memeorandum: Mass resignations from Eric Adams' administration spark chaos in NYC government (Politico)

3:20 PM ET, February 17, 2025

Top Items:

Trump begins firings of FAA air traffic control staff just weeks after fatal DC plane crash — The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal mid-air collision …

Discussion: Business Insider, Politico, KFOR-TV, The Guardian, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill, Raw Story, The Mahablog, USA Today, Axios, Econbrowser, Daily Kos, Eschaton and Pharyngula

Pete Muntean / CNN:

Hundreds of FAA probationary workers fired by Trump administration, union says — The Trump administration has started firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration probationary employees who maintain critical air traffic control infrastructure, according to their union.

Discussion: The Verge, Fox Business, Daily Mail, New York Post, TechCrunch, Forbes, MeidasTouch News and New Republic

Paul Krugman:

Our Government Is Experiencing a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly — Musk is moving fast and breaking important things — Last month SpaceX carried out a test launch of its in-development Starship rocket. Liftoff was achieved, but as the company later announced, “Starship experienced …

NBC News:
Hundreds of FAA employees let go as Trump's mass layoffs continue

Discussion: UPI, Al Jazeera, passnational.org and WUSA

New York Times:

4 Top Officials Resign Over Adams's Cooperation With Trump — Four deputy mayors to Eric Adams are leaving “to stay faithful to the oaths we swore to New Yorkers and our families,” they said in a statement. — Four top New York City officials are resigning after the Justice Department moved …

Discussion: NBC New York, The Status Kuo and Politico

Politico:

Mass resignations from Eric Adams' administration spark chaos in NYC government — The departures follow the Democratic mayor's increasing closeness to Republican president Donald Trump, who provided him a legal reprieve. — NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams' administration is falling apart …

Discussion: The City, New York Daily News and New York Post

Daniel Trotta / Reuters:
Four senior aides to New York mayor Adams to resign, media report

Discussion: New York Post and abc7NY

New York Times:
Refusing to Carry Out Trump's Flagrantly Dishonest Orders

Discussion: Washington Examiner, HuffPost, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, Raw Story and Fox News

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 …

MSNBC:

We confronted Speaker Johnson over DOGE. His response is cause for concern. — This is not a time where business as usual can be our strategy. — Insults toward women in politics are nothing new, so we are wearing being called “rude,” “aggressive” and “unhinged” last week as a badge of honor.

Discussion: The Daily Wire, Raw Story and Washington Examiner

Politico:

‘Five alarm warning’: Possible DOGE access to private taxpayer data sparks outcry — The Elon Musk-run effort wants to study a system that includes tax returns, Social Security numbers and other information. — Democrats and tax experts are sounding alarms about a plan by Elon Musk's DOGE team …

Discussion: The Hill, Staten Island Advance and Raw Story

Carole Cadwalladr / The Power: US Coup Gains Speed

Eliza Collins / Wall Street Journal:

Trump Voters Splinter Over His Rapid Shake-Up of Washington — Some core supporters love his no-holds-barred approach, but several swing voters are taken aback at his early moves

Discussion: Fox News and Raw Story

Marc Caputo / Axios:
Scoop: Why Trump targets AP

Discussion: RedState, Breitbart, Daily Kos, The Independent, The Jim Acosta Show, Mediaite, MSNBC, Fox News and The Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Shadi Hamid / Washington Post:
Why I still criticize Democrats more than Trump

Discussion: Townhall and Grabien

Politico:

Judge seems unwilling to immediately bar Musk from meddling in federal agencies — Blue states have not provided enough initial evidence to justify a temporary restraining order, Judge Tanya Chutkan said at a court hearing. — U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday appeared poised …

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Examiner, RedState, The Post Millennial, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

Peter Stone / The Guardian:

‘This is a coup’: Trump and Musk's purge is cutting more than costs, say experts — In slashing staff and disabling entire agencies the administration is lacerating the structures of US democracy — Donald Trump and Elon Musk's radical drive to slash billions of dollars in annual federal spending …

