things Stand  — Worker purge expands: The C.I.A. sent the White House an unclassified email listing employees hired in the past two years, part of the Elon Musk-led effort to drastically shrink the federal work force.
Discussion: Bloomberg and Washington Post
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 …
RELATED:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Musk shocks lawmakers, setting himself on collision course
Discussion: Mashable and IJR
Emma Dumain / Politico:
Senate's top appropriator says Elon Musk has gone too far
Discussion: Bangor Daily News
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 …
RELATED:
Eric Levitz / Vox:
America's constitutional crisis could come to a head in four months
Discussion: The Hill, MPR News and HotAir
Jennifer Scholtes / Politico:
Why Washington is getting nervous about a shutdown
Discussion: Raw Story
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 …
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 president met with the Israeli prime minister at the White House, meeting in person with another world leader for the first time since returning to power.  — 1.9k  —  President Trump declared on Tuesday …
Amanda Taub / New York Times:
Trump's Gaza Takeover Would Violate International Law, Experts Say
Discussion: Mediaite and Common Dreams
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Why Elon Will Be Trump's Undoing  —  Yes, yes, “the wheels of justice grind slowly” and all that.  But when do the courts get involved?  —  Happy Wednesday.  —  Never Musk  —  by William Kristol  —  It's grim out there.  Limiting the damage done by Donald Trump and the Trumpists …
RELATED:
Alex Shephard / New Republic:
This Is So Much Worse Than Last Time … There is practically no way to describe …
Discussion: RedState
Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Trump Is Turning Out To Be a Very Pro-China President
Discussion: NJTODAY.NET and BBC
Michael Sainato / The Guardian:
Doge staffers enter Noaa headquarters and incite reports of cuts and threats  —  Members reportedly sought access to IT systems at agency that Project 2025 has called ‘harmful to US prosperity’  —  Staffers with Elon Musk's “department of government efficiency” (Doge) reportedly entered …
RELATED:
Michael Sainato / Mother Jones:
DOGE Invades NOAA, Sparking Fears of Cuts and Privatization
Discussion: Vox, E&E News, The Hill and Axios
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 …
Ryan Cooper / American Prospect:
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: EsstN and Daily Mail
RELATED:
NBC News:
Federal health workers terrified after ‘DEI’ website publishes list of ‘targets’  —  The site calls out workers who have been involved with DEI initiatives.  A majority are Black.  —  Federal health workers are expressing fear and alarm after a website called “DEI Watch List” published the photos …
Discussion: The Root and Pharyngula
Martin Wolf / Financial Times:
Predictability is the victim of Trump's tariff threats  —  An inconsistent US is an unreliable partner — it's that simple  —  Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariffs on Canada's and Mexico's exports, along with the 10 per cent tariff on China's, change the world.
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Protests against Trump and Project 2025 are planned in cities across the US  —  A movement to oppose the early actions of President Donald Trump's administration is taking off online, with plans to protest across the U.S. on Wednesday.  —  The movement has organized under the hashtags #buildtheresistance …
Default:
Elon Musk Weaponizes the Government  —  The billionaire is turning the U.S. government's own strategy against itself.  —  Meet The Authors … Over the past few days, people working for the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, Elon Musk's shadowy quasi-governmental organization …
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Elon Musk and the League of Shadows  —  America gets government by vigilante.  —  ∙ Paid  —  1. Vigilante Shit  —  What is Elon Musk's role within the federal government?  —  He is not an elected official.  He is not an appointed bureaucrat.  He is not even a formal employee.
Discussion: The Hill, Axios and Washington Post
NBC News:
Elon Musk gets quiet White House reminders his power isn't unchecked  —  Trump's aides have signaled behind the scenes that Musk still reports to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.  —  Tech billionaire and newly minted “special government employee” Elon Musk has received quiet White House reminders …
Discussion: Bloomberg and HuffPost
Ivana Saric / Axios:
America's adversaries cheer Trump admin's USAID teardown … - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev praised Elon Musk — Trump's righthand man who has led the charge against USAID — for “trying to plug USAID's Deep Throat.”  — Russian ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugin praised …
CBS News:
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper's security detail revoked  —  The security detail for former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, which was provided by the Defense Department, was revoked Tuesday night, a U.S. official and a Defense Department official told CBS News.
Discussion: New York Times
Brian Beutler / Off Message:
