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4:50 PM ET, February 22, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Frances Vinall / Washington Post:
Who is Dan Caine, Trump's pick as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff?  —  Caine, a three-star general whom Trump has praised since at least 2019, helped lead an operation in Iraq against the Islamic State during Trump's first term.  —  President Donald Trump on Friday …
RELATED:
U.S. Department of Defense:
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Statement on General Officer Nominations
Filip Timotija / The Hill:   Senate Democrat after Brown ouster: Trump's ‘quest for power’ endangers military
Reuters:
Trump fires top US general in unprecedented Pentagon shakeup
Associated Press:
Trump fires chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and two other military officers
John Ismay / New York Times:
Hegseth Fires Navy's Top Officer
Jack Reed / Washington Post:   Firing military officers for perceived disloyalty endangers the nation
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.
RELATED:
Eli Hager / ProPublica:
Anxiety Mounts Among Social Security Recipients as DOGE Troops Settle In
Discussion: HuffPost and The Independent
Jessie Blaeser / Politico:
DOGE shared its receipts — and some of them don't match  —  “Everyone is very well-aware they're repeating the wrong numbers,” said one manager at a company on DOGE's list of cuts.  —  Elon Musk promised to deliver a “maximally transparent” government efficiency program.
Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story and New Republic
RELATED:
New York Times:
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  They are also full of accounting errors, outdated data and other miscalculations.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 …
Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Kevin Drum
Washington Post:
Musk's DOGE says it has saved $55 billion. Not so fast.
Discussion: PolitiFact and New Republic
Constant Méheut / New York Times:
U.S. Pressing Tough Demands in Revised Deal for Ukraine's Minerals  —  The Trump administration appears to be insisting that Ukraine relinquish half of its revenues from natural resource extraction, with no security guarantee in exchange.  —  Ukraine on Saturday was seriously considering …
RELATED:
Abbey Fenbert / The Kyiv Independent:
US threatens to shut off Starlink if Ukraine won't sign minerals deal, sources tell Reuters  —  Editor's Note: This story has been updated with Elon Musk's denial of the Reuters report.  —  The United States has threatened to cut off Ukraine's access to Starlink satellite internet terminals …
Luke Harding / The Guardian:
'It's blackmail': Ukrainians react to Trump demand for $500bn share of minerals  —  Ukraine's lithium deposits are among biggest in Europe and the US is looking for ‘payback’ for previous military assistance  —  Luke Harding in Liodiane, pictures by Julia Kochetova
Discussion: Bloomberg and Forbes
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 and UPI
Rolling Stone:
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 …
Discussion: NOTUS
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 …
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
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 …
Discussion: Politico
RELATED:
Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:   Trump moves with light speed and brute force in shaking the core of what America has been
New York Times:
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
Discussion: Forbes
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
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.
Ali Bianco / Politico:
Musk says all federal employees need to explain their work — or be let go  —  His post on X said employees will receive an email “shortly” requesting to “understand what they got done last week.”  —  All federal government employees will have to share what they've been working on in the last week …
Discussion: WAGA-TV
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.
Majlie de Puy Kamp / CNN:
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.
Discussion: New York Magazine
Donald Moynihan / The Atlantic:
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 …
Jessica Costescu / freebeacon.com:
NBC Settles Defamation Lawsuit With Georgia Doctor Whom Rachel Maddow Dubbed the ‘Uterus Collector,’ Avoiding High Stakes Trial  —  NBC's top anchors made ‘verifiably false’ statements about a doctor they accused of performing ‘mass hysterectomies’ on female inmates at ICE facility, a federal judge ruled last year
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 …
Melody Schreiber / The Guardian:
Alarm as bird flu now ‘endemic in cows’ while Trump cuts staff and funding  —  Experts say current US outbreak is unlikely to end without intervention with further mutation of virus likely  —  A newer variant of H5N1 bird flu has spilled over into dairy cows separately in Nevada and Arizona …
Steve Saideman / Saideman's Semi-Spew:
Why Civ-Mil People Are Freaking Out?  —  Trump bravely waited until Friday night to purge the top level of the US military.  Why are people freaking out?  We knew this was going to happen.  Trump promised this before the election, and the selection of Hegseth, a misogynist and racist …
ProPublica:
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:
Discussion: Raw Story
New York Times:
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 …
Gloria Oladipo / The Guardian:
Texas measles outbreak grows to 90 cases, worst level in 30 years  —  Epicenter of latest outbreak had one of state's highest immunization exemption rates for 2023-24 school year  —  The measles outbreak in Texas has grown to at least 90 cases, reaching historic levels, according to officials.
Liam Archacki / The Daily Beast:
Trump Admin. Agrees to Restore 9/11 Health Program Funding  —  “This is a clear example of the damaging Trump-DOGE shoot first, ask questions later approach,” said Chuck Schumer.  —  Flint Water Lawsuit Settled for $53 Million  —  NOT OUR FAULT  —  Despite the settlement …
Discussion: Associated Press and Raw Story
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
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.
 
 
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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
Ali Bianco / Politico:
Italy's Meloni defends Vance's Munich speech chastising Europe
Donato Paolo Mancini / Bloomberg:
Meloni, Privately Startled by Trump, Avoids Criticism of US
Discussion: Reuters
Politico:
As Eric Adams melts down, Andrew Cuomo forges ahead
Discussion: New York Post
Carter Sherman / The Guardian:
Missouri lawmaker proposes registry of pregnant women ‘at risk’ for abortions
Discussion: Mock Paper Scissors and FOX 2
Nathan Layne / Reuters:
IRS blocks Musk aide from accessing taxpayer data
 Earlier Items: 
Jacob Silverman:
Prominent DOGE Staffer Is Grandson Of Turncoat KGB Spy
Discussion: Byline Times and Gizmodo
New York Times:
Trump, After G.O.P. Criticism, Reverses Cuts to 9/11 Survivors' Program
Discussion: Boston Herald
Rachel McCrea / MarylandReporter.com:
Craving more energy, Maryland looks to nuclear power
Maine.gov:
Governor Mills' Statement on Notice of Investigation From U.S. Department of Education
Washington Post:
As Trump pursues his policies, Democratic states block his path
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Another Town Hall(s) Goes Off the Rails - Oregon 2nd District Edition
Discussion: Washington Examiner, Axios and NBC News
 

 
From Techmeme:

Fareed Sahloul / Bloomberg:
Sources: StubHub, Klarna, eToro, and adtech group MNTN have paused their IPO plans as President Trump's trade war upends the global economy

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Nintendo delays Switch 2 preorders that were set for April 9 due to concerns about Trump's tariffs but the June 5 launch date remains unchanged

Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Microsoft Copilot adds support for memory, personalization, web-based actions, podcast creation, camera and screen analysis, deep research, and more

 
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