Discussion: The Independent

Tom Hals / Reuters:
Judge calls rare hearing on a holiday in case against Musk's DOGE

Discussion: Reuters

Financial Times:

Trump administration pressures Romania to lift restrictions on Tate brothers — Tristan and Andrew Tate have been charged with sexual misconduct, organised crime and money laundering — The Trump administration has pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions …

Discussion: Raw Story and New Republic

Matt Binder / disruptionist:

Elon Musk's X blocks links to Signal, the encrypted messaging service — Signal has been a primary method of communication for federal workers looking to blow the whistle on DOGE. — Elon Musk's social media platform, X, is currently banning links to “Signal.me,” a URL used by the encrypted messaging service Signal.

Discussion: Ars Technica, The Verge, The Hill, New Republic, 9to5Mac and Forbes, more at Techmeme »

Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch: X is blocking links to Signal, a secure messaging platform used by federal workers

Lauren Irwin / The Hill:

Rubio spars with Brennan over Vance's Munich speech — Secretary of State Marco Rubio sparred with CBS host Margaret Brennan over Vice President Vance's speech in Munich. — Rubio joined Brennan on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, where he was asked what Vance accomplished by meeting with a leader …

Gideon Rachman / Financial Times:
Vance's real warning to Europe

Discussion: Asia Times

Associated Press:
European leaders gather for emergency talks, fearing that Trump has abandoned age-old allies

Discussion: HotAir, The Hill, Bloomberg, The Indian Express, Politico, The Guardian, Breitbart, WALV-TV, New York Times, Reuters and Associated Press

Pranshu Verma / Washington Post:

Elon Musk ridiculed a blind person on X. Then a mob went to work. — Musk's unparalleled online reach on X has given him a powerful tool to attack individuals who criticize DOGE. — Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette works at the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group focused on reducing bureaucratic waste.

Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:

‘Turned out the lights’: Fury hits Washington Post as it refuses to run $115K anti-Musk ad — The Washington Post canceled plans to run a front-and back-page advertisement that would have earned the paper $115,000 — and ran straight into fresh fury. — The ad, reportedly sponsored …

Discussion: The Hill, New Republic, Gizmodo and The Independent, more at Mediagazer »

Liam Reilly / CNN: Washington Post opted not to publish anti-Musk ad campaign after initially being open

Brad Reed / Raw Story:

'Can't be saved': Former Canadian defense official says relationship with U.S. is over — Retired Vice Admiral Mark Norman, who once served as Canada's Vice Chief of the Defense Staff, does not believe that the relationship between his nation and the United States is salvageable …

Julia Manchester / The Hill:

Trump shares poll showing Donalds leading Florida governor's race — President Trump is touting a internal poll showing Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) leading in a hypothetical Florida governor's race. — Trump touted the poll, which was conducted by the Florida-based Republican pollster Victory Insights, in a post on Truth Social.

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Florida Politics

Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:

The Death of Government Expertise — Why Trump and Musk are on a firing spree — One of the greatest tricks that Donald Trump and Elon Musk ever pulled is to convince millions of people that DOGE, the self-styled Department of Government Efficiency, is about government efficiency.

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

The Marco Rubio Guide to Survival is Not Working Well — The secretary of State is taking positions that were once anathema and sounding very Trumpy online. — It is becoming increasingly clear that Marco Rubio is secretary of State in name only. — Since taking over Foggy Bottom …

Discussion: Raw Story and OutsideTheBeltway

CNN:

Mexico threatens to sue Google over name change of Gulf of Mexico on US maps — Mexico will take Google to court if maps shown to US-based users continue to label the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America across the entire body of water, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Associated Press

Popular Information:

In botched DEI purge, OSHA trashes workplace safety guidelines — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ordered the digital and physical destruction of 18 publications on workplace safety practices, according to an internal February 7 email obtained by Popular Information.

Lisa Needham / Public Notice:

Trump has already weaponized the Department of Education — He vowed to kill it. What he's doing to it instead is even worse. … 🤔 📚 🎒 — During the 2024 election, Donald Trump made no secret of his plan to close the Department of Education (DOE).

Discussion: Washington Post