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1:10 AM ET, February 23, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Politico:
Musk says all federal employees need to explain their work immediately — or be let go  —  Federal employees received an email Saturday afternoon, and gave them a deadline of Monday night.  —  All federal government employees will have to share what they've been working on in the last week or face dismissal, Elon Musk said Saturday.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Feds must answer email on what they did last week — or lose jobs, Musk says  —  Emails began going out to the 2.3-million federal employees Saturday asking for five bullet points of their accomplishments.  —  Federal workers began receiving emails Saturday asking them to describe what they did last week …
CNN:
Federal employees told to justify jobs in email or Musk says they face dismissal  —  Federal workers began receiving emails Saturday asking them to explain what work they did last week, as Elon Musk announced that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Nicholas Bednar / Just Security:
What Just Happened: Musk-OPM Send Email to Federal Employees Asking for Five Accomplishments
Discussion: Orlando Sentinel
Donald Moynihan / The Atlantic:
The DOGE Project Will Backfire
Discussion: Can We Still Govern?
NBC News:
FBI Director Kash Patel to be named ATF chief  —  Patel is set to lead an agency that's been a frequent target of Republicans, including an effort to abolish it altogether.  —  President Donald Trump's newly-confirmed FBI director, Kash Patel, is expected to take on another top law enforcement role …
Discussion: ABC News, The Hill, RedState, Twitchy and KGW-TV
Akayla Gardner / Bloomberg:
Trump Tells CPAC His Goal Is a ‘Lasting’ Republican Majority  — President sees GOP lawmakers falling in line behind his agenda  — Conservative meeting draws Trump allies Meloni, Duda and Milei  —  President Donald Trump expressed optimism about negotiations in Congress to push forward …
RELATED:
Asawin Suebsaeng / Rolling Stone:
CPAC 2025: Conservative Elites Celebrate Trump as America Self-Immolates
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Congress ignores looming shutdown to focus on tax cuts, agency layoffs
Discussion: Politico
Donato Paolo Mancini / Bloomberg:
Meloni, Privately Startled by Trump, Avoids Criticism of US
Discussion: Reuters and The Hill
Greg Sargent / New Republic:   Trump's Own Pollster Just Hit Him with Very Bad News—and a Warning
Greg Jaffe / New York Times:
In Pursuit of a ‘Warrior Ethos,’ Hegseth Targets Military's Top Lawyers  —  The defense secretary has repeatedly derided the military lawyers for war crime prosecutions and battlefield rules of engagement.  —  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to fire the top lawyers for the Army …
Discussion: OutsideTheBeltway
RELATED:
Travis M. Andrews / Washington Post:
As sales drop, artists weigh canceling Kennedy Center shows in protest  —  Ticket sales dropped roughly 50 percent week-over-week after Trump announced his takeover, sources said.  Meanwhile, performers are mulling their options.  —  W. Kamau Bell was scheduled to perform at the Kennedy Center …
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Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:
Kennedy Center reeling from ‘stunning’ ticket sales collapse after Trump takeover: report  —  A decision by Donald Trump to fire everyone and wrest control of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on the banks of the Potomac has led to an alarming downward spiral in ticket sales …
Discussion: Fox News and Breitbart
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Trump's Firing of Gen. Charles Q. Brown May Have Roots in George Floyd Protests  —  A four-minute video appears to have been a turning point for the president and Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the ousted Joint Chiefs chairman.  —  For the second time, the killing of George Floyd by a police officer …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Musk's DOGE says it has saved $55 billion.  Not so fast.  —  A Washington Post analysis found that hundreds of the canceled contracts DOGE listed represent savings of $0 each.  —  Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service claimed this week to have saved an estimated $55 billion through a combination of layoffs …
RELATED:
Bernard Condon / Associated Press:
Musk's cost-cutting team is laying off workers at the auto safety agency overseeing his car company  —  Elon Musk's cost-cutting team is eliminating jobs at the vehicle safety agency that oversees Tesla and has launched investigations into deadly crashes involving his company's cars.
