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6:00 PM ET, February 18, 2025

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 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 …
Politico:
Senior prosecutor in Washington quits, citing pressure to probe Biden-era climate funds
Discussion: NBC News and Washington Examiner
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Musk Ally Demands Admin Access to System That Lets Government Text the Public  —  A worker at the General Services Administration told colleagues in a Slack message Tuesday that they have resigned in protest after Elon Musk ally Thomas Shedd requested “admin/root access to all components …
Washington Post:
U.S. weighs destroying $500 million in stockpiled covid tests  —  The government is reviewing proposals to shut down the program that ships free covid tests to American households and has been considering destroying 160 million tests.
Makena Kelly / Wired:
Not Even DOGE Employees Know Who's Legally Running DOGE  —  Despite all appearances, the White House insists that Elon Musk is not in charge of DOGE.  US Doge Service employees can't get a straight answer about who is.  —  President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have repeatedly affirmed Musk's leadership …
RELATED:
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Who's in charge of DOGE? Not Elon Musk, White House says
Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:
Elon Musk Is Leading a ‘Hostile Takeover of the Federal Government’
Discussion: Grabien
Christina Jewett / New York Times:
F.D.A.'s Food Safety Chief Resigns Over Trump Administration Layoffs  —  The chief said the loss of critical employees overseeing the nation's food supply made his work impossible.  Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation's new health secretary, has pledged to gut the division.
Discussion: E&E News
RELATED:
Joseph Gedeon / The Guardian:
Food head at FDA quits citing Trump administration's mass staff cuts  —  Jim Jones, who joined Food and Drug Administration in 2023, says layoffs would make it ‘fruitless’ to continue in role  —  The head of the food division at the US Food and Drug Administration has quit in protest …
Erica Orden / Politico:
Judge calls prosecutors into court to explain reasons for abandoning Eric Adams case  —  Judge Dale Ho scheduled a hearing for Wednesday.  —  NEW YORK — The federal judge overseeing the criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams ordered the mayor and federal prosecutors to appear …
RELATED:
Sareen Habeshian / Axios:
Jack Smith among 900 former prosecutors alarmed by Trump's DOJ
Discussion: Raw Story
New York Times:
As U.S. and Russian Officials Meet, Talks Are Set to Go Beyond Ukraine  —  The two sides met in Saudi Arabia for their most extensive discussions in years.  In addition to Ukraine, business ties are on the table.  —  Senior American and Russian officials agreed on Tuesday to establish teams …
RELATED:
Zoë Richards / NBC News:
Trump says Ukraine ‘should never have started it’ in comments about war with Russia
Discussion: Politico, Axios and New York Times
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
Senator says GOP's hands are tied on DOGE cuts — ‘except complain’  —  Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley said Congress is powerless in the face of cuts from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.  “Congress can't do anything except complain” about the slashing of the federal government …
RELATED:
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Trump will sign new executive orders while his first joint TV interview with Musk airs in prime time
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Trump's DOJ Erases Report On Violence Against Native American Women  —  The Justice Department has removed a report from its website that lays out recommendations for tackling the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women.  —  The Not Invisible Act Commission's final report …
Washington Post:
Defense Department layoffs expected to start soon, officials say  —  Pentagon agencies were told to submit lists of probationary employees after members of Elon Musk's DOGE arrived, people familiar with the matter said.  —  The Trump administration has directed defense agencies to turn …
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: The Bulwark, Reason and New York Post
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.
Kim Zetter / Wired:
National Science Foundation Fires 168 Workers as Federal Purge Continues  —  Firings at the NSF included permanent employees who had already completed their one-year probationary period, as well as at-will workers.  —  The National Science Foundation fired nearly 170 workers in a Zoom call …
Discussion: CBS News and E&E News
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.
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
The House GOP budget resolution is in trouble  —  Speaker Mike Johnson is staring down at least a dozen Republican holdouts on the budget blueprint he wants to put on the House floor in the coming days — and he can only afford to lose one member and still approve the resolution along party lines.
RELATED:
Elyse Wanshel / HuffPost:
Zachary Levi Begs Elon Musk Not To Fire The ‘Good’ Federal Workers Who Voted For Trump  —  The “Shazam” star was upset that Trump supporters are getting “lost in the cracks” during DOGE's firing frenzy.  —  LOADING  —  Oh, bless his heart: Zachary Levi seems to believe that a billionaire cares …
Discussion: The Independent, The Hill and Fox News
RELATED:
Jory Heckman / Federal News Network:
DeJoy announces plans to step down as USPS postmaster general
Discussion: About.usps.com and Politico
VoteVets:
DOGE Tipline  —  The actions taken by Donald Trump through his executive orders and Elon Musk's tampering with federal agencies and systems are creating havoc within the government.  Have you been affected by this?  —  Please use the form below to share your story with us!
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 …
Devan Cole / CNN:
Judge Chutkan rejects call from Democratic AGs for temporary restraining order blocking DOGE's access to federal data  —  A federal judge declined on Tuesday to temporarily block Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency from accessing federal data systems at a slew of executive branch agencies.
Nikki McCann Ramirez / Rolling Stone:
Trump Administration Wants to Let Banks Jack Up Overdraft Fees  —  The administration's assault on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is turning into a direct attack on consumers  —  The Trump administration is looking to overturn a Biden-era rule limiting major banks' ability …
New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: Top Social Security Official Resigns After Musk Team Seeks Data Access  —  Where Things Stand  — Social Security data: The top official at the Social Security Administration stepped down this weekend after members of Elon Musk's so-called Department …
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 …
Discussion: Axios
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.
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 …
Kaelan Deese / Washington Examiner:
Appeals court blocks Biden's $500 billion student debt relief plan  —  A federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked former President Joe Biden's Saving on a Valuable Education plan, ruling that his administration lacked the authority to implement key provisions of the student loan repayment program.
Matt Levine / Bloomberg:
The Unicorns Are Zombies  —  Also Safe Superintelligence, OpenAI voting rights, the egg spot market, Libra and the Meet Kevin ETF.  —  Zombie unicorns  —  Somewhat surprisingly, the phrase “zombie unicorn” does not appear in the Money Stuff archive.  “Blood unicorn,” sure, in Greek even.
Jennifer Bowers Bahney / Raw Story:
'Stephen, let's calm down': Yelling Trump aide berates host as he loses cool live on CNN  —  White House aide Stephen Miller launched into a barrage of shouting aimed at CNN's Brianna Keilar Tuesday as she grilled him on cuts being made by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency …
Discussion: The Hill, New Republic, IJR and Mediaite
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.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Natasha Korecki / NBC News:
Foreign service worker says pregnant wife faces ‘life-threatening’ complications amid Trump's USAID shutdown
Discussion: Townhall
NOTUS:
Donald Trump Is Taking a ‘First Step’ to Expand Access for IVF
Ella Lee / The Hill:
Federal judge reinstates employee appeals board member fired by Trump
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit
Courtney Rozen / Bloomberg:
Federal Mortgage Insurer to Lay Off Nearly Half of Workforce
Discussion: Quartz
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Meet Kevin Hassett: Conservatism's Invincible Ignoramus
 Earlier Items: 
CNN:
After claiming remote workers are actually golfing, Trump again hits the links in Florida
New Republic:
Trump-Musk Threats Darken as Their Anger at Enemies Takes Ominous Turn
The Daily Beast:
Trump Wants Kennedy Center to Lavish MAGA Artists With Honors
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:
How COVID Pushed a Generation of Young People to the Right