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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 …
Discussion:
Twitchy, The Independent and Business Insider
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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.
Discussion:
Raw Story, New York Times, Breitbart, Axios, Sun-Sentinel, CBS News, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, The Information, Mediaite, Townhall, The Post Millennial, The Hill, Fox News, Forbes and The Daily Wire


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.”


What Just Happened: Musk-OPM Send Email to Federal Employees Asking for Five Accomplishments — On Saturday, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email to federal employees instructing them to respond with five things they accomplished last week.
Discussion:
ABC News

Elon Musk Threatens FBI Agents and Air Traffic Controllers With Forced Resignation If They Don't Respond to an Email
Discussion:
Axios, Rolling Stone, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Townhall, Business Insider, New York Magazine, Fox News, NBC News, NPR, USA Today, The Independent, HuffPost, GovExec.com and Scripps 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 …
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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.
Discussion:
KHOU-TV, Washington Examiner and KGW-TV


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
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Joy Reid's MSNBC Show Canceled in Major Shake-Up — Ms. Reid's 7 p.m. program will be replaced by a panel show co-hosted by Symone Sanders Townsend, Alicia Menendez and Michael Steele. — Joy Reid's evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated …


States threaten fines and jail time for local officials who resist Trump's immigration crackdown — Republican state lawmakers seeking to aid President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration are threatening local officials who resist with lawsuits, fines and even potential jail time.
Discussion:
The Virginian-Pilot
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CPAC 2025: Conservative Elites Celebrate Trump as America Self-Immolates
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Post and New York Times

Congress ignores looming shutdown to focus on tax cuts, agency layoffs
Discussion:
Politico


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.


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.


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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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


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.


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.


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:
Associated Press, NPR, Can We Still Govern? and Politico


DOGE for Ohio? Vivek Ramaswamy enters governor's race pushing cuts and merit pay — Ramaswamy, 39, ran for president in 2024 before becoming a Trump surrogate and briefly working with Elon Musk on Trump's Department of Government Efficiency team. — CLEVELAND — Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy …


I'm a former U.S. intelligence officer. Trump's Ukraine betrayal will have terrible consequences. — Trust is so hard to gain, and yet so easily lost. — The United States is doing it again: walking away from allies. It is almost as if each U.S. presidency needs to practice betrayal as a form of statecraft.


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 …


‘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 …


Germans head to the polls in critical election with far-right gains expected … Germans headed to the polls on Sunday to vote in the 2025 federal election, which is all but guaranteed to result in a new chancellor taking over from Olaf Scholz to lead Europe's largest economy.
Discussion:
NBC News, WHDH-TV, Forbes, Al Jazeera, Politico, NPR and PBS NewsHour