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Federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE — More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”
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Live updates: 21 employees resign from DOGE, refusing to ‘dismantle critical public services’
Discussion:
The Hill, Axios, The Independent and Daily Mail, more at Mediagazer »

21 Civil Servants Resign From DOGE, Refusing to Implement Elon Musk's Changes
Discussion:
Bloomberg

Career employees resign DOGE in protest of cuts
Discussion:
ABC News and Wall Street Journal


DOGE Quietly Deletes the 5 Biggest Spending Cuts It Celebrated Last Week — The cuts, highlighted on an earlier version of the “wall of receipts” posted by Elon Musk's team, contained mistakes that vastly inflated the amount of money saved. — Last week, Elon Musk's government cost-slashing initiative …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Forbes, Saywhat Politics and Poynter
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Nearly 40% of contracts canceled by Musk's DOGE are expected to produce no savings — Nearly 40% of the federal contracts that President Donald Trump's administration claims to have canceled as part of its signature cost-cutting program aren't expected to save the government any money, the administration's own data shows.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, The Guardian, Axios, Fox News, Fortune, Gizmodo, WAGA-TV, Daily Kos, The Hill, The Independent and Digby's Hullabaloo


Slashing Medicaid to Pay for Trump's Tax Cuts Could Lead to Vast State Shortfalls — Republicans have proposed lowering the federal share of costs for Medicaid expansions, which could reshape the program by gutting one of the Affordable Care Act's major provisions.
Discussion:
The Hill, ACA Signups, Politico, Washington Examiner and KFF Health News
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House GOP advances budget resolution as conservative opponents hold firm — House Republicans advanced their budget resolution to enact President Trump's legislative agenda on Tuesday, teeing the measure up for a final vote even as GOP opponents of the measure appeared to hold firm.
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller and Punchbowl News


Conservatives threaten to tank House budget vote needed to advance Trump agenda
Discussion:
Politico, Axios, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, ABC News, Washington Post, Punchbowl News, Roll Call, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Deseret News, WUSA, Scripps News, Blaze Media, New York Daily News, CBS News, New Republic, The Hill, NOTUS, Washington Times, The Independent and New York Times


Trump allies circulate mass deportation plan calling for ‘processing camps’ and a private citizen ‘army’ — The group, led by Blackwater veteran Erik Prince, has close Trump ties. — A group of prominent military contractors, including former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince …
Discussion:
New Republic, The Independent, The National Pulse and Mediaite
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This Shocking Moment at a GOP Town Hall in Idaho Is a Foreboding Sign — Teresa Borrenpohl later told the Coeur d'Alene/Post Falls Press that, as it happened, she didn't know if it was an arrest or a kidnapping. She was seated in a nearly full town hall hosted by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee on Saturday.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Coeur d'Alene Press, Raw Story and Bonner County Daily Bee


White House seizes control of press pool, will decide which outlets cover events with president — The move reverses the long established precedent of journalists determining who participates in the press pool. — The White House announced on Tuesday that the administration …
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White House Moves to Pick the Pool Reporters Who Cover Trump — In announcing plans to handpick the reporters who can ask the president questions, the White House is breaking decades of precedent. — The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Tuesday that the Trump administration …
Discussion:
The Hill, USA Today, Bloomberg, Axios, New York Post, RedState, Blaze Media, Mediaite, The Daily Wire, Daily Mail and Washington Times


Big, Big Scandal Brewing at DC US Attys Office … There's a big, big scandal brewing beneath the already big scandal of the alleged assault by Florida congressman Corey Mills (R). But as yet no one seems inclined to pull on the dangling thread. As you've probably already seen …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Politico and The Status Kuo
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RED ALERT: Now Is the Moment, Folks
Discussion:
Politico and Bread & Circus


White House official pushes to axe Canada from Five Eyes intelligence group — Peter Navarro wants to increase pressure on country that Donald Trump has threatened to annex — A top White House official has proposed expelling Canada from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, CityNews Toronto and Patterico's Pontifications
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Trump adviser pushes unprecedented new punishment against Canada: report
Discussion:
The Kyiv Independent


IRS: Contractor leaked more than 400k returns — The figure, provided to House GOP lawmakers, is much higher than originally thought. — The IRS told House Republicans this month that a former contractor leaked the private data of more than 400,000 taxpayers, nearly six times higher than originally thought.
Discussion:
American Greatness, New York Post, Blaze Media, Washington Times and The Post Millennial
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Ukraine agrees minerals deal with US — Kyiv hopes agreement on jointly exploring resources will improve relations with Trump administration — Kyiv has agreed terms with Washington on a minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Trump administration …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, RedState, Daily Mail, Human Events, The Kyiv Independent, Euromaidan Press, Semafor, New York Times, Axios, Rolling Stone and Breitbart
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The Best Thing Democrats Can Do in This Moment — The Republican Party is all too often effective at campaigning and winning elections, but there's another fact about it that a lot of Americans forget: The Republican Party flat out sucks at governing. Even Tucker Carlson agrees with this.
Discussion:
Newsweek, Sanity Clause, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog and Fox News

