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.

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 …

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 …

Hegseth calls Ukraine's peace goals ‘unrealistic’ in meeting with allies  —  The U.S. defense secretary said any deal to end the fighting must come with international oversight of the boundary between Russian and Ukrainian forces — and no NATO membership for Kyiv.  —  Hegseth calls out ‘unrealistic’ Ukrainian peace goals

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.

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 …

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.

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

Trump Humiliated in the ‘Most Powerless Image Ever’ of a U.S. President: O'Donnell  —  Trump has always craved is the attention of the “truly rich,” and how he finally has it, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell said.

US Republicans find unity on taxes a heavy lift in Trump ‘golden age’  —  Barely a month after predicting a new “golden age” under President Donald Trump, congressional Republicans are struggling to move forward on the president's tax-cut agenda, despite their control of both the Senate and House of Representatives.

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 …

Americans Are Actually in a Position to Make Elon Musk Feel Our Rage  —  The company is in a precarious position.  This is a case where buying choices can effectively communicate rage.  —  There are myriad reasons to loathe Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, who has become a top ally of Donald 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 …

Trump's feared DOJ enforcer has a secret: He, too, investigated Jan. 6  —  The acting DOJ official behind a potential witch hunt against prosecutors and FBI agents who investigated the Capitol riot worked on Jan. 6 cases himself.  —  In the months after the Jan. 6 attacks …

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.

How Mexico's Leader Is Writing the Playbook for Handling Trump  —  President Claudia Sheinbaum impressed Trump by sticking to her guns without antagonizing him  —  MEXICO CITY—When President Trump called her last week, President Claudia Sheinbaum was prepared to speak with a U.S. leader who wouldn't yield on tariffs.

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” …

USAID Kept My Troops Safe in Afghanistan  —  IN 2008, I DEPLOYED TO AFGHANISTAN for the first time on a Provincial Reconstruction Team.  Our group included active-duty airmen and soldiers as well as reservists and guardsmen.  But the linchpin of our team was our USAID embed, David.

It's a Good Thing Democrats Didn't Pack the Courts  —  Without an independent judiciary, the Constitution would be no match for Donald Trump's authoritarian impulses.  —  As disturbing as the first three weeks of the second Donald Trump administration have been, we can take solace …

Trump's shocking purge of public health data, explained  —  In the initial days of the Trump administration, officials scoured federal websites for any mention of what they deemed “DEI” keywords — terms as generic as “diverse” and “historically” and even “women.”

Why the COVID Deniers Won  —  Lessons from the pandemic and its aftermath  —  Five years ago, the coronavirus pandemic struck a bitterly divided society.  —  Americans first diverged over how dangerous the disease was: just a flu (as President Donald Trump repeatedly insisted) or something much deadlier.