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9:00 PM ET, February 16, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:
Musk's DOGE seeks access to personal taxpayer data, raising alarm at IRS  —  The unusual request would put sensitive data about millions of American taxpayers in the hands of Trump political appointees.  —  Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service is seeking access to a heavily-guarded Internal Revenue Service system …
New York Times:
Trump Team Leaves Behind an Alliance in Crisis  —  European leaders felt certain about one thing after a whirlwind tour by Trump officials — they were entering a new world where it was harder to depend on the United States.  —  Many critical issues were left uncertain …
RELATED:
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Ukraine Won't Accept a Deal It Didn't Help Negotiate, Zelensky Says  —  Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, told NBC News that he'd warned President Trump that Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, is a “liar.”  —  President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine reiterated in an interview …
Discussion: Human Events, Semafor and Grabien
Politico:
The US said Ukraine would meet with Russia to discuss peace.  That was news to Kyiv.  —  “I do not know what it is,” said Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. … MUNICH — Ukrainian officials reacted with a mixture of shock and confusion to the news that top Trump administration officials …
CBS News:
Transcript: Rep. Dan Crenshaw on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Feb. 16, 2025
Discussion: Raw Story
Peter Wade / Rolling Stone:
Zelenskyy: ‘The Risk That Russia Will Occupy Europe Is 100 Percent’ If U.S. Pulls Out of NATO
Edward-Isaac Dovere / CNN:
Democrats confront their powerlessness as Trump flexes authority  —  Amid Democrats' shock and bickering over how much to respond to President Donald Trump is a deeper question rippling through leaders across the Capitol and across the country: How much should they rely on the same institutional …
RELATED:
Rachel Cohrs Zhang / Bloomberg:
US Health Department Layoffs Expand to Medicare, FDA  — Employees at CMS, FDA, CDC received notices in weekend cuts  —  The Department of Health and Human Services laid off employees Saturday evening across some of its biggest agencies — the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services …
RELATED:
Politico:
Mass firings continue across nation's health agencies  —  The cuts have raised questions about the extent of the impact on public health.  —  The Trump administration carried out more mass firings across the Health and Human Services Department this weekend, continuing a chaotic purge …
Bloomberg:
Trump Asks Supreme Court to Let Him Fire US Agency Head  — Justices asked to step in on emergency basis, person says  — Trump seeking to remove head of US whistleblower agency  —  President Donald Trump asked the US Supreme Court to let him fire the head of an independent US agency …
Discussion: Reuters and Politico
RELATED:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Washington Post backs out of ‘Fire Elon Musk’ ad order  —  The Washington Post this week backed out of a “Fire Elon Musk” advertising order that was to run as a wrap on some of its Tuesday editions, according to the advocacy group Common Cause.  —  The group said it signed a $115,000 agreement …
Allan Smith / NBC News:
Transportation Department workers with ‘exceptional’ reviews told they're fired for ‘performance’ issues  —  President Donald Trump's administration has started the mass firing of workers who are new to the civil service or have recently switched jobs.  —  Letters went out to dozens …
RELATED:
Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:
DOGE Mismanagement Principles  —  Sam Rayburn, the Texan who served as House Speaker for 17 years was fond of saying: … Rayburn was talking about policymaking, but the point extends to more broadly to governing.  Trashing government agencies is easy.  Making them work is hard.
Scott Lemieux / Lawyers, Guns & Money:
Boycotting President Elon  —  Protests have been gathering around Tesla dealerships: … Elon has also been an increasing focus of protests of other venues, which makes sense — a white nationalist plutocrat being given unaccountable power helps cut through the “populist” …
RELATED:
Rachel Leingang / The Guardian:   ‘A particularly heinous villain’: a disdain for Musk has sparked protests across US
Minho Kim / New York Times:
Trump Fired, Then Unfired, National Nuclear Security Administration Employees.  What Were Their Jobs?  —  The administration asked some of the agency's workers, who were part of last week's massive layoffs across the federal government, to come back.  —  When termination letters were sent …
Discussion: Fox News, NBC News and Futurism
Representative Claudia Tenney:
Congresswoman Tenney Moves to Make President Trump's Birthday a Federal Holiday  —  Washington, DC - Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) today introduced the Trump's Birthday and Flag Day Holiday Establishment Act to officially designate June 14 as a federal holiday to commemorate President Donald J. Trump's Birthday and Flag Day.
Discussion: WUSA and WKRN News 2
Marcia Brown / Politico:
Trump administration firings hit key office handling bird flu response  —  The layoffs in USDA's National Animal Health Laboratory Network program office come as egg prices reach record high amid worsening outbreak.  —  Laboratories in a national network of 58 facilities responding to the spread …
Discussion: UPI and Breitbart
RELATED:
Peter Wade / Rolling Stone:
Trump Firings Impact ‘Front Line of Surveillance’ for Bird Flu Outbreak
Discussion: Reuters and NBC News
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
'I think that's ridiculous': Tom Homan on quid pro quo speculation over Eric Adams  —  “It was cop to cop, not border czar to mayor, cop to cop.  And we talked about the public safety threats and how they should be removed from our communities,” Homan said on CNN.
RELATED:
Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
The real victims of Eric Adams' NYC corrupt bargain might go to Gitmo
Discussion: Raw Story and washingtonpost.com
A.R. Moxon / The Reframe:
The Worst and the Dimmest  —  Hey cousins.  The world's richest man held court in the Oval Office this week while his pet president watched from the resolute desk wearing his trademark pants-shitting scowl.  The world's richest man was telling the press lies to repeat while holding his hands …
Peter Walker / The Guardian:
John Major: Trump's US isolationism threatens global democracy  —  Former UK prime minister says US may regret ceding world stage to China and condemns ‘hypocritical’ JD Vance speech  —  Democracy around the globe is under threat from the retreat of Donald Trump's US into isolationism …
Discussion: Writing from London and HuffPost
Zach Schonfeld / The Hill:
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to greenlight whistleblower office firing  —  The Justice Department is asking the Supreme Court to greenlight President Trump's firing of the head of a federal whistleblower protection office, marking the new Trump administration's first appeal to the high court.
Discussion: Axios
 