Judge blocks Trump's executive order suspending refugee admissions to the U.S. — The Seattle-based judge's injunction blocks key components of one of Trump's Day One executive orders. — A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump's executive order implementing an indefinite …
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‘Unknown disease’ that can kill within days leaves 53 dead in Congo — World Health Organization officials said the outbreak appeared to originate from a village where three children died after reportedly eating a bat carcass. — An unknown illness has killed 53 people in a northwest region …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Reuters, Metro.co.uk, CBS News and Los Angeles Times


Trump policy concerns send US consumer confidence plummeting to eight-month low — U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated at its sharpest pace in 3-1/2 years in February while 12-month inflation expectations surged, offering further signs that Americans were growing anxious …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Voice of America, CBS News, Fox Business, Washington Times and NPR
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DOGE Is Working on Software That Automates the Firing of Government Workers — Operatives working for Elon Musk's DOGE appear to be editing the code of AutoRIF—software designed by the Defense Department that could assist in mass firings of federal workers, sources tell WIRED.
Discussion:
Raw Story, CBS News and NBC News, more at Techmeme »


US threatens permanent visa bans on trans athletes based on sex markers — Exclusive: State department memo directs officers to bar those deemed to misrepresent birth sex on applications — The US state department has ordered officials worldwide to deny visas to transgender athletes attempting …


Judge warns Trump administration to comply with court order on foreign aid payments — U.S. District Judge Amir Ali grew impatient during a hearing with a lack of clear responses from the administration's lawyers. — A federal judge expressed frustration Tuesday that the Trump administration appears …
Discussion:
New Republic, New York Times, CBS News and Kevin Drum
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Trump admin has to pay foreign aid invoices, judge in USAID case says
Discussion:
Reuters, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit and Politico


Trump Administration Highlights: Personnel Officials Say Musk's Directive Is ‘Voluntary’ — Where Things Stand — Musk's ultimatum: Federal personnel officials walked back Elon Musk's demand that government workers justify their jobs in an email or face termination, saying that his request had been “voluntary.”
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Musk's Starlink gets FAA contract, raising new conflict of interest concerns — New York CNN — The Federal Aviation Administration has agreed to use SpaceX's Starlink internet system to upgrade the information technology networks it uses to manage US airspace, raising new concerns …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Rolling Stone, The Hill, Raw Story, TechCrunch and The Post Millennial, more at Techmeme »


Canadians to Elon Musk: You're not one of us — “People are really angry,” Ottawa lawmaker says of petition to revoke the citizenship of Trump's unofficial right-hand man. — OTTAWA — More than 242,000 Canadians have signed a petition calling for Elon Musk's passport and citizenship …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, New York Times, Axios, The Independent, The National Pulse, Townhall, Fortune, The Guardian and The Hill


Donald Trump Accidentally Insults Himself: ‘Who Would Ever Sign A Thing Like This?’ — The president recently rebuked a 2020 trade deal known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement even though he signed it. — President Donald Trump is outraged that Americans are footing an unfair financial burden …


He Left CNN to Start a Newsletter. It's Now a Must-Read. — Oliver Darcy's media newsletter, launched in August, is poaching a CNN editor and on track to top $1 million in annual recurring revenue — Oliver Darcy left CNN, one of the most recognized news outlets in the world, to start a newsletter.


How to Make the GOP Pay a Price for DOGE — I have seen this movie before, beat for beat. — In August of 2010, in the middle of the effort to pass the Affordable Care Act, Congress went home for a month-long recess. At every townhall and interaction with their constituents …


DOJ says Trump's Jan. 6 pardon covers man convicted of possessing grenades, classified info — It's the latest effort by federal prosecutors to deploy Trump's clemency order broadly. — When FBI agents searched Jan. 6 defendant Jeremy Brown's home in 2021, they found a trove of illegal weapons …
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Magazine, The Bulwark, Raw Story, IJR and Breitbart


America's Food Safety Is Now in the Hands of Don Jr.'s Hunting Buddy — As federal health agencies are gutted with abandon, a Florida attorney with a history of hunting with the president's son has been put in charge of food safety at the FDA, overseeing the nation's food supply, infant formula, and more.
Discussion:
The Guardian