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8:15 AM ET, February 23, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
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 …
RELATED:
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.
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.”
Zoë Schiffer / Wired:
Elon Musk Threatens FBI Agents and Air Traffic Controllers With Forced Resignation If They Don't Respond to an Email
Nicholas Bednar / Just Security:
What Just Happened: Musk-OPM Send Email to Federal Employees Asking for Five Accomplishments
Discussion: Wired and ABC News
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: RedState, Twitchy and The Hill
RELATED:
ABC News:
Trump expected to name Kash Patel as acting ATF director: Sources  —  An official said Patel will likely be sworn into the position early next week.  —  FBI Director nominee Kash Patel gestures as he walks on stage to speak during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena, in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, 2025.
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:
Reuters:
Trump fires top US general in unprecedented Pentagon shakeup
Discussion: PBS NewsHour, HotAir and Politico
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 …
RELATED:
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
Gregory Thomas / San Francisco Chronicle:
Photos: ‘Distress flag’ towers over Yosemite to protest cuts as crowds view firefall  —  A group of frustrated Yosemite National Park staffers hoping to draw attention to the federal government's sweeping workforce cuts hung an upside-down American flag Saturday thousands of feet off the ground on the side of El Capitan.
Discussion: Inside Climate News
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 and Business Insider
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Condoms for Gaza?  Ukraine started the war with Russia?  The president's manipulations of the truth lay the groundwork for radical change.  —  The United States sent $50 million in condoms to Hamas.  Diversity programs caused a plane crash.  China controls the Panama Canal.  Ukraine started the war with Russia.
Betsy Klein / CNN:
Melania Trump returns to Washington after four-week absence  —  After a four-week absence from Washington, first lady Melania Trump returned to the White House on Saturday for an annual dinner and reception with the nation's governors.  —  “She worked very hard on making sure that everything was beautiful.
Annie Karni / New York Times:
Chris Murphy Emerges as a Clear Voice for Democrats Countering Trump  —  The second-term senator from Connecticut is eschewing caution and throwing out the traditional political playbook as he seeks a broader audience for his critiques of the president and his agenda.
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: NPR, Can We Still Govern? and Politico
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:
Gloria Oladipo / The Guardian:
Texas measles outbreak grows to 90 cases, worst level in 30 years
Discussion: lonestarlive.com and Ars Technica
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: The Independent and New York Times
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 …
Katie Livingstone / Agence France-Presse:
‘Trump Recruited as Moscow Asset,’ Says Ex-KGB Spy Chief  —  Alnur Mussayev, former head of Kazakhstan's security service, who rose up the ranks of the Soviet KGB, claims Moscow groomed Trump under pseudonym “Krasnov” in 1987.  —  US President Donald Trump was groomed 37 years ago …
Jared Gans / The Hill:
Hochul ratchets up fight with Trump amid competitive reelection bid  —  New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is under increasing political pressure as she faces a likely competitive reelection fight and legal battles with President Trump.  —  Hochul's approval rating has been underwater for months …
Discussion: Politico
New York Times:
The Death of Competition in American Elections  —  A vast majority of 2024 races for Congress and state legislatures were decided by low-turnout or meaningless primaries.  The trend is making politics more polarized and eroding public trust.  —  President Trump's return to Washington …
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 …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Washington Post:
U.S. pressures Kyiv to replace U.N. resolution condemning Russia
Discussion: CBS News and Washington Examiner
Donna Ferguson / The Guardian:
Man killed intervening in knife attack on French police officers
Jennifer Schuessler / New York Times:
Amid Changes at the National Archives, the Carter Library Cancels a Civil Rights Book Event
 Earlier Items: 
Liam Archacki / The Daily Beast:
Trump Admin. Agrees to Restore 9/11 Health Program Funding
Discussion: Associated Press and Raw Story
Ali Bianco / Politico:
Italy's Meloni defends Vance's Munich speech chastising Europe
Associated Press:
Pope Francis is in critical condition after long respiratory crisis, requiring oxygen at high flow
Steve Saideman / Saideman's Semi-Spew:
Why Civ-Mil People Are Freaking Out?
Discussion: The Mahablog
Melody Schreiber / The Guardian:
Alarm as bird flu now ‘endemic in cows’ while Trump cuts staff and funding
Jaclyn Diaz / NPR:
Federal prisons prep to move trans inmates as early as next week
Discussion: Owl
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
The Great Resegregation  —  The nostalgia behind the slogan “Make America great again” …
Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo