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5:20 PM ET, February 23, 2025

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 Top Items: 
Steve Peoples / Associated Press:
Key agencies, including some led by Trump loyalists, refuse to comply with Musk's latest demand  —  Key U.S. agencies, including the FBI, State Department and the Pentagon, have instructed their employees not to comply with cost-cutting chief Elon Musk's demand that federal workers explain …
RELATED:
Chris Cameron / New York Times:
Some Agencies Urge Staff Not to Comply With Musk's Ultimatum  —  The F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and others told employees not to respond to a directive from Mr. Musk to summarize their accomplishments.  —  Several Trump administration …
Edward Helmore / The Guardian:
Kash Patel tells FBI staff to ignore Elon Musk request to list their achievements  —  Agency reportedly seeking guidance from DoJ as Musk's demand sparks confusion across key government agencies  —  The new FBI director, Kash Patel, has told his agency employees to hold off on responding …
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
New Doge/Musk Email Goes Seriously Sideways
Discussion: Townhall
Zoë Schiffer / Wired:
Elon Musk Threatens FBI Agents and Air Traffic Controllers With Forced Resignation if They Don't Respond to an Email
Ben Berkowitz / Axios:
Agencies, unions tell fed workers: Don't answer Musk's threat email
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
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 …
RELATED:
Maya Yang / The Guardian:
MSNBC reportedly cancels Joy Reid show in reshuffle at liberal network
Discussion: Hollywood Life and Fox News
Joan E Greve / The Guardian:
Enrique Tarrio follows and insults officers who defended US Capitol on January 6  —  Ex-leader of far-right Proud Boys trails group through lobby of Washington hotel, engaging officer Michael Fanone  —  Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right Proud Boys group who was convicted …
Maurício Alencar / The Daily Beast:
Trump Envoy Can't Name a Single Concession Russia Will Make in Peace Deal  —  CNN host Jake Tapper exposed President Trump's negotiation strategy in the war in Ukraine as a top foreign affairs envoy struggled to point out one concession Russia would make in a peace deal.
RELATED:
Hailey Hill / Coeur d'Alene Press:
Chaos erupts at legislative town hall in Coeur d'Alene  —  COEUR d'ALENE — Saturday's legislative town hall hosted by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee turned volatile after some attendees voiced their concerns over the possible repeal of Medicaid expansion and other bills working their way through the Idaho Legislature.
Robert Jimison / New York Times:
Republicans Face Angry Voters at Town Halls, Hinting at Broader Backlash  —  After a monthlong honeymoon for the G.O.P. at the start of President Trump's term, lawmakers are confronting a groundswell of fear and disaffection in districts around the country.  —  Some came with complaints …
Discussion: Raw Story, The Guardian and HuffPost
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.
Politico:
Merz declares victory in German election  —  BERLIN — Friedrich Merz's conservative alliance has won Germany's national parliamentary election — and the far right has recorded its highest-ever showing.  —  With ballots still being counted, the conservatives, consisting of Merz's Christian Democratic Union …
RELATED:
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: RedState
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.
Ellen Knickmeyer / Associated Press:
The Trump administration is firing 2,000 USAID workers and putting thousands of others on leave  —  The Trump administration said Sunday that it is eliminating 2,000 posts at the U.S. Agency for International Development and placing all but a fraction of others worldwide on leave.
Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Outside Tesla in the Philly suburbs, the green shoots of an American uprising  —  There was a mad-as-hell-can't-take-it-anymore moment for every one of the dozen or so sign-waving protesters who stood on the side of busy Route 30 in suburban Devon on a brisk but brightly sunny Saturday morning …
Deutsche Welle:
German election: Projections say CDU/CSU leads with 29%  —  To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video  —  Early projections say Germany's conservative bloc has secured some 29% of the votes, emerging as the largest party ahead of the far-right AfD with around 19.5%.
Discussion: Politico, Reuters, Breitbart and Semafor
Jennifer Schulze / [Indistinct Chatter] …:
Local news deserves high marks for coverage of the doge fallout  —  Local news is doing what it does best: build trust by reporting on stories local residents can verify with their own eyes.  Recently, much of that reporting has focused on the local impact of the reckless actions of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
Hannah Harris Green / The Guardian:
Trump halts medical research funding in apparent violation of judge's order  —  Health department orders NIH to hold Federal Register submissions - critical step in process for funding studies  —  The Trump administration has blocked a crucial step in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) …
Discussion: NPR
Avery Lotz / Axios:
Musk and DOGE underwater with some voters in recent polling … - President Trump's approval ratings also took a slight hit in recently released polling, after his initial numbers were some of the highest of his political career, though weaker than other modern presidents at the start of their terms — other than himself in 2017.
