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Anyone Can Push Updates to the DOGE.gov Website — The doge.gov website that was spun up to track Elon Musk's cuts to the federal government is insecure and pulls from a database that can be edited by anyone, according to two separate people who found the vulnerability and shared it with 404 Media.
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Verge, Wired, Fortune, Alternet.org, Mashable, New Republic, Breitbart, Daily Kos, Reason and Washington Examiner, more at Techmeme »


How the Justice Dept. Helped Sink Its Own Case Against Eric Adams — A top Trump appointee guided Mr. Adams's legal team as they crafted an argument for dismissing corruption charges against the mayor of America's largest city. — President Trump had just taken office when lawyers …
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Danielle Sassoon's Letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Annotated

Live Updates: Upheaval Over Adams Case Spreads as Calls for His Resignation Grow
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and NBC News

Trump Official's Demand in Adams Case Forces Justice Dept. Showdown
Discussion:
RedState

Read Danielle Sassoon's Letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The 19th, Twitchy, New York Daily News, CBS News, Reuters, USA Today and The City

124. The Thursday Night Massacre(s)
Discussion:
New York Times, Pepperspectives, abc7NY, Wired and PoliticusUSA

Federal prosecutors in New York and Washington resign after refusing to drop Adams charges


Senior Republican senator ‘puzzled’ and ‘disturbed’ by Hegseth's Ukraine remarks — Live coverage from Munich: POLITICO is on the ground at the Munich Security Conference, where we're having conversations with top officials, lawmakers and experts at our POLITICO Pub. Follow our exclusive coverage here.
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The Hill, New Republic, Politico, New Jersey Online, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Daily Mail, The Guardian, Wide World of News, Alternet.org, El País, Mediaite, Breitbart, EADaily, Foreign Policy, Townhall, Reuters, NOTUS and Axios
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Vance Wields Threat of Sanctions, Military Action to Push Putin Into Ukraine Deal — In interview with The Wall Street Journal, vice president says Ukraine must have ‘sovereign independence’ — PARIS—Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the U.S. would hit Moscow with sanctions …


VP Slaps Down Hegseth by Threatening Putin With U.S. Troops
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Washington Post and New York Post

Hegseth stands by Ukraine comments as GOP senator slams “rookie mistake”
Discussion:
CNN, New Republic, EADaily, Associated Press, Fox News, The Guardian, Reuters, Digby's Hullabaloo and spiked

Europe must respond to Trump ‘electroshock’, says Macron
Discussion:
Politico and The National Interest

Vance tells Europe it needs to take lead on Ukraine's future security
Discussion:
New York Times, Bloomberg, Politico, Scripps News, Reuters, The Hill, Associated Press, The Post Millennial, The National Pulse, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit, The Guardian, The American Spectator, New York Post, Grabien, Deseret News, The Daily Wire, CBS News, NPR, Fox News and Daily Mail

Republicans put health care cuts front and center to advance agenda — House Republicans are putting cuts to Medicaid at the top of their list of budget cuts to help pay for their wide-ranging agenda that spans tax cuts, energy production and border security.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Alternet.org, The Dispatch, The Daily Signal, Daily Kos and Politico
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House Republicans advance their budget after appeasing hard-liners
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NBC News, Punchbowl News, E&E News, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, NOTUS and Roll Call

GOP got an ‘alarming glimpse at the future’ as it eyes massive cut: report
Discussion:
Mediaite, Politico, WisPolitics, WBEZ and New Republic

Sweeping safety-net cuts have GOP centrists questioning Johnson's budget
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and CNN


The Undocumented Workers Who Helped Build Elon Musk's Texas Gigafactory — Tesla and SpaceX both relied on their labor while Musk advocated for a border crackdown. — Cristy was in her early 50s when she took a job with a cleaning subcontractor on a construction project …


Nazi flags can fly in Utah schools, but not pride flags, GOP lawmaker says — A new bill would allow for Nazi and Confederate flags to be displayed in some instances in Utah schools and government buildings, but pride flags would be banned. — An ongoing fight in Utah to ban pride flags …
Discussion:
Transgender World, CityNews Toronto, UPI and Washington Examiner


The AP provides a model of effective press resistance — 🧭 🗺️ 🌎 With corporate outlets obeying in advance, supporting independent political media is more important right now than ever. Public Notice is possible thanks to paid subscribers.


