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2:40 PM ET, February 25, 2025

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 Top Items: 
Associated Press:
21 federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE slash size of government  —  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:
Dan Pfeiffer / The Message Box:
How to Make the GOP Pay a Price for DOGE  —  Trump made a huge mistake by putting Musk in charge of implementing deeply unpopular policy  —  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.
Elena Schneider / Politico:
‘Furious and looking for action’: DOGE is turning into a Democratic candidate recruitment tool
Discussion: The Independent
Thomas Beaumont / Associated Press:
Live updates: 21 employees resign from DOGE, refusing to ‘dismantle critical public services’
Discussion: MeidasTouch News and Daily Mail
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.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
It's crunch time for Mike Johnson and the GOP's ‘big, beautiful bill’  —  The House speaker is set to put a budget resolution up for a floor vote on Tuesday but is facing a potential revolt from swing-district Republicans.  —  Republicans' push to enact President Donald Trump's tax …
NBC News:
Conservatives threaten to tank House budget vote needed to advance Trump agenda
Politico:
Capitol agenda: Big, beautiful budget on life support
Discussion: Daily Kos and NBC News
Politico:
Warren Davidson is the latest Republican to oppose the House budget
Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Hill
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.
RELATED:
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 …
Discussion: Forbes and Poynter
Politico:
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 …
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.
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, Politico and The Status Kuo
RELATED:
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
RED ALERT: Now Is the Moment, Folks … Over recent weeks I've told you several times that while Democrats are shut out of power in Washington and few means of arresting the Trump-Musk spree of criminal conduct across the executive branch they do have two points of leverage: the need for a new …
Discussion: Bread & Circus
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
Politico:
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 …
RELATED:
Gene Johnson / Associated Press:
A federal judge in Seattle blocks Trump's effort to halt the refugee admissions system
Discussion: Reuters
Eli Stokols / Politico:
White House says it will determine which reporters have access to the president  —  “All journalists, outlets and voices deserve a seat at this highly coveted table,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.  —  Fresh of a legal victory allowing it to ban the Associated Press …
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.
Ann E. Marimow / Washington Post:
Supreme Court orders new trial for death row inmate Glossip  —  The Oklahoma case has attracted broad support after the state's top law enforcement official revealed prosecutorial misconduct.  —  A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday took the extraordinary step of ordering a new trial …
RELATED:
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court throws out Oklahoma death row inmate's conviction over flawed trial
James Carville / New York Times:
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.
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 …
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:
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 …
Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:
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.
Alexandra Skores / CNN:
Southwest jet attempting to land at Chicago Midway Airport nearly collides with a private plane on the runway  —  A Southwest Airlines plane and a private jet that entered the runway without authorization experienced a close call at Chicago Midway International Airport on Tuesday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Katherine Eban / Vanity Fair:
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
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Musk Scandal at USAID Takes Ugly Turn, Putting Starving Kids at Risk  —  Ever since Donald Trump and Elon Musk began downsizing the U.S. Agency for International Development, the administration has claimed that aid for lifesaving humanitarian assistance would continue.
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
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 …
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
DOGE's Latest Cut: Glenn Youngkin's Balls  —  However bad you think DOGE's decapitation of USAID was, this report from the Washington Post's Matt Bai suggests it was even worse: … Happy Tuesday.  —  Glenn Youngkin to Fired Federal Workers: Time to Be Productive For a Change  —  by Andrew Egger
Discussion: Axios
Chris Mirasola / Default:
There is No Puzzle About Birthright Citizenship  —  Barnett and Wurman invoke a nonexistent “puzzle” about the law of nations to justify their theory about birthright citizenship.  —  Meet The Authors … It has been a month since President Donald Trump issued an executive order purporting …
Discussion: The Hill
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.”
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 …
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
“Slavery produced a genuine affection between the races”: Hegseth's church foretold “DEI” firings  —  Defense secretary's contempt for Black military leaders has roots in his religion's defense of white supremacy  —  Donald Trump's administration is barely bothering to pretend that the firings …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Avery Lotz / Axios:
Trump admin has to pay foreign aid invoices, judge in USAID case says
Discussion: Reuters, Politico and Atlantic Council
Laura Strickler / NBC News:
The government's chief watchdog goes to Capitol Hill for first time in DOGE era
Discussion: Fox News and The Daily Signal
Lisa Lerer / New York Times:
Abortion Pill Maker Enters Legal Fight Over F.D.A. Rules
Discussion: Washington Examiner
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Zee Germans  —  America is promoting Germany's neo-Nazi party while simultaneously making …
Ben Leonard / Politico:
Cruz plans first tech subpoena
Discussion: Fox News
James Bikales / Politico:
GOP lawmaker on Elon Musk: ‘To the victor goes the spoils’
Washington Post:
DOGE's grab of personal data stokes privacy and security fears
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit
Washington Post:
Invasive frisks, suicide attempts: Three migrants describe Guantánamo detention
Discussion: Raw Story
 Earlier Items: 
Edward Luce / Financial Times:
The Trump 50 per cent doctrine
Discussion: Raw Story
Julia Kollewe / The Guardian:
Tesla sales almost halve in Europe as Musk faces criticism over Trump ties
Discussion: Bloomberg, Raw Story, Forbes and Fortune
Alex Hager / NPR:
Trump funding freeze includes payments to keep the Colorado River flowing
Discussion: masslive.com and The Colorado Sun
New York Times:
More Americans are starting to brace for higher prices as President Trump's policies begin to take effect.
Discussion: CNN
Fintan O'Toole / The Irish Times:
The idiot wind now howling through the US offers Ireland a transformative windfall
Adam Wren / Politico:
DOGE was Ramaswamy's first big government gig. You wouldn't know it as he kicks off his Ohio bid.
Robert Unanue:
Goya Foods CEO, Bob Unanue, Announces Next Chapter
Discussion: Fox Business