Discussion: Reuters and Forbes
Julia Conley / Common Dreams:
Thousands in Midwestern GOP Districts Attend Sanders' First Stops on Tour to Fight Oligarchy  —  After addressing more than 3,400 Nebraska residents in Omaha Friday evening, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday made his second stop on his National Tour to Fight Oligarchy—telling Iowa City …
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
Former FDA chief ‘very concerned’ about Texas measles outbreak spreading  —  Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said he is “very concerned” about the measles outbreak in Texas spreading.  —  Gottlieb joined CBS News's “Face the Nation” on Sunday …
Peter Wade / Rolling Stone:
Hegseth: Trump Will Install New Military Attorneys Who Won't Be ‘Roadblocks to Anything’  —  The defense secretary justified the firings of top judge advocate generals  —  Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth defended the Trump administration's purge of top military lawyers because they want people …
Discussion: Law & Crime
Camilo Montoya-Galvez / CBS News:
Trump officials prepare plans to revive Title 42 policy to expel migrants, documents show  —  Washington — The Trump administration has prepared plans to implement a policy that would allow U.S. immigration officials to swiftly expel migrants on the grounds that they could spread diseases like tuberculosis …
Discussion: Breitbart and Daily Mail
Ed Kilgore / New York Magazine:
Why the Government Will Probably Shut Down in March  —  The U.S. government's current stopgap spending measure expires on March 14.  But if your instinct is to scoff at the latest talk of a government shutdown as a boy-cries-wolf phenomenon, that's understandable.
Discussion: Washington Post
Paige Skinner / HuffPost:
Minnesota Senator Calls Elon Musk ‘A Dick’  —  “This is the ultimate dick boss move from Musk - except he isn't even the boss, he's just a dick.”  —  Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) called out Elon Musk for his new requirement that all federal employees defend their jobs or else get fired.
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
DOGE cuts pose potential liability for GOP in Virginia elections  —  Cuts to the federal workforce under President Trump are threatening to roil Virginia's off-year elections this November as Democrats seek to make them a political liability in the battle for control of the governor's mansion and the House of Delegates.
Liset Cruz / Politico:
Jim Jordan derides critics of federal workforce cuts  —  He cited an example from the Washington Post about a locksmith.  —  Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan on Sunday mocked those raising alarms about the mass firings of thousands of federal workers.  —  Jordan, citing an article from The Washington Post …
Discussion: Raw Story and Breitbart
 
 
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 More Items: 
Amudalat Ajasa / Washington Post:
This country just voted to ban ‘forever chemicals.’ It's not the U.S.
NBC News:
Sen. Mullin says Trump has been ‘critical of Putin’ amid hostility toward Ukraine: Full interview
Discussion: The Hill and Washington Times
The Bulwark:
Sarah & Tim at Principles First Summit: The Truth Is Non-Negotiable - Will America Wake Up?
CBS News:
Transcript: Sen. John Curtis on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Feb. 23, 2025
New York Times:
They Help Make the Hamptons the Hamptons, and Now They're Living in Fear
Discussion: Althouse
Reuters:
Zelenskiy says he is willing to give up presidency if it means peace in Ukraine
Discussion: Daily Mail
 Earlier Items: 
Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press:
Trump and Musk aren't the first to make deep cuts. Clinton-era Reinventing Government saved billions
Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:
GOP rep calls US-Ukraine resource deal ‘victim extortion’
Fox News:
Trans star of hit HBO series says renewed passport now says male after Trump order
Discussion: Associated Press and PinkNews
Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
Trump uses merch to monetize agenda
Cleve R. Wootson Jr / Washington Post:
In auto-centric Michigan, Trump's proposed tariffs polarize a community
Discussion: Raw Story
Reuters:
Trump officials launch ICE effort to deport unaccompanied migrant children
Discussion: Rolling Stone
Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:
DOGE cuts at health agencies prompt ‘brain drain’ fears
Katie Livingstone / Agence France-Presse:
‘Trump Recruited as Moscow Asset,’ Says Ex-KGB Spy Chief