Discussion: New York Times
New York Times:
U.S.A.I.D. Appointees Fire Hundreds Working on Urgent Humanitarian Aid  —  The firings added to doubts about whether Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the agency's acting head, supports lifesaving humanitarian assistance, as he has said he does.  —  Trump administration appointees running …
Discussion: Axios, Business Insider and Reuters
Isabella Kwai / New York Times:
Measles Outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico Sicken Nearly 100 People  —  Texas reported 90 cases this week, while New Mexico reported nine.  A majority of the cases have been in a Texas county where vaccination rates have lagged behind the rest of the state.  —  Outbreaks of measles in parts …
RELATED:
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
CDC Shutters PRAMS Program on Maternal and Infant Health  —  The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) is a federal data collection system, run out of CDC, “designed to identify groups of women and infants at high risk for health problems, to monitor changes in health status …
Jaclyn Diaz / NPR:
Federal prisons prep to move trans inmates as early as next week  —  The Bureau of Prisons is pushing ahead with plans to move transgender inmates out of prisons that align with their gender identity and into facilities corresponding to their sex at birth.  The moves could happen as early as next week …
Lisa Rein / Washington Post:
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.
Jackie Flynn Mogensen / Mother Jones:
Federal Judge to Trump: No, You Can't Ban DEI  —  For now, the administration can't “impede, block, cancel, or terminate” diversity and inclusion funds and obligations.  —  On Friday, a federal judge partly blocked President Donald Trump's attempt to root out programs related to diversity …
Angela Fortuna / NBC Boston:
CT man accused of cannibalism and murder is granted conditional release  —  A man accused of cannibalism and murder has been granted conditional release, according to the Connecticut Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB).  —  The board granted Tyree Smith's release after a careful review of his clinical progress, officials said.
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
The Great Resegregation  —  The nostalgia behind the slogan “Make America great again” has always provoked the obvious questions of just when America was great, and for whom.  Early in the second Trump administration, we are getting the answer.  —  In August, speaking with someone he believed …
Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo
Washington Post:
U.S. pressures Kyiv to replace U.N. resolution condemning Russia  —  The Trump administration wants Ukraine's resolution withdrawn and replaced with a toned-down version that officials feel is overly sympathetic to Russia.  —  KYIV — The Trump administration has called on Ukraine to withdraw …
Washington Post:
With Pentagon purge, Trump thrusts military into uncharted territory  —  The abrupt removal of six top officers has deepened concern among the president's critics, who fear he intends to impose his political will on the nonpartisan institution.  —  President Donald Trump's Friday night purge …
Discussion: Politico
Associated Press:
Pope Francis is in critical condition after long respiratory crisis, requiring oxygen at high flow  —  Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a long asthmatic respiratory crisis that required high flows of oxygen, the Vatican said.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Jennifer Schuessler / New York Times:
Amid Changes at the National Archives, the Carter Library Cancels a Civil Rights Book Event
Liam Archacki / The Daily Beast:
Trump Admin. Agrees to Restore 9/11 Health Program Funding
Discussion: Associated Press and Raw Story
Steve Saideman / Saideman's Semi-Spew:
Why Civ-Mil People Are Freaking Out?
Discussion: The Mahablog
Politico:
As Eric Adams melts down, Andrew Cuomo forges ahead
Discussion: New York Post
Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:
Trump moves with light speed and brute force in shaking the core of what America has been
 Earlier Items: 
Melody Schreiber / The Guardian:
Alarm as bird flu now ‘endemic in cows’ while Trump cuts staff and funding
Jessica Costescu / freebeacon.com:
NBC Settles Defamation Lawsuit With Georgia Doctor Whom Rachel Maddow Dubbed the ‘Uterus Collector,’ Avoiding High Stakes Trial
Carter Sherman / The Guardian:
Missouri lawmaker proposes registry of pregnant women ‘at risk’ for abortions
Frances Vinall / Washington Post:
Who is Dan Caine, Trump's pick as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff?
Constant Méheut / New York Times:
U.S. Pressing Tough Demands in Revised Deal for Ukraine's Minerals
Jacob Silverman:
Prominent DOGE Staffer Is Grandson Of Turncoat KGB Spy
Discussion: Gizmodo
Abbey Fenbert / The Kyiv Independent:
US threatens to shut off Starlink if Ukraine won't sign minerals deal, sources tell Reuters
Majlie de Puy Kamp / CNN:
Recording reveals new details on controversial DOGE employee
Discussion: New York Magazine