Watch The Credit-Ratings Agencies  —  If the illegal commandeering of the federal budget doesn't make the U.S. less creditworthy, then Wall Street is cowed and misleading investors.  —  ∙ Paid  —  In August 2011, after Republicans brought the country to the brink of default on the national debt …
Zach Schonfeld / The Hill:
Judge cements block on Trump's order restricting birthright citizenship  —  GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge Wednesday furthered a block of President Trump's executive order preventing the children of migrants without legal status from receiving birthright citizenship.
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 …
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Fox News Adds a New Host: Lara Trump  —  There is no precedent for a sitting president's relative to host a show on a major television news channel.  —  President Trump persuaded several Fox News hosts to leave the network and take up major roles in his administration.  —  Now a Trump is joining the network.
Peter Hermann / Washington Post:
Black D.C. church vandalized by Proud Boys awarded control of group's name  —  The ruling effectively prohibits Proud Boys chapters from legally using their own name or typical symbols without the permission of the Metropolitan AME Church.  —  A historic Black church in D.C. that was vandalized …
Dave Troy / America 2.0:
America Under Attack, Week 2: What We're Monitoring  —  Attacks on the United States have unfolded much as anticipated, with Donald Trump issuing an overwhelming number of executive orders and provocations, while Elon Musk dismantles the government from the inside out.
Raw Story:
GOP lawmaker wants to repeal Arizona's ban on machine guns and pipe bombs  —  A Republican lawmaker wants to repeal the Arizona law banning people from owning machine guns, silencers, sawed-off shotguns and even pipe bombs and other homemade explosive devices.
Jessica Blake / Inside Higher Ed:
Higher Ed Fights Back Against Trump's DEI Order  —  The American Association of University Professors and others argue in a new lawsuit that the executive orders violate the Constitution.  —  College professors and university diversity officers are teaming up with nonprofits and local governments …
Discussion: The Guardian and USA Today
Politico:
Former DOD official who called Obama a ‘terrorist leader’ tapped as Pentagon personnel chief  —  President Donald Trump has nominated Anthony Tata, whose bid for a top Pentagon post in the president's first term was undermined by his inflammatory comments, for a leading role at the Defense Department.
Discussion: Blaze Media
Beege Welborn / HotAir:
Too Funny to Check: USAID Checkbook Snaps Shut, Politico Paychecks Shut Down?  UPDATE  —  For pure, unadulterated, old-fashioned entertainment, it is an indisputable truth that: … (Apologies to Rogers and Hammerstein)  —  For flat-out comedy value, the meltdown DOGE is causing is a tantrum for the ages.
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
Google removes pledge to not use AI for weapons from website  —  Google removed a pledge to not build AI for weapons or surveillance from its website this week.  The change was first spotted by Bloomberg.  The company appears to have updated its public AI principles page, erasing a section titled …
Punchbowl News:
2/5/25 ☀️ AM: … Yet it's fair to say, at this moment, things aren't going well.  —  Speaker Mike Johnson and the House Republican committee chairs initially proposed between $500 billion to $700 billion in spending cuts as part of a massive reconciliation package.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Washington Examiner:
McConnell suffers fall after Senate vote
ProPublica:
Washington Governor Orders Team to Study Data Centers' Impact on Energy Use, Job Creation and Tax Revenue
Discussion: governor.wa.gov
Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:
CNN finds itself at a digital crossroads after years of turmoil
Discussion: Daily Mail
Zeynep Tufekci / New York Times:
The Dangerous A.I. Nonsense That Trump and Biden Fell For
Discussion: SpaceNews and The New European
 Earlier Items: 
Tyler McBrien / New York Times:
Musk? Trump? Who Exactly Is Running the Federal Government?
Discussion: Reuters, Raw Story and Liberal Currents
Roger Parloff / Default:
Trump's Petty Purge of 15 Young Jan. 6 Prosecutors
Associated Press:
Trump says he's ‘left instructions’ for Iran to be ‘obliterated’ if it assassinates him
Hamilton Nolan / How Things Work:
The Business Community Is Extraordinarily Stupid
New York Times:
U.S. Postal Service Reverses Decision to Halt Parcel Service From China
ProPublica:
Gun Lobbyists and Cambridge Analytica Weaponized Gun Owners' Private Details for Political Gain
Paul Krugman:
Have We Been Partying Like It's 1999?  —  This bubble may end with a tech-bro bailout
Suhasini Raj / New York Times:
Migrants Are Deported to India on U.S. Military Plane
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo say they're building a high-tech studio aiming to help artists use AI as a creative tool to make films, shows, and video games

The Times:
An investigation into the unsolved 1977 murder of The Sunday Times foreign correspondent David Holden in Egypt suggests he doubled as a KGB spy and had CIA ties

Molly White / Citation Needed:
The real threat of AI models training on open-access material is that they may bleed free repositories dry by draining resources and not providing attribution
 
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