The Government's Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified … Elon musk's unceasing attempts to access the data and information systems of the federal government range so widely, and are so unprecedented and unpredictable, that government computing experts believe the effort has spun out of control.

I Work in the Office Carrying Out the Government Purge.  Here's What I Want You to Know.  —  We're as freaked out and angry as everyone else.  —  I'm a career civil servant at the federal government's Office of Personnel Management, and I'm sorry.  Normally, the only time anyone hears …

Be clear about what Trump and Musk's aid axe will do: people will face terror and starve, many will die  —  The decimation of USAid is already having a terrible effect in some of the poorest places on the planet.  It damages America: it will harm us all  —  An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or above could not have caused more carnage.

Staffer with Elon Musk's DOGE amplified white supremacists online  —  One of the people working with billionaire Elon Musk in his efforts to overhaul the U.S. government is a Berkeley-educated computer scientist who has boosted white supremacists and misogynists online.

Musk's DOGE Teen Was Fired By Cybersecurity Firm for Leaking Company Secrets  —  Edward Coristine posted online that he had retained access to the firm's servers.  Now he has access to sensitive government information.  —  Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of Elon Musk's squad that's …

Trump endorses Vance call to rehire DOGE staffer who quit over racist tweets … President Donald Trump on Friday endorsed a call by Vice President JD Vance for Elon Musk to rehire a DOGE staffer who abruptly resigned after the exposure of his tweets advocating for racism and eugenics.

FCC Investigates SF Radio Station for ICE Reporting, Sparking Press Freedom Fears  —  The Federal Communications Commission is investigating San Francisco-based KCBS for its coverage of immigration enforcement actions in San José last month, sparking concerns from press freedom advocates …

GOP Lawmakers Are Already Annoyed by Trump's Chaotic Governing Style  —  “Hard to defend controversial executive orders when there's no heads-up nor rationale,” one GOP lawmaker told NOTUS.  — Copy  —  After a turbulent few weeks to begin his presidency, Republicans in Congress …

Mike Johnson says Democrats ‘unresponsive’ ahead of shutdown deadline  —  Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Friday morning that Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries “seemed to be trying to set up some sort of a government shutdown.”  “We have been negotiating in good faith, trying to get a top-line number.

Judges curb Trump's sweeping executive actions  —  Federal judges are curbing President Trump's sweeping directives to reshape the government, issuing a flurry of rulings blocking his agenda from charging forward.  —  More than three dozen lawsuits have been filed challenging major …

How to Win the USAID Fight  —  First up: Sarah and I argued about everything on the Secret pod today.  The show is here.  —  Second: An update on yesterday's story about the confusion surrounding Trump's (maybe?) firing the head of the National Archives.  There had been conflicting reports …

U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users' encrypted accounts  —  Secret order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world, which if implemented would undermine Apple's privacy pledge to its users.  —  Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create …

DOGE Builds ‘Firewall’ Between Musk's Team and Legacy USDS Workers  —  “As far as I can tell, they're hiding,” one USDS employee said about the DOGE team.  —  The Department of Government Efficiency has built a “firewall” separating Elon Musk's team from the 200 or so legacy workers employed …

Goodbye, Pamela Paul … Goodbye, Pamela Paul!  You hardly knew us.  —  The controversial columnist is exiting the New York Times “Opinion” section this spring as part of a wave of job cuts.  In 2022, after a decade of editing the Book Review, Paul joined “Opinion,” where she quickly gained …

Ye Takes Back Apology and Calls Himself a Nazi in Social Media Rant  —  The rapper praised Hitler and took back an apology he made in 2023 for his past antisemitic remarks.  —  Ye, the rapper and designer formerly known as Kanye West, took back the apology he made in 2023 …

Trudeau tells business leaders at economic summit Trump's 51st state threat ‘is a real thing’  —  PM meeting business leaders, unions to discuss fortifying Canada's trade in face of Trump's tariff threat  —  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told business leaders at the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit …

The “cognitively irresponsible” presidency  —  “It's a giveaway that a leader is an authoritarian,” Jen Mercieca tells us.  —  ∙ Paid … 🗣️ 🎤 🤯  —  The volume of BS that Donald Trump blasts into the public sphere on a daily basis is flabbergasting.

What Elon Musk Wants  —  This is an edited transcript of an episode of “The Ezra Klein Show.”  You can listen to the conversation by following or subscribing to the show on the NYT Audio App, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

Why Elon Musk's Buyout Offer “Reads Like a Scam”  —  Elon Musk's “Fork in the Road” email offering 2.3 million federal civil servants a “deferred resignation” through September set off a number of legal questions this country has never been forced to consider, and they're finally making their way to federal court.

Dem Overseeing ‘Digital Assets’ to Hold Luxury Retreat With Crypto Kingpin  —  Ruben Gallego, Arizona's new senator, is set to hold a fundraising weekend with Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen and blogger Matt Yglesias  —  Freshman Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego was recently named …

The US Government Is Not a Startup  —  Elon Musk is moving fast and breaking things that can't afford to be broken.  —  It feels like no one should have to say this, and yet we are in a situation where it needs to be said, very loudly and clearly, before it's too late to do anything about it: The United States is not a startup.

Measles Outbreak Mounts Among Children in One of Texas' Least Vaccinated Counties  —  A measles outbreak is growing in a Texas county with dangerously low vaccination rates.  —  In late January, two school-age children from Gaines County were hospitalized with measles.

MAGA's Sickening Hypocrisy: From ‘Save The Children’ To ‘Defund The Org That Actually Saves Children’  —  After years of screaming “save the children” while baselessly accusing others of exploiting kids, the Trump administration is now trying to destroy the actual infrastructure that saves children.

‘Treated like criminals’: Shackling of Indians aboard 40-hour migrant flight sparks new outrage against Trump  —  New Delhi CNN —  US officials kept around 100 deported Indian migrants in shackles for their 40-hour flight home, including during bathroom breaks, in the latest incident …

Trump considering Blagojevich for ambassador to Serbia  —  The former governor of Illinois, whose corruption conviction sentence Trump commuted, chaired a group called Serbians for Trump in the 2024 election.  —  President Donald Trump is considering nominating former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich …

Exclusive: Jewish groups rebuke Trump on immigration, Musk moves … - The groups emphasize that legitimate policy debates and disagreements are fine — and note that there are disputes among the letter's signees — but say Trump's recent actions go far beyond that.

A House Democrat warns against making ‘everything Defcon 5’  —  The Washington Post's essential guide to power and influence in D.C.  —  with research by Alec Dent  —  Good morning, Early Birds.  Photos were taken down from the USAID office hallways.  Portraits were removed from the Pentagon.

Trump's Deportation Dragnet Widens and Puerto Ricans Are Getting Caught in It  —  WHEN THE NEW ADMINISTRATION set up shop, White House border czar Tom Homan acknowledged that collateral arrests would be part of the coming immigration raids.  Yes, the administration was going to focus …

Democrats try to enter Department of Education amid outrage over possible DOGE cuts  —  As they surrounded a man in front of Department of Education door, lawmakers repeatedly insisted that they had the right to enter the building  —  Thirty House Democrats on Friday morning attempted …

Exclusive: ACLU asks Congress to investigate plans to fire ‘probationary’ federal employees  —  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is asking Congress to investigate the Trump administration's plans for “imminent mass layoffs” of as many as 200,000 employees hired within the last two years ago.