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5:10 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:
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 …
Noah Shachtman / Vanity Fair:
“This Is Some New and Very Dangerous Development.”  Inside the Bloody Battle Over the DOJ's Crown Jewel  —  Current and former SDNY colleagues of Emil Bove, Danielle Sassoon, and Hagan Scotten describe an office fighting to keep its independence under Trump as its stars wage war against one another.
Erica Orden / Politico:
Judge calls prosecutors into court to explain reasons for abandoning Eric Adams case
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 …
Discussion: Washington Post
RELATED:
Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:
Elon Musk Is Leading a ‘Hostile Takeover of the Federal Government’
Discussion: Grabien
Marita Vlachou / HuffPost:
Trump Ally Elon Musk Is Not Actually In Charge Of DOGE, White House Says
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 …
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 …
RELATED:
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.
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: Los Angeles Times, Forbes, UPI and HuffPost
RELATED:
New York Times:
As U.S. and Russian Officials Meet, Talks Are Set to Go Beyond Ukraine
Douglas Busvine / Politico:
Russia and US eye joint Arctic energy projects after Saudi talks
Discussion: Reuters
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:
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Trump will sign new executive orders while his first joint TV interview with Musk airs in prime time
Discussion: Washington Post
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.
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 …
Discussion: CBS News and Associated Press
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.
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.
Associated Press:
US Postal Service head DeJoy to step down after 5 years marked by pandemic, losses and cost cuts  —  Louis DeJoy, the head of the U.S. Postal Service, intends to step down, the federal agency said Tuesday, after a nearly five-year tenure marked by the coronavirus pandemic …
RELATED:
Jory Heckman / Federal News Network:
DeJoy announces plans to step down as USPS postmaster general
Discussion: About.usps.com and Politico
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: E&E News
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 …
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 …
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
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
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.
Courtney Rozen / Bloomberg:
Federal Mortgage Insurer to Lay Off Nearly Half of Workforce  —  The Trump administration is planning to lay off at least 40% of the workers at the federal agency that provides mortgage insurance on loans for people who otherwise wouldn't qualify for one, according to two sources familiar with the agency's plans.
Discussion: Quartz
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 …
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.
Nina Corcoran / Pitchfork:
Placebo's Brian Molko Charged With Defamation for Calling Italian Prime Minister “Fascist, Racist”  —  Molko was sued in 2023 for his onstage remarks about Italy's hard-right government  —  In August 2023, Placebo's Brian Molko was sued by Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni for calling her a …
CNN:
After claiming remote workers are actually golfing, Trump again hits the links in Florida  —  Palm Beach, Florida CNN —  As President Donald Trump orders federal workers to return to the office, he spent the fourth straight day at home here at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Matt Levine / Bloomberg:
The Unicorns Are Zombies  —  Also Safe Superintelligence, OpenAI voting rights, the egg spot market, Libra and the Meet Kevin ETF.
John Sakellariadis / Politico:
Trump's workforce blitz comes for CISA
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Meet Kevin Hassett: Conservatism's Invincible Ignoramus
Politico:
‘Nothing ... off limits’: Kennedy lays out plan for HHS
 Earlier Items: 
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
Remy Tumin / New York Times:
Delta Plane Overturns at Toronto Airport While Landing
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Andrew Goudsward / Reuters:
A US judge orders the White House to lift access restrictions imposed on the AP while the AP's lawsuit moves forward

Josh Xiao / Bloomberg:
Two influential Chinese bloggers say China is considering a ban on Hollywood movies as part of a set of measures to retaliate against Trump's tariffs

Nicole Meir / The Associated Press:
The AP Fund for Journalism announces a pilot program supported by the Google News Initiative to provide content, tools, and training to ~50 nonprofit news orgs

 
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