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1:10 PM ET, February 18, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Sarah N. Lynch / Reuters:
Senior U.S. prosecutor resigns, citing demands to open probe into Biden-era contract  —  The top federal prosecutor who supervised criminal cases at the Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney's office resigned on Tuesday, citing what she described as an improper demand by officials appointed …
RELATED:
CNN:
Head of Justice Department's Washington, DC, criminal division quits  —  The head of the criminal division within the DC US Attorney's Office has left her post, according to four sources.  —  The sudden departure of Justice Department veteran Denise Cheung comes a day after President Donald …
Washington Post:
High-ranking D.C. federal prosecutor resigns in protest  —  The leader of the criminal division has stepped down following a dispute over freezing Biden-era environmental grants.  —  The head of the criminal division in the U.S. attorney's office in D.C. resigned Tuesday morning after declining …
Discussion: CBS News and Semafor
NBC News:
As U.S. and Putin negotiate, intel shows he's not interested ‘in a real peace deal,’ sources say  —  Intelligence suggests Russian President Vladimir Putin is going through the motions and still thinks he can eventually control all of Ukraine, the sources told NBC News.
Discussion: Forbes, UPI, HuffPost and Raw Story
RELATED:
Mark Hertling / The Bulwark:
Marco Rubio Is Walking into a Trap
Jamie Dettmer / Politico:   Moscow's media gloats over US-Russia talks
The Bulwark:   Staying Patriotic in Trump's America
Associated Press:
Russia and the US agree to work towards improving ties and ending the Ukraine war in landmark talks
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.
RELATED:
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Who's in charge of DOGE?  Not Elon Musk, White House says  —  A Trump administration personnel official says Musk has “no actual or formal authority to make government decisions.”  —  Elon Musk is not the leader of DOGE — the mysterious Trump administration operation overseeing an effort to break and remake the federal bureaucracy.
emptywheel:
Why Elon Musk Can't Run DOGE [sic] Anymore  —  Yesterday, Judge Tanya Chutkan had a Presidents Day hearing on a lawsuit challenging DOGE's actions.  While she reportedly seemed inclined not to grant an emergency restraining order, she did order the government to provide her with two pieces of information …
Rebecca Falconer / Axios:
Musk is not a DOGE employee and “has no actual or formal authority,” WH says
New York Times:
Under Trump's Mass Deportation Plan, Some Migrants Are Being Sent to Panama  —  Migrants deported from the United States are being held at the Decapolis Hotel Panama in Panama City.  The deportees come from Afghanistan, Iran, China and other nations.  —  They arrived at the United States border …
Discussion: Reason and New York Post
Lauren Aratani / The Guardian:
A quarter of US shoppers have dumped favorite stores over political stances  —  A new poll also found that four in 10 Americans have shifted spending to align with moral views in recent months  —  Americans are changing their shopping habits and even dumping their favorite stores in a backlash …
New York Times:
C.I.A. Expands Secret Drone Flights Over Mexico  —  The covert program, begun during the Biden administration and stepped up by President Trump, is hunting for the location of fentanyl labs.  —  The United States has stepped up secret drone flights over Mexico to hunt for fentanyl labs …
RELATED:
CNN:
CIA flying covert drone missions into Mexico to spy on drug cartels
Discussion: Raw Story
Associated Press:
Social Security head steps down over DOGE access of recipient information, sources say  —  The Social Security Administration's acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information …
RELATED:
Bryan Metzger / Business Insider:
Some Republicans are pushing back on DOGE as firings hit their home states  — Some Republicans are beginning to speak up against DOGE-led cuts to federal jobs.  — It tends to happen when those cuts impact their home states.  — They've made sure to emphasize their support for government efficiency as they've spoken out.
Discussion: Politico and New Jersey Online
RELATED:
Politico:
GOP flinches at Musk cuts
Discussion: Jacobin
CNN:
Hamas says it will release bodies of four hostages, including Bibas children, on Thursday and six living hostages on Saturday  —  Hamas on Tuesday said that it will release the dead bodies of four Israeli hostages on Thursday, including the two youngest people held by the group, Kfir and Ariel Bibas.
Remy Tumin / New York Times:
Delta Plane Overturns at Toronto Airport While Landing  —  The airport said on social media that emergency teams were responding and that all passengers and crew were accounted for.  —  A Delta Air Lines flight arriving at Toronto Pearson Airport from Minneapolis appears to have overturned …
Caleb Ecarma / Musk Watch:
Meta removes Facebook ad criticizing Musk  —  Meta removed an advertisement earlier this month criticizing Elon Musk's use of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to seize Americans' private information.  “A single individual now controls sensitive U.S. data, risking our national security.
more at Mediagazer »
Rebecca Traister / New York Magazine:
Wokeness Is Not to Blame for Trump  —  How a misdiagnosis of the 2024 election has calcified into self-defeating conventional wisdom.  —  In the midst of chaos and cataclysm, it's rare to find agreement across partisan divides, but in the months since Donald Trump won his second presidential election …
Jill Lawrence / The Bulwark:
Seven Myths Shattered by Trump 2.0 (and One True Thing)  —  THE PAST FEW WEEKS have been a master class in myth-busting, starting with the fantasy that the government should be run like a business and the corollary delusion that winning candidates don't follow through on their campaign agendas.
Rolling Stone:
FAA Employees Say Trump and Musk's Purge Is a ‘Threat’ to Air Safety  —  After firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees, the Trump administration is now attempting to downplay safety concerns  —  Donald Trump and Elon Musk fired hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration …
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Scoop: Dems prep for Trump legal meltdown … Democrats are meeting with state attorneys general, top lawyers, litigation firms, constitutional experts and advocacy organizations, multiple top lawmakers told Axios.  — “Looking into all the implications and all the strategies …
Discussion: Washington Examiner and The Nation
The Daily Beast:
Trump Wants Kennedy Center to Lavish MAGA Artists With Honors  —  President Donald Trump wants to lavish his personal friends with Kennedy Center Honors, after parachuting himself into the hot seat at the cultural mecca.  Earlier this month, Trump, who reportedly also privately railed …
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:
How COVID Pushed a Generation of Young People to the Right  —  Research suggests that pandemics are more likely to reduce rather than build trust in scientific and political authorities.  —  For decades, America's young voters have been deeply—and famously—progressive.
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Trump Cuts Target Next Generation of Scientists and Public Health Leaders  —  A core group of so-called disease detectives, who track outbreaks, was apparently spared.  But other young researchers are out of jobs.  —  The notices came all weekend, landing in the inboxes of federal scientists …
Reason:
Birthright Citizenship  —  Since the publication of our opinion piece on birthright citizenship in the New York Times ("Trump Might Have a Case on Birthright Citizenship"), we have received numerous critiques, some quite thoughtful (others less so), both in this and other venues.
Politico:
‘Nothing ... off limits’: Kennedy lays out plan for HHS  —  His first remarks to the department since being confirmed comes as Washington reels from mass firings and funding cuts.  —  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. implored federal health agency workers on Tuesday to “let go” of preconceived notions …
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
“His mission is to eradicate ‘woke Jesus’”: How money, lies and religion are abused to gut democracy  —  Journalist Katherine Stewart's “Money, Lies, and God” takes readers into Trump's movement to end America  —  Money, God and lies: These are the three pillars of the movement that led …
Discussion: Raw Story
Reuters:
Exclusive: FDA staff reviewing Musk's Neuralink were included in DOGE employee firings, sources say  —  U.S. Food and Drug Administration employees reviewing Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink were fired over the weekend as part of a broader purge of the federal workforce, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Discussion: STAT and Raw Story
Paul Krugman:
Making Microbes Great Again  —  The Texas measles outbreak is just the beginning  —  I'm almost certain that I had measles as a child.  My memories are a bit vague, and unfortunately my parents, who would surely have remembered the incident, have passed on.
Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
NY Democrats demand RFK Jr. restore cuts to 9/11 survivor program  —  New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand wrote a Monday letter to newly minted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., urging him to reverse recent cuts to the Centers for Disease Control …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Marisa Kabas / The Handbasket:
We're dealing with actual Nazis
Discussion: The Daily Caller, Reason and spiked
Leah Nylen / Bloomberg:
Trump Antitrust Enforcers to Keep Biden-Era Merger Rules
Discussion: CNBC
New Republic:
Trump-Musk Threats Darken as Their Anger at Enemies Takes Ominous Turn
Washington Post:
Trump's firings strike the nation's health agencies
Jory Heckman / Federal News Network:
DeJoy announces plans to step down as USPS postmaster general
 Earlier Items: 
Andrew Prokop / Vox:
Why Trump's second term agenda is so wildly different from his first
Abdallah Fayyad / Vox:
What comes after the DEI backlash?
Discussion: Washington Examiner and Forbes
Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
The GOP is pushing a false choice
Discussion: The Hill
Governor Kathy Hochul:
Statement from Governor Kathy Hochul
 

 
From Techmeme:

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
The US Treasury sanctions Philippines-based Funnull Technology for allegedly facilitating “pig butchering” crypto scams that stole over $200M from US victims

Jez Corden / Windows Central:
Sources: Microsoft sidelines its native Xbox handheld to focus on Windows 11 gaming performance for third-party OEM devices, like an Asus model debuting in 2025

Paresh Dave / Wired:
Meta says it has cut US content removal mistakes by half since its January policy changes, without broadly exposing users to more offensive content than before
 
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