 
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 More Items: 
Ann E. Marimow / Washington Post:
Trump asks Supreme Court to allow him to fire independent agency leader
New York Times:
In Moving to Stop Adams Case, Career Lawyer Sought to Stave Off Deeper Crisis
Discussion: emptywheel and New Yorker
Renju Jose / Reuters:
Australia PM Albanese's approval hits lowest as voters eye change, survey shows
Discussion: Bloomberg and Crikey
Washington Post:
Relatives and records cast doubt on Guantánamo migrants being ‘worst of the worst’
Julian Borger / The Guardian:
Netanyahu says Israel working closely with US on Trump's plan for Gaza
New York Post:
Ashley St. Clair, influencer who claims to have had Musk's 13th child, reveals life of secrecy after whirlwind romance with ‘down to earth’ billionaire
Alexander B. Howard / CIVIC TEXTS:
Weaponized transparency at DOGE makes a mockery of good governance
ABC News:
DOGE data release criticized by intel community; Trump admin says it's public data
Discussion: The Daily Wire
 Earlier Items: 
Mother Jones:
DOGE Worker Says He Was Radicalized by Reading Writer Who Later Denied Holocaust
Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:
Jeffries says Trump, GOP show ‘no interest’ in lowering costs of living
Discussion: RedState
Marvin Kalb / CBS News:
Marvin Kalb on how a Trump-Putin summit could lead to disaster
Discussion: Mediaite and CNN
Orlando Mayorquín / New York Times:
Utah Bans Collective Bargaining for Public Workers
Billy House / Bloomberg:
Steve Bannon, US Hospitals Join GOP Rebellion Over Medicaid Cuts
Discussion: Salon, The Hill and HuffPost
Washington Post:
Trump's global funding freeze leaves anti-terror programs in limbo
Liam Knox / Inside Higher Ed:
Ed Department: DEI Violates Civil Rights Law
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Paramount says it expects its merger with Skydance to close on August 7; the new company will trade on Nasdaq as PSKY

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Meta will no longer accept political, election, or social issue ads in the EU from October, like Google, with both citing incoming regulation

Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
Sources: Netflix is searching for a video podcasting head; the role could be under Netflix's TV and film licensing arm rather than the original content side

 
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