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AP statement on Oval Office access — The Associated Press issued this statement on Tuesday from Executive Editor Julie Pace: — As a global news organization, The Associated Press informs billions of people around the world every day with factual, nonpartisan journalism.
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The Guardian, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, Associated Press, Deadline, Townhall, Raw Story, Columbia Journalism Review, Patterico's Pontifications, Twitchy, Axios, The Independent, Breitbart, Agender Android Among Humans, New York Post, CBS News, Reuters, Business Insider, Variety, HuffPost, Mediaite, Fox News, Blaze Media and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »
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Live Updates: Musk Asserts Without Proof That He's Fixing a Bureaucracy Rife With Fraud — The billionaire, chosen by President Trump to lead a federal overhaul, insisted he was working transparently, but his team's secretive actions have delivered shocks across the government.
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Associated Press, USA Today, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New Jersey Online, STAT, PinkNews, Al Jazeera, Rolling Stone, The Independent, One America News Network, NPR, NBC News, Forbes, E&E News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Reuters, Business Insider, Washington Examiner, New York Post, CNBC, The Hill, The National Pulse, ABC News, CBS News and Grabien


Trump Orders Plans for ‘Large Scale’ Work Force Cuts and Expands Musk's Power — The latest executive order by the president made clear that the billionaire's cost-cutting team will have continuing oversight of the Civil Service. — President Trump signed an executive order …
Discussion:
Shore News Network, GovExec.com and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »


Trump executive order vows substantial cuts to federal workforce
Discussion:
Semafor, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, CBS News, USA Today, KFMB, The Independent, The Republic News, Politico, New Republic and NPR

The AP says it was blocked from the Oval Office over continuing to use “Gulf of Mexico”
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Business Insider, Wired, The Daily Wire, Staten Island Advance, Deadline, Variety, CityNews Toronto, Raw Story, Hollywood Life, MacRumors, New York Post, al.com, USA Today, Axios, The Independent, Chicago Sun Times, Al Jazeera, Fox News, BGR, TechCrunch, Breitbart, WAGA-TV and WXIA-TV, more at Techmeme »

White House Bars Reporter From Event Over A.P.'s Use of ‘Gulf of Mexico’
Discussion:
Associated Press, Townhall, The Moderate Voice, Bloomberg and Raw Story

Associated Press blocked from Oval Office after not using ‘Gulf of America’
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Raw Story, The Japan Times, CBS News, The Register and Washington Post


Not Hyperbole Anymore: Musk Is In Charge of the US Government — These are wild times at TPM because they're wild times in the American government. It's hard to keep up with everything happening from one moment to the next. I had not had a chance to look at the new DOGE executive order President signed …
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Implementing The President's “Department of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative — By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: — Section 1. Purpose.
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emptywheel, Axios, The Hill, New York Times, Alternet.org, MPR News, UPI, Business Insider, FedScoop, Federal News Network, Defense One, HuffPost and Scripps News


Trump fires USAID inspector general one day after blistering report — Paul K. Martin, appointed by President Joe Biden, was dismissed a day after issuing a report assessing the Trump administration implemented its aid freeze and stop-work order. — February 11, 2025
Discussion:
The Guardian and New York Post
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Hegseth's visit to U.S. base in Germany met with student walkout — The civil disobedience by dozens of middle schoolers — and some adults — was aimed at the Trump administration's rollback of DEI initiatives. — February 11, 2025 — Live updates: Trump signs executive order calling on agencies to work with Elon Musk-led group
Discussion:
The College Fix, RedState, Bangor Daily News, The Daily Signal, The Independent and Pharyngula

USAID IG fired day after report critical of impacts of Trump administration's dismantling of the agency
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Raw Story, NBC News, Fox News, Mediaite, Forbes, WUSA, Politico, The Gateway Pundit and Defense One


Scoop: Dems “pissed” at liberal groups MoveOn, Indivisible … - “People are pissed,” a senior House Democrat who was at the meeting said of lawmakers' reaction to the calls. — The Democrat said Jeffries himself is “very frustrated” at the groups, who are trying to stir up a more confrontational opposition to Trump.


Project 2025 Is Gutting Medical Funding That Helped Russell Vought's Own Kid — The National Institutes of Health, the federal government's leading medical research agency, came under attack by Project 2025 well before its architect, Russell Vought, was confirmed to Donald Trump's second-term cabinet …


Dozens of CFPB Workers Fired in After-Hours Blitz — Some affected employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were notified with an email that addressed them as [EmployeeFirstName][EmployeeLastName], [Job Title], [Division]. — Dozens of Consumer Finance Protection Bureau employees …
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Slate and Yahoo Finance
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“Let the scams roll”: Elon Musk exploits culture wars to turn MAGA against consumer protections
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U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren …, The Democracy Labs, Los Angeles Times and Paul Krugman

Trump burns down financial watchdog agency to spite Liz Warren
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Business Insider, NPR, 6abc, Bloomberg, The Boston Globe, Twitchy, Semafor, UPI, Townhall, WHDH-TV, The Daily Signal and Chicago Sun Times


This obscure law is one reason Trump's agenda keeps losing in court — Lawsuits challenging Trump policies raise big constitutional questions, but they also rely on a law that requires the government to follow the correct procedures when changing course. — WASHINGTON — Lawyers challenging …
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Tests of Trump's power on fast tracks to the Supreme Court
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NOTUS, The Nation, Washington Examiner and New York Post

Has Trump's agenda stalled?
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NPR, Christian Science Monitor, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Politico and CBS News


