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10:20 AM ET, February 21, 2025

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 Top Items: 
RELATED:
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
The private GOP panic over the slash-and-burn DOGE firings  —  White House aides are inundated with congressional calls as Republicans fret.  —  A growing number of congressional Republicans are desperately trying to back-channel with White House officials as President Donald Trump's Department …
Joan Walsh / The Nation:
Trump's Firing Frenzy Is Hitting the GOP Where It Hurts
Discussion: ClearanceJobs and Scripps News
Qasim Nauman / New York Times:
Justice Dept. to Drop Discrimination Case Against Elon Musk's SpaceX  —  The Justice Department had sued SpaceX in 2023, accusing the company of violating federal law by refusing to hire refugees and people granted asylum in the United States.  —  The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday …
Discussion: Axios and Bloomberg
RELATED:
CNBC:
U.S. says it will drop immigration case against SpaceX  —  The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday said it would drop a case accusing Elon Musk's space technology company SpaceX of refusing to hire certain immigrants.  —  The Justice Department last month signaled it could back away from the case …
Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
Why Gen Z men love Trump's reign of destruction  —  Trump's appeal to the demographic might not have to do with his policies.  —  Many Americans are disturbed by President Donald Trump's trampling of the Constitution and nuking of the federal government.  But one group seems to love what Trump is doing: young men.
RELATED:
Zack Sharf / Variety:
Stephen King Returns to X and Calls President Trump a ‘Traitorous, Putin-Loving Dips—! Goes Double for Elon’
Discussion: Fox News and Twitchy
Joyce Vance / Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
Kash Patel, Confirmed  —  The Senate bent the knee again, confirming Kash Patel for a 10-year term as director of the FBI.  The 51-49 vote was mostly along party lines, with Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining the Democrats this afternoon.
RELATED:
Scott Macfarlane / CBS News:
Acting U.S. attorney opens inquiries into Democrats alleging possible threats to DOGE, Supreme Court justices
Ryan Lucas / NPR:
Senate confirms Kash Patel, fierce critic of FBI, to head the bureau
Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:
Senate confirms Kash Patel as FBI director
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount Is Starting to Fight Back Against Trump in ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit  —  The CBS News owner's legal strategy has revolved around arguments challenging the President's insistence that it should stay in federal court in Texas, in addition to raising the specter of discovery and arbitration.
Discussion: Deadline, HuffPost and Law & Crime
RELATED:
NBC10 Philadelphia:
Hundreds of Philly IRS workers laid off on Thursday, union says  —  Around 400 Philadelphia IRS workers are expected to be laid off on Thursday, Feb. 20, union leader Alex Jay Berman confirmed  —  Hundreds of Philadelphia IRS employees were laid off on Thursday as part of the Trump administration's efforts …
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Trump's Putinization of America  —  It's not just in foreign policy that the President is turning Russia's way.  —  No matter how many times Donald Trump openly parrots the Kremlin line, it's never not going to sound wrong coming from the President of the United States.
Discussion: Plain Dealer
RELATED:
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Trump Claims Power to Fire Administrative Law Judges at Will  —  The Justice Department said a law protecting the officials from arbitrary removal is an unconstitutional intrusion on presidential authority.  —  The Trump administration told Congress on Thursday that it believed President …
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit
RELATED:
Larry Diamond / The UnPopulist:   Trump's America Is in a Free Fall—Not a Slippery Slope—to Tyranny
New York Times:   Is That Legal? A Guide to Trump's Big Moves So Far.
Sam Stein / The Bulwark:
He Took Musk's Resignation Offer.  He Was Fired Anyway.  —  A TOP-RANKING REGIONAL FEMA OFFICIAL who took Elon Musk's resignation deal was fired thirteen days later by the Trump administration, raising questions about the integrity of the program that the White House put together to off-ramp tens of thousands of federal employees.
Discussion: Reuters and NPR
CNN:
Elon Musk's private security detail gets deputized by US Marshals Service  —  The US Marshals Service has deputized members of Elon Musk's private security detail, giving them certain rights and protections of federal law enforcement agents, three law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told CNN.
Discussion: Scripting News and CBS News
William Vaillancourt / The Daily Beast:
Steve Bannon Mimics Elon Musk's VERY Controversial Salute  —  Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon whipped up Friday's Conservative Political Action Conference crowd by talking about the possibility of the President Donald Trump staying in office for a third term in 2028 …
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Justice Department broadens Trump's Jan. 6 clemency as it moves to drop gun cases  —  In court papers, DOJ revealed a newly expansive interpretation of the president's Jan. 6 pardons.  —  The Justice Department now says that President Donald Trump's clemency for Jan. 6 rioters covers unrelated crimes …
Rolling Stone:
Trump and Elon's ‘Pointless Bloodbath’ at the FAA Is Even Worse Than You Think  —  The Trump administration fired several FAA lawyers tasked with helping keep reckless and drunk pilots out of the skies — and officials are baffled  —  Late last week, just as Presidents' Day weekend was starting …
Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:
AOC shows how to fight back and stand strong  —  🗣️ 🫶 🪧 With corporate outlets obeying in advance, supporting independent political media is more important right now than ever.  Public Notice is possible thanks to paid subscribers.
Discussion: Gothamist and The Daily Signal
Sarah Jeong / The Verge:
I cannot describe how strange Elon Musk's CPAC appearance was  —  So here's a literal transcript, instead. … Elon Musk spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday, giving a strange and often inarticulate on-stage interview to Newsmax presenter Rob Schmitt.
Washington Post:
Justice Department deletes database tracking federal police misconduct  —  Trump executive order ends National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, which Trump proposed creating in 2020  —  The first nationwide database tracking misconduct by federal police officers has been shut …
Discussion: Axios
New York Times:
Coinbase Says S.E.C. Will Drop Crypto Lawsuit  —  The end of a court fight with the largest U.S. crypto company would be a big win for an industry that financially backed President Trump.  —  The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said on Friday that the Securities and Exchange Commission …
Brianna Keilar / CNN:
Military families rocked by Trump's federal government cuts  —  The Trump administration's swift, sweeping cuts to the federal workforce is set to derail the livelihoods of potentially thousands of military families.  —  The turmoil within the military community caused by the recent firings …
Helen Branswell / STAT:
HHS orders CDC to halt some vaccine ads, saying RFK Jr. wants message focused on ‘informed consent’  —  Experts fear effort to recalibrate tone could dampen vaccine uptake  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was ordered to shelve promotions it developed for a variety of vaccines …
Samantha Hendrickson / The Columbus Dispatch:
Ohio GOP Rep. Balderson says Trump's executive orders ‘getting out of control’  —  Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson described President Donald Trump's flurry of executive orders as “getting out of control” at a Westerville Area Chamber business luncheon Thursday, saying that only Congress can do certain things.
Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite
Zeynep Tufekci / New York Times:
Here Are the Digital Clues to What Musk Is Really Up To  —  Watching Elon Musk and his band of young acolytes slash their way through the federal government, many observers have struggled to understand how such a small group could do so much damage in so little time.
Rhianna Schmunk / CBC News:
Chantal Kreviazuk changes O Canada lyrics at hockey game against U.S. to protest Trump  —  Singer changed words ahead of Thursday night's 4 Nations Face-Off game between Canada and the U.S.  —  Chantal Kreviazuk, the Canadian Grammy-award winning singer, changed the lyrics to O Canada …
Corbin Hiar / Politico:
‘Cowardliness at the top’: Science agency staff revolt over cuts  —  At an emotional meeting, foundation officials announced layoffs for about 10 percent of their workforce and warned of more firings to come.  —  The National Science Foundation went beyond the staff cuts demanded …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Abrahm Lustgarten / ProPublica:
Trump Order Shifts the Financial Burden of Climate Change Onto Individuals
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
Why the Texas measles outbreak was ‘inevitable’
Discussion: NPR, New York Daily News and El País
New York Times:
Musk and His Millions Enter Wisconsin Supreme Court Race
Discussion: CNN and Washington Examiner
Danny Nguyen / Politico:
Neera Tanden is returning to the Center for American Progress. She thinks Democrats have work to do.
Discussion: Semafor and New York Times
 Earlier Items: 
Josh Peter / USA Today:
Chris Kluwe isn't backing down after arrest for MAGA protest. 'Somebody's got to step up'
Politico:
Judge warns Trump administration not to dodge court order unfreezing foreign aid
Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story
ProPublica:
Education Department “Lifting the Pause” on Some Civil Rights Probes, but Not for Race or Gender Cases
Discussion: Associated Press
Jack Dolan / Los Angeles Times:
Trump administration backtracks on eliminating thousands of national parks employees
Discussion: Salt Lake Tribune
Francis Fukuyama / Persuasion:
The Ultimate Betrayal  —  America just switched sides in the Ukraine war.
Discussion: The Hill
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Half of Trump's first month in office saw him visiting Trump properties
Discussion: HuffPost and Daily Kos
Alaric DeArment / New Republic:
Americans Are Heading for the Exits
New York Times:
Trump Administration Abruptly Clears Out Migrants It Sent to Guantánamo
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Charles Martin / AppleInsider:
The BBC complains to the UK CMA that Apple and Google's news aggregators weaken its relationship with the public by downplaying the BBC branding

Joseph Bambridge / Politico:
OpenAI and Google reject the UK's proposal to allow training AI on copyrighted work without permission unless rights holders opt out to “reserve their rights”

Axios:
Sources: G/O Media sold business news brand Quartz and commerce site The Inventory to software firm Redbrick, the fourth Quartz ownership change in seven years
 
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