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8:10 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:
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
A team from SpaceX is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system  —  The visit comes after a union representing FAA workers says hundreds are being laid off. … A team from Elon Musk's SpaceX is visiting the Air Traffic Control Command Center in Virginia Monday …
Pete Muntean / CNN:
Hundreds of FAA probationary workers fired by Trump administration, union says
Paul Krugman:
Our Government Is Experiencing a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly
Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo
New York Times:
4 Top Officials to 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 said they would resign after the Justice Department moved …
RELATED:
New York Times:
N.Y.C. Council Speaker Calls on Mayor Eric Adams to Resign
Discussion: Politico and New York Post
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: TechCrunch and The Independent
RELATED:
Tom Hals / Reuters:   Judge calls rare hearing on a holiday in case against Musk's DOGE
Washington Post:
Top Social Security official exits after clash with Musk's DOGE over data  —  Yet another top career staffer is leaving the administration amid a disagreement over a request by Elon Musk's team for sensitive government information.
Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo
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: New Republic, Fox News and Raw Story
RELATED:
Gideon Rachman / Financial Times:
Vance's real warning to Europe  —  Europeans need to reduce their dangerous dependence on an adversarial America  —  When JD Vance took the stage at the Munich Security Conference last week, he issued a stern warning.  The US vice-president told the assembled politicians and diplomats …
Discussion: Raw Story and Asia Times
RELATED:
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
Rubio spars with Brennan over Vance's Munich speech
Associated Press:
European leaders gather for emergency talks, fearing that Trump has abandoned age-old allies
David Gilbert / Wired:
No, 150-Year-Olds Aren't Collecting Social Security Benefits  —  Elon Musk claims to have found rampant fraud in the Social Security Administration.  There's a much simpler explanation.  —  Elon Musk has repeatedly claimed that his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) …
New York Times:
Thousands Gather on Presidents' Day to Call Trump a Tyrant  —  Thousands of protesters opposing broad swaths of President Trump's agenda took to the streets across the country, including outside the U.S. Capitol.  —  Thousands of protesters opposing broad swaths of President Trump's agenda took …
RELATED:
Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:
‘No Kings Day’: Protesters Denounce Trump and Musk
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.
Edward Helmore / The Guardian:
Jewish man mistakes two Israeli tourists for Palestinians and opens fire on them in Miami  —  Victims reportedly posted ‘death to Arabs’ on social media after shooting while suspect held on attempted murder charges  —  A Jewish man in Miami Beach is facing charges of attempted murder following accusations …
David Edwards / Raw Story:
'It's gone': Elon Musk suggests without evidence that gold was ‘stolen’ from Fort Knox  —  Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Department of Government Efficiency Chair Elon Musk demanded access to the gold stored at Fort Knox.  —  Writing on Musk's social media platform X, Lee said he was repeatedly denied access …
Tom Gerken / BBC:
Argentina president faces impeachment calls over crypto crash  —  Argentine President Javier Milei is facing impeachment calls - and legal action accusing him of fraud - over his promotion of cryptocurrency on social media.  —  Milei posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the $LIBRA coin on Friday …
Washington Post:
Trump casts psychiatric and weight-loss drugs as threats to children  —  Trump directed a panel headed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to assess “the prevalence of and threat” posed by SSRIs, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs.
Discussion: Eschaton
Daniel Bice / Journal Sentinel:
Bice: An Elon Musk-backed group buys at least $670,000 of TV time to support Brad Schimel  —  Conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel said just recently he was hoping conservative third-party groups would start buying up TV time in the state “very soon.”  —  Ask and you shall receive.
Discussion: WisPolitics
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.
Discussion: Raw Story
Sara Moniuszko / CBS News:
Measles outbreak in Texas rises to at least 48 cases — the state's worst in nearly 30 years  —  A measles outbreak in Texas has grown to 48 confirmed cases, making it the state's worst in nearly 30 years — and local health officials say additional cases are likely.
RELATED:
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
WSJ asks Kennedy to cast aside ‘antivax hooey’ amid Texas measles outbreak
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
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.
Sunjeev Bery / The Intercept:
This Is the Way to Stop Elon Musk  —  Senate Democrats have the power to block federal contracts to Tesla and SpaceX.  It's the path to pushing Musk out of politics.  —  WITH THE BACKING of President Donald Trump, Elon Musk has embarked on an unconstitutional rampage against the federal government.
Discussion: Raw Story
 
 
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 More Items: 
Helen Branswell / STAT:
Drug inspectors, AI experts, maternal health workers: Trump's health agency cuts are far-reaching
Michelle Watson / CNN:
After landing his dream job as a park ranger, he's ‘heartbroken’ to be let go in federal cuts
Discussion: USA Today and MPR News
Ailia Zehra / The Hill:
Homan says he's asked DOJ whether Ocasio-Cortez is impeding ICE
Pema Levy / Mother Jones:
There's No Way Elon Musk's Job is Legal
Discussion: Rolling Stone
Eli McKown-Dawson / Silver Bulletin:
So, how did the polls do in 2024? It's complicated.
 Earlier Items: 
Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:
The Death of Government Expertise
Brad Reed / Raw Story:
'Can't be saved': Former Canadian defense official says relationship with U.S. is over
Liza Featherstone / New Republic:
Musk and Trump Are Cutting Popular Programs. That's Deliberate.
Jill Colvin / Associated Press:
Mike Pence emerges as one of the few Republicans willing to challenge Trump 2.0
Politico:
‘Five alarm warning’: Possible DOGE access to private taxpayer data sparks outcry
Nahal Toosi / Politico:
The Marco Rubio Guide to Survival is Not Working Well
 

 
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Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
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