Top FEMA Official Is Fired Over Payments for N.Y.C. Migrant Shelters — The Trump administration fired the Federal Emergency Management Agency's chief financial officer and three others after Elon Musk misleadingly claimed the agency had used disaster-relief funds for migrant services.
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WHDH-TV, RedState, Fox News, ABC News, Associated Press, American Greatness, HotAir, Forbes, Blaze Media, The Daily Wire, Breitbart, New York Post, Washington Examiner, The Daily Signal, Scripps News, Exposing the role …, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, The Gateway Pundit, Ace of Spades HQ, The National Pulse and Reuters
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FEMA official ignores judge's latest order, demands freeze on grant funding
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Mediaite, New Republic, Alternet.org, The National Pulse and Drezner's World

The Danger of Trump Disobeying Court Orders [Updated]
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Associated Press, One First, Fox News and Breitbart


Trump Softens Tone on Inflation After Pledging to Lower Prices — President Trump pledged to lower costs on “Day 1” as a candidate. His administration now acknowledges it will take more time. — President Trump promised voters that, if elected, he would enact policies that would bring prices down on “Day 1” in office.
Discussion:
WXIA-TV, Bloomberg, The Independent and Marketplace


Trump DOJ Accused of Deleting Evidence In Jan. 6 Court Cases — Videos are mysteriously missing from an online portal that is legally required to house evidence related to Jan. 6 cases, according to a new lawsuit. — LOADING — Federal courts and judges have repeatedly ordered …
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Trump's feared DOJ enforcer has a secret: He, too, investigated Jan. 6
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NPR, New York Times, Associated Press and CBS News

Jan. 6 video evidence has ‘disappeared’ from public access, media coalition says
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CNN and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »


The Path to American Authoritarianism — What Comes After Democratic Breakdown — Donald Trump's first election to the presidency in 2016 triggered an energetic defense of democracy from the American establishment. But his return to office has been met with striking indifference.
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Musk's double-edged sword on government shutdowns
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Scripps News, NBC News, Washington Examiner, The Daily Wire, American Thinker and Politico

AOC says Dems need to play hardball if they help Republicans keep the government open
Discussion:
The Independent, Digby's Hullabaloo and Axios


2/12/25 ☀️ AM: — The dueling budget chairs: How Arrington and Graham are playing their hands — Thune takes a victory lap on Trump nominees — MTG prepares for fight in first DOGE hearing — The Vault: The bank lobby is being awfully quiet about CFPB
Discussion:
Deseret News, Washington Examiner and CBS News
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Voters Were Right About the Economy. The Data Was Wrong. — Here's why unemployment is higher, wages are lower and growth less robust than government statistics suggest. — Before the presidential election, many Democrats were puzzled by the seeming disconnect between “economic reality” …
Discussion:
HotAir


Treasury officials: Musk ally ‘mistakenly’ had power to alter payments system — The incident prompted an internal forensic investigation that remains ongoing. — Treasury Department officials said Tuesday that the agency last week “mistakenly” and “briefly” gave a member of Elon Musk's team …
Discussion:
Washington Post and Associated Press


Appeals court rejects Trump administration bid to reinstate funding freeze — The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Justice Department's request to pause a judge's order while it challenges the order in court. — A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected the Trump administration's bid …
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Grist, Reuters, New York Post, Politico, USA Today, JURIST, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, New Republic, MPR News, Washington Examiner, Fox News and The Daily Caller
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Appeals court rejects Trump administration push to reinstate spending freezes on grants and loans
Discussion:
The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, PoliticusUSA, Washington Examiner and KFMB


The Staffers Helping Elon Musk Dismantle and Downsize the U.S. Government, One Agency at a Time — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — The Trump administration is not even a month old …
Discussion:
Deseret News

Please Don't Use Nancy Mace's So-Called Victim Hotline, Advocates Say — On the House floor Monday night—in a speech that was jarring, graphic, and nearly an hour long—Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) made disturbing allegations of sexual abuse against four men from her home state, one of whom is her ex-fiancé.


Cutting Cancer Research — Sometimes, it gets personal. — My daughter is finishing up a master's degree. Her work is completely over my head, but it involves the intersection of nutrition, agriculture, and climate change. … In other words, she's doing important work, real work that could help make many lives better.
Discussion:
New York Times, Alternet.org, Time and New York Post


Danish MEP slams ‘absurd’ proposal to rename Greenland ‘Red, White and Blueland’ — Member of Congress said the U.S. will “proudly welcome” Greenlanders to “join the freest nation to ever exist.” — A Danish MEP denounced a proposal by an American lawmaker to rename Greenland “Red …
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Hackwhackers, Columbia Journalism Review, New York Post, Congressman Buddy Carter, Raw Story, HuffPost, Fox News, USA Today, The Daily Wire, New Republic, WTTG-TV, Washington Examiner, Axios, Global News, al.com, New Jersey Online, Lawyers, Guns & Money, WXIA-TV, The Independent, Daily Mail and Metro.co.uk


American Detainee Marc Fogel Arrives in U.S. Following Release From Russian Custody — Arrested in 2021, the schoolteacher was serving a 14-year prison sentence — American Marc Fogel arrived in the U.S. on Tuesday night after his release from Russia, where he was arrested in 2021 on marijuana charges …
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Axios, New York Times, NPR, Daily Mail, New York Post, UPI, Fox News, CBS News, American Greatness, Al Jazeera, Townhall, Reason, Reuters, Politico, Twitchy, One America News Network, freebeacon.com, Scripps News, The Guardian, RedState, The Independent, San Diego Union-Tribune, WHDH-TV, ABC7, USA Today, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, The American Conservative, The Post Millennial and Semafor