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3:30 PM ET, February 17, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Tara Copp / Associated Press:
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 …
RELATED:
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.
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 …
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 …
RELATED:
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 …
Katie Honan / The City:
Four Adams Deputy Mayors Quit Following Trump Deal  —  Adams begged Maria Torres-Springer, Anne Williams-Isom, Meera Joshi and Chauncey Parker to stay, but they announced their resignation following the mayor's agreement to aid immigration enforcement in exchange for dropping his corruption prosecution.
Daniel Trotta / Reuters:
Four senior aides to New York mayor Adams to resign, media report
Discussion: New York Post and abc7NY
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 …
RELATED:
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.
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 …
Carole Cadwalladr / The Power:   US Coup Gains Speed
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 …
RELATED:
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
Reuters:
Judge appears inclined to deny request to block DOGE's mass firings, access to data
Discussion: The Post Millennial and Raw Story
Tom Hals / Reuters:   Judge calls rare hearing on a holiday in case against Musk's DOGE
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
RELATED:
Shadi Hamid / Washington Post:
Why I still criticize Democrats more than Trump
Discussion: Townhall and Grabien
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.
RELATED:
Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:   X is blocking links to Signal, a secure messaging platform used by federal workers
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.
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 …
RELATED:
Gideon Rachman / Financial Times:
Vance's real warning to Europe
Discussion: Asia Times
Liam Reilly / CNN:
Washington Post opted not to publish anti-Musk ad campaign after initially being open  —  The Washington Post scrapped an upcoming print ad from a pair of advocacy groups calling for the firing of Elon Musk as head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
RELATED:
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 …
Dasha Litvinova / Associated Press:
American arrested in Moscow on drug smuggling charges is freed ahead of Russia-US talks  —  Russia has freed a U.S. citizen arrested earlier this month on drug smuggling charges, according to Russian media reports and a U.S. official.  —  The move appears to be an effort to ease tensions between Moscow …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Top Russian and American officials will hold talks on ending the Ukraine war without Kyiv
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 …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Washington Post:
Trump casts psychiatric and weight-loss drugs as threats to children
Discussion: Eschaton
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Trump shares poll showing Donalds leading Florida governor's race
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Republican bill would make Trump's birthday a federal holiday
Discussion: Raw Story, HuffPost and The Independent
Brian Beutler / Off Message:
An Opposition Worthy Of Its Name
Discussion: The Hill
Alexander Vindman / Why It Matters:
The Dark Age of American Intelligence
Liza Featherstone / New Republic:
Musk and Trump Are Cutting Popular Programs. That's Deliberate.
Associated Press:
Israel's Netanyahu signals he's moving ahead with Trump's plan to move Palestinians from Gaza
 Earlier Items: 
J.D. Wolf / MeidasTouch News:
Trump Posted 14 Times About His Daytona 500 Trip, Nothing About Multi-State Flooding
Popular Information:
In botched DEI purge, OSHA trashes workplace safety guidelines
Cheyanne M. Daniels / The Hill:
NAACP spending guide urges Black Americans to avoid companies that dumped DEI
Discussion: Fox News and Townhall
Jill Colvin / Associated Press:
Mike Pence emerges as one of the few Republicans willing to challenge Trump 2.0
Thomas Chatterton Williams / The Atlantic:
How the Woke Right Replaced the Woke Left
Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
Trump has already weaponized the Department of Education
Discussion: Washington Post
Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
Trump Targets a Growing List of Those He Sees as Disloyal
Discussion: Raw Story
 

 
From Techmeme:

NPR:
Internal docs show Meta plans to use AI to automate up to 90% of its privacy and integrity risk assessments, including in sensitive areas like youth risk

Reed Albergotti / Semafor:
Sources: Anthropic has been lobbying Congress to oppose a bill banning states from regulating AI, and pushed against the recent US AI deal with Gulf states

Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Grow a Garden, a hit game on Roblox, has spawned a market where in-game items are sold for real money on sites like eBay, potentially violating Roblox's ToS
 
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