Louisiana Department of Health says it will no longer promote mass vaccination — The Louisiana Department of Health will no longer promote mass vaccination, the state's surgeon general, Dr. Ralph Abraham, told state health workers Thursday. — “The State of Louisiana and LDH …
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Louisiana Department of Health ends mass vaccinations, bans seasonal vaccine promotion
Discussion:
New York Times and Associated Press


Kennedy Center staff describe climate of fear as events drop from calendar — Issa Rae became the first major artist to publicly cancel an upcoming show at the center after President Trump took over its board and leadership. — The fallout from President Donald Trump's takeover …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Washingtonian, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and New York Times
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Stars pull out of shows and positions at Kennedy Center after Trump takeover
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PinkNews, Variety, WHDH-TV, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, New Jersey Online, NPR, CBS News, The Daily Wire, American Greatness, The Post Millennial, New York Post, HuffPost, Daily Kos and al.com


Plane carrying Secretary of State Rubio to Europe turned around because of a mechanical issue — An Air Force plane carrying Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Sen. Jim Risch, to Germany for the Munich Security Conference was forced to return …
Discussion:
PJ Media, Associated Press, ABC News, EADaily, New York Post, UPI, NBC News, CBS News, Fox News and The Gateway Pundit


This Small Rust-Belt City Holds the Secret to Democrats' Latino Woes — During the final, frenzied week of the 2024 campaign, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris both made campaign stops in a place whose significance in the election had largely been overlooked by observers: Reading …
Discussion:
Raw Story


Sweeping cuts hit recent federal hires as Trump administration slashes workforce — Federal workers have begun receiving layoff notices as the Trump administration moves ahead with plans to drastically downsize the government. — While the full scale of layoffs isn't yet clear …
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Trump Officials Escalate Layoffs, Targeting Most of 200,000 Workers on Probation
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Associated Press, Alternet.org, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, Politico, WXIA-TV, Reason, RedState, The Hotshot Wake Up, ZeroHedge News, Reuters, Townhall, Bloomberg, ABC7, E&E News and Forbes


Billionaire Airbnb Co-Founder Is Said to Take Role in Musk's Government Initiative — Joe Gebbia is a board member at Tesla and is close to Elon Musk, the company's C.E.O. — One of Elon Musk's closest friends, a billionaire co-founder of Airbnb, is taking a role in President Trump's administration …
Discussion:
The Independent


Judge Orders Trump Administration to Resume Foreign Aid Spending — The judge faulted the logic of a blanket freeze on foreign aid spending and found that groups that depend on the aid had made a strong initial showing of “irreparable harm.” — A federal judge ordered the Trump administration …
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Elon Musk's DOGE Targets FOIA Requests at Agency Under its Purview — The government efficiency group also wants to be notified when there's any attempt at oversight from Congress, inspectors general, even the Government Accountability Office. … Valentine's Day aside …


Read the Resignation Letter From Hagan Scotten — Hagan Scotten, an assistant U.S. attorney, wrote to Emil Bove, acting deputy attorney general, refusing to drop the case against Mayor Eric Adams. … Around the New York Region — A look at life, culture, politics and more in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.


Trump Wants to Destroy All Academia, Not Just the Woke Parts — In 2021, JD Vance gave a speech to the National Conservatism Conference, a gathering of Trumpist thinkers and politicians, titled “The Universities Are the Enemy.” It contained the usual complaints about critical race theory …


TikTok Returns to Apple and Google App Stores — The popular social media app was removed to comply with a new law that banned it in the United States. President Trump has paused enforcement of the ban. — Apple and Google restored TikTok to their U.S. app stores on Thursday evening …
Discussion:
Politico, Bloomberg, 9to5Google, Associated Press, UPI, Al Jazeera, Mashable, Court Watch, TechCrunch, The Independent, Variety, Adweek, NPR, Reuters, Fox Business, BGR, CBS News, The Information, MacRumors, Deadline, The Japan Times, ABC7 and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »


How the Trumps Turned an Election Victory Into a Cash Bonanza — First lady's documentary deal with Amazon, president's legal settlements and other transactions near $80 million so far; Trump library a major beneficiary — | Illustrations by Alexandra Citrin-Safadi/WSJ
Discussion:
New Republic and The Independent, more at Mediagazer »


Hegseth team invites far-right activist Jack Posobiec on overseas trip — The offer triggered alarm among Pentagon officials concerned about the military being dragged into partisan warfare.
Discussion:
The National Pulse, Alternet.org, Raw Story and Mediaite


Trump administration directs agency heads to fire most probationary staff — Terminations should happen within two days, according to four people familiar with internal conversations. — The Trump administration has directed agency heads to fire most trial period and probationary staff within two days …
Discussion:
The Hill, Federal News Network, Politico and Alternet.org


Senator demands answers on possible federal $400M Tesla Cybertruck deal — Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the ranking member on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio Thursday night demanding answers and documents relating …


Establishing the President's Make America Healthy Again Commission — 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. American life expectancy significantly lags behind other developed countries …
Discussion:
Axios, Blaze Media, STAT, The Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, The Autistic Self …, Townhall, The National Pulse, Fox News, E&E News and CIVIC TEXTS