Trump fires chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and two other military officers  —  President Donald Trump abruptly fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, sidelining a history-making fighter pilot and respected officer as part of a campaign led …

Exclusive: US could cut Ukraine's access to Starlink internet services over minerals, say sources  —  U.S. negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine's critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country's access to Elon Musk's vital Starlink satellite internet system …

New Social Security chief was being investigated when Musk team tapped him  —  Leland Dudek, a data analyst working in a small anti-fraud office, was suspected of sharing unauthorized access to information with representatives of Musk's U.S. DOGE Service.  Now he's the acting Social Security commissioner.

DOGE's Only Public Ledger Is Riddled With Mistakes  —  The figures from Elon Musk's team of outsiders represent billions in government cuts.  They are also full of accounting errors, outdated data and other miscalculations.  —  Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency …

Kristi Noem Says $200 Million DHS Ad Campaign Thanking Trump Was His Idea  —  Trump's Homeland Security Secretary said he instructed her to make ads that “thank me for closing the border”  —  NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — The Department of Homeland Security has budgeted up to $200 million …

US Rep. Glenn Grothman faces hostile crowd at Oshkosh town hall meeting  —  Constituents ask congressman about Medicaid funding, power of Elon Musk  —  People booed and jeered at U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman as he walked into the Algoma Town Hall just outside Oshkosh Friday morning.

Dow drops 700 points for worst day of 2025 so far on new fears about economic growth: Live updates  —  Stocks sold off on Friday as new U.S. data sparked concern among investors over a slowing economy and sticky inflation, leading them in search of safer assets.

The DOGE Project Will Backfire  —  Trump's war on public employees is bad for all of us.  —  President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk justify dismantling the civil service as cost cutting.  The federal government has “billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud …

AP sues 3 Trump administration officials, citing freedom of speech  —  The Associated Press sued three Trump administration officials Friday over access to presidential events, citing freedom of speech in asking a federal judge to stop the 10-day blocking of its journalists.

Recording reveals new details on controversial DOGE employee  —  Less than three years before Elon Musk tapped him to take part in a sweeping overhaul of the US government, Edward Coristine, then 17, was the subject of a heated dispute between two executives at the Arizona-based cybersecurity firm where he was an intern.

Another Town Hall(s) Goes Off the Rails - Oregon 2nd District Edition  —  In Oregon's 2nd district, Rep. Cliff Bentz (R) got a rude awakening in four town halls he held in this past week.  At one point in his town hall in La Grande he chided the audience, saying a lot of representatives had refused to even hold town halls.

How Federal Employees Are Fighting Back Against Elon Musk … Karen Ortiz, an administrative law judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said her ability to send emails was shut off after she sent an agencywide message calling on the commission's acting chair to resign.Taurat Hossain for The New York Times

The Great Resegregation  —  The Trump administration's attacks on DEI are aimed at reversing the civil-rights movement.  —  the nostalgia behind the slogan “Make America great again” has always provoked the obvious questions of just when America was great, and for whom.

Judge largely blocks Trump's executive orders ending federal support for DEI programs  —  A federal judge on Friday largely blocked sweeping executive orders from President Donald Trump that seek to end government support for programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

Trump's Own Pollster Just Hit Him with Very Bad News—and a Warning  —  As you watch President Donald Trump and Elon Musk recklessly attempt to destroy the federal government like a pair of toddlers picking legs off a spider, it seems as if Republicans have decided public opinion no longer constrains them in the least.

Oversight Democrats warn Trump on plans to ‘dismantle’ Postal Service  —  Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee on Saturday urged President Trump to abandon plans to reform the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) after he said he was considering a “merger” for the mail service.

Frustrated Democrats Urge Leaders to Show More Fight Against Trump  —  Voters, activists and even some governors, like Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, are growing exasperated with congressional Democrats' restrained approach.  —  One month after President Trump was sworn in for a second term …

They Worked to Prevent Death.  The Trump Administration Fired Them.  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  Every day, they tackled complex issues with life-or-death stakes:

Craving more energy, Maryland looks to nuclear power  —  Lawmakers are considering measures this legislative session that could encourage more nuclear energy in the state.  (Angelique Gingras/Capital News Service)  —  ANNAPOLIS - In a legislative session dominated by energy issues …

Prominent DOGE Staffer Is Grandson Of Turncoat KGB Spy  —  [A brief editorial note: About 10 years ago, I began researching the Year of the Spy and some famous Reagan-era espionage cases.  This post draws from that research.  See also my previously published article about the NSA traitor Ronald Pelton.]

Judge extends block on DOGE's access to federal payment systems  —  The ruling found that DOGE access to the payment systems created a “realistic danger that confidential financial information will be disclosed.”  —  A federal judge on Friday extended an order keeping Elon Musk's DOGE team …

Trump to shut down all 8,000 EV charging ports at federal govt buildings  —  The Trump administration is shutting down EV chargers at all federal government buildings and is also expected to sell off the General Services Administration's (GSA) newly bought EVs.

The Trump team ups the trolling to 11  —  Provocative messages have become central to the Trump team's political efforts, inviting everyone to guess what's a joke and what's not.  —  A month ago, Elon Musk rang in President Donald Trump's second term with a straight-arm salute that divided a political nation.

The University of Pittsburgh pauses its Ph.D. admissions process amid research funding uncertainty  —  Amid uncertainty about frozen research aid from the National Institutes of Health, the University of Pittsburgh has put its Ph.D. admissions on ice.  The school confirmed Friday …

Trump wants America to shine on AI.  DOGE is blundering it.  —  One of the big challenges of reporting on the new administration is that it's hard to figure out who's really calling the shots.  Take AI.  In his comments to world leaders at the AI Action Summit in Paris last week …

Trump, After G.O.P. Criticism, Reverses Cuts to 9/11 Survivors' Program  —  About 20 percent of the World Trade Central Health Program's staff had been terminated amid President Trump's slashing of the federal work force.  —  The Trump administration has reversed itself on making funding …

February 21, 2025  —  In an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) yesterday, billionaire Elon Musk seemed to be having difficulty speaking.  Musk brandished a chainsaw like that Argentina's president Javier Milei used to symbolize the drastic cuts he intended …

Trump Administration Stalls Scientific Research Despite Court Ruling  —  Using an arcane law, officials have effectively delayed funding from the National Institutes of Health, leaving medical studies in jeopardy.  —  The Trump administration has blocked key parts of the federal government's apparatus …

Rep. Cliff Bentz fields questions at emotional Union County town hall  —  LA GRANDE — Oregon's U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz tried to make it through his usual routine Wednesday, Feb. 19, at his town hall in La Grande.  But the crowd was not having it.  —  Residents from Union County …