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DOGE's Millions: As Musk and Trump Gut Government, Their Ax-Cutting Agency Gets Cash Infusion — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — While Elon Musk and his underlings demand budget cuts …
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Defense One, Twitchy, ClearanceJobs, E&E News, Washington Times and Reuters
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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 …
Discussion:
USA Today, Raw Story, Washington Examiner and Associated Press


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, Law & Crime and HuffPost


Playbook: DOGE bites Republicans
Discussion:
al.com, Washington Examiner, Daily Caller News Foundation, Washington Times, Fox News, The Hill and Washington Post

‘Stand up for us!’ Republican shouted down as he defends DOGE cuts at town hall
Discussion:
CBS News and Musk Watch


Trump expected to take control of USPS, fire postal board, officials say — The move threatens to upend trillions of dollars in ecommerce business and the 250-year-old Postal Service.
Discussion:
Daily Mail, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money


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 …
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Times, NPR, The Independent, CBS News, Law & Crime, Mediaite and Blaze Media
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Senate confirms Kash Patel as FBI director — The Trump loyalist is taking over a bureau in turmoil over firings and an effort to gather names of people who worked on Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigations. — WASHINGTON — Kash Patel, a longtime loyalist to President Donald Trump …


Senate confirms Kash Patel, fierce critic of FBI, to head the bureau — The Republican-led Senate voted Thursday to confirm Kash Patel as the new FBI director despite questions about whether he has the qualifications and the temperament to lead the nation's most powerful law enforcement agency.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Blaze Media, RTÉ, Hollywood Life, The Hill, U.S. Senator Susan Collins … and CBS News


Trump Administration Live Updates: Senate Confirms Kash Patel as F.B.I. Chief
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Twitchy, Daily Kos, The Hill, NPR, CBS News, NBC News, Bloomberg, The National Pulse, New York Post and Washington Examiner

Senate confirms Kash Patel to lead FBI
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Washington Post, The Indian Express, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, PBS NewsHour, The Hill, The Federalist, HotAir, Scripps News, The Mahablog, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, RedState, Deadline, PoliticusUSA, Townhall, Mediaite, Forbes, Fox News, FOX8 WGHP, UPI, American Greatness, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, The American Conservative and Semafor

Live updates: Senate narrowly confirms Kash Patel for FBI director


Trump again raises idea of running for an unconstitutional third term — The suggestion followed a stretch of days in which Trump referred to himself as a king and quoted a dictator in suggesting that he was immune from following laws — President Donald Trump on Thursday again raised …
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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 …
Discussion:
Axios, Denver Post, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, Forbes, Blaze Media, FOX8 WGHP, Business Insider, Fox News, Associated Press, IJR, Politico, New York Times, GovExec.com and Federal News Network


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 …
Discussion:
Fortune, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, LewRockwell, NPR and UPI
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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:
CBS News


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


Gov. Hochul says she won't remove NYC Mayor Adams from office … We rely on your support to make local news available to all — Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2025. Donate today — Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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CPAC attendees rejoice over McConnell's retirement: ‘Way past time’ — Attendees at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Committee in Washington, D.C., celebrated Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) retirement, which was announced during Day Two of the annual event.
Discussion:
Liberty Nation News, The Hill and Florida Politics
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Sen. Mitch McConnell won't seek reelection in 2026, ending long tenure as Republican power broker
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Roll Call, CBS News, New Republic, The Hill, New York Times, NBC News, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Advocate, Semafor, Raw Story, Responsible Statecraft, The Daily Caller, Washington Times, The Daily Wire, Twitchy, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Fox News, One America News Network, Daily Kos, UPI, The Political Insider, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hollywood Life, New York Daily News, WAGA-TV, freebeacon.com, The Independent, NPR, USA Today, Bloomberg, RedState, New York Post, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, E&E News, RTÉ, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Daily Mail, Axios, Grabien, Ace of Spades HQ, Townhall, NOTUS, IJR and The American Conservative


Acting U.S. attorney opens inquiries into Democrats alleging possible threats to DOGE, Supreme Court justices — Ed Martin, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, revealed he has opened inquiries into public statements of Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Civil Discourse …, Politico, New York Post, RedState, Raw Story, Advocate, New Republic, The Hill, Gizmodo, The Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, Esquire and Rolling Stone


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 …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Washington Examiner, The Independent and HuffPost


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


Trump Administration Abruptly Clears Out Migrants It Sent to Guantánamo — A transfer operation on Thursday repatriated 177 Venezuelans via a handoff in Honduras, while one migrant was brought back to U.S. soil. — The Trump administration on Thursday transferred all of the Venezuelan migrants …
Discussion:
Migrant Insider, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, Informed Comment, Reuters, Bloomberg, NPR, The Hill, NBC News and The Independent


Trump administration backtracks on eliminating thousands of national parks employees — Following a loud public outcry about job cuts at the National Parks Service — and a relentless media campaign from outdoors enthusiasts across the country — it looks like the Trump administration has blinked.
Discussion:
Plain Dealer

Education Department “Lifting the Pause” on Some Civil Rights Probes, but Not for Race or Gender Cases — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — The U.S. Department of Education …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Independent and Twitchy


Judge warns Trump administration not to dodge court order unfreezing foreign aid — Officials avoid contempt of court, but can't implement any broad holds on payments, a judge ruled. — A federal judge delivered a stern warning to the Trump administration that it must abide by a court order …
Discussion:
The Hill, Raw Story and The Indian Express


X Hinted at Possible Deal Trouble in Talks With Ad Giant to Increase Spending — Interpublic recently signed an advertising agreement with the platform; other agencies are also in negotiations — A lawyer at advertising conglomerate Interpublic Group fielded a phone call in December …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Business Insider, Gizmodo and The Information, more at Mediagazer »


The Ultimate Betrayal — America just switched sides in the Ukraine war. … Even though anyone with eyes could see this coming, Donald Trump's recent moves with regard to Ukraine and Russia come as a huge blow. We are in the midst of a global fight between Western liberal democracy …


2/21/25 ☀️ AM: … There are two ways to look at this: This resolution is a bit out of step with the Trump administration. Trump publicly said Wednesday that he likes the much broader House GOP resolution better and hopes Hill Republicans rally around that.
Discussion:
Politico, CBS News, New York Times, NBC News, Roll Call, The Hill, Washington Times and Washington Examiner


‘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 …
Discussion:
HotAir, The Register and American Enterprise Institute


Grand jury recommends Alabama police department be ‘immediately abolished’ — Five officers were indicted amid a probe into the Hanceville Police Department. — Cody Alan Kelso, Jason Scott Wilbanks, Jason Shane Marlin, William Andrew Shelnutt, and Eric Michael Kelso are shown …
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Montgomery Advertiser, al.com, CBS News, UPI and New York Post


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:
Mediaite


Trump Dismantles Government Fight Against Foreign Influence Operations — The Trump administration has reassigned or forced out several dozen government employees who had been working to fight foreign interference in U.S. elections at multiple agencies, according to current and former officials.
Discussion:
Default, The American Spectator and Los Angeles Times, more at Techmeme »


Chris Kluwe isn't backing down after arrest for MAGA protest. 'Somebody's got to step up' — HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe wore a T-shirt, shorts and flip flops when he showed up to talk about his arrest Tuesday night during the Huntington Beach City Council meeting.


Is That Legal? A Guide to Trump's Big Moves So Far. — Examining the legality of 38 major actions the president has taken in his first month. — In his first month in office, President Trump has ordered a radical set of changes to the federal government.