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6:00 PM ET, February 25, 2025

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 Top Items: 
Associated Press:
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.”
RELATED:
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
DOGE's Latest Cut: Glenn Youngkin's Balls
Discussion: New York Magazine and Axios
Ryan Mac / New York Times:
21 Civil Servants Resign From DOGE, Refusing to Implement Elon Musk's Changes
Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
‘Absolute chaos’: DOGE sows turmoil in its quest for ‘efficiency’
Discussion: The Hill, The Federalist and Axios
New York Times:
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 …
RELATED:
Ryan J. Foley / Associated Press:
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.
Politico:   The Musk Oval meeting you haven't read about
RELATED:
Melissa Gira Grant / New Republic:
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.
Eli Stokols / Politico:
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 …
RELATED:
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
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 …
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
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, The Status Kuo and Politico
RELATED:
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
RED ALERT: Now Is the Moment, Folks
Discussion: Politico and Bread & Circus
Financial Times:
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 …
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Ukraine to Agree With US on Terms for Minerals Deal
Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times:
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 …
RELATED:
Brad Reed / Raw Story:
Trump adviser pushes unprecedented new punishment against Canada: report
Discussion: The Kyiv Independent
New York Times:
Trump Takes Aim at Law Firm Aiding Jack Smith  —  The move, signed by President Trump on Thursday, is a major escalation of his promise to pursue perceived foes.  —  President Trump plans to punish a prominent Washington law firm that has aided the former special counsel Jack Smith …
Discussion: The Hill and The Daily Wire
RELATED:
NBC News:
Conservatives threaten to tank House budget vote needed to advance Trump agenda  —  Speaker Mike Johnson has been making progress with moderates who've raised concerns about potential Medicaid cuts, but a band of fiscal hawks are refusing to budge.  —  WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson …
RELATED:
New York Times:
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.”
RELATED:
Politico:
Musk's ‘what did you do last week?’ email hits a million replies
Joseph Gedeon / The Guardian:
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 …
Makena Kelly / Wired:
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
Gene Johnson / Associated Press:
A federal judge in Seattle blocks Trump's effort to halt the refugee admissions system  —  A federal judge in Seattle blocked President Donald Trump's effort to halt the nation's refugee admissions system Tuesday.  The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by major refugee aid groups …
RELATED:
Politico:   Judge blocks Trump's executive order suspending refugee admissions to the U.S.
Vivian Ho / Washington Post:
‘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 …
James Carville / New York Times:
It's Time for a Daring Political Maneuver, Democrats  —  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.
Asher Notheis / Washington Examiner:
Apple working on fix after voice text turns ‘racist’ to ‘Trump’  —  Apple is working to address a problem raised by users on social media, in which saying the word “racist” while using the iPhone's voice-to-text tool briefly shows “Trump.”  —  Users online shared footage of themselves using …
RELATED:
New York Times:
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.
Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:
DOJ Hires A State Judge Who Was Once Suspended To Advise The Deputy AG  —  Ex-Oregon Judge Vance Day was suspended by a state judicial ethics commission in 2018.  —  A new top Justice Department appointee brings a bizarre past to the job: he was a state judge in Oregon but was, in 2018 …
Michelle Hackman / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Proposes Fines, Prison Time for Migrants Who Don't Join Registry  —  Administration plans to establish registration website as soon as this week  —  WASHINGTON—The Trump administration plans to create a registry for immigrants in the U.S. illegally to submit their personal information …
Discussion: CBS News
Bloomberg:
Trump to Offer ‘Gold Card’ Visas for $5 Million to the Rich  — Initiative would replace the existing EB-5 visa program  — Trump, Lutnick tout move as draw for wealthy investors  —  President Donald Trump said he is starting a program to offer residency and a path to citizenship …
Parker Molloy / The Present Age:
“That Feels Indefensible”: MSNBC's New Direction Leads Rachel Maddow to Speak Out  —  As Joy Reid and Alex Wagner lose their shows, Rachel Maddow uses her platform to challenge management's decisions.  —  MSNBC's major programming overhaul has sparked a rare public rebuke from the network's biggest star …
Elena Schneider / Politico:
‘Furious and looking for action’: DOGE is turning into a Democratic candidate recruitment tool  —  More than 2,000 people reached out to an organization that recruits people to run for office in the last week.  —  Democrats say sweeping government cuts led by Elon Musk have started to awaken …
Discussion: The Independent
Chris Isidore / CNN:
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 …
Mickey Djuric / Politico:
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 …
Punchbowl News:
Thousands of veterans likely fired under DOGE  —  Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee estimate that nearly 6,000 veterans may have already been fired from their federal jobs as part of the DOGE initiative run by mega-billionaire Elon Musk, with a lot more veteran layoffs possible.
Discussion: Washington Times and Democrats
 
 
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 More Items: 
Zach Everson / Forbes:
Trump Media Paid Donald Trump Jr. Nearly A Quarter Of Its Annual Revenue. He Attended Just Two Board Meetings
Matt Shuham / HuffPost:
Republicans Are Already Sending Fundraising Pitches About Trump's ‘Third Term’
Discussion: The Texas Tribune
Marco Margaritoff / HuffPost:
Donald Trump Accidentally Insults Himself: ‘Who Would Ever Sign A Thing Like This?’
 Earlier Items: 
Alexandra Skores / CNN:
Southwest jet attempting to land at Chicago Midway Airport nearly collides with a private plane on the runway
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Musk Scandal at USAID Takes Ugly Turn, Putting Starving Kids at Risk
Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:
He Left CNN to Start a Newsletter. It's Now a Must-Read.
more at Mediagazer »
Dan Pfeiffer / The Message Box:
How to Make the GOP Pay a Price for DOGE
Katherine Eban / Vanity Fair:
America's Food Safety Is Now in the Hands of Don Jr.'s Hunting Buddy
Discussion: The Guardian
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
RFE/RL sues USAGM and its officials Kari Lake and Victor Morales, arguing they acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally in blocking funds allocated by Congress

David Roeder / Chicago Sun Times:
Around 20% of Chicago Sun-Times staff, or 30 employees, took buyouts and have resigned, including most of the editorial board; 5 WBEZ workers also took buyouts

Danielle Kaye / New York Times:
The US DOJ charges film director Carl Erik Rinsch for allegedly defrauding a “streaming platform” for $11M; an arbitrator ruled in May that he owed Netflix ~$9M
 
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