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First measles death is reported in the West Texas outbreak that's infected more than 120 people — A person who was hospitalized has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center spokesperson Melissa Whitfield confirmed the death Wednesday.
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Unvaccinated Child Dies of Measles in Texas, Officials Say — At least 124 cases of measles have been identified in Texas since late January, mostly among children and teenagers who are either unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, officials say.
Discussion:
Washington Post, NBC News, Forbes and Texas Standard


RFK Jr. Has Horrific Response to Measles Death — An unvaccinated child in west Texas died of measles on Wednesday, marking the first time that someone has died from the viral illness in the U.S. in a decade. — So far, 18 people have been hospitalized for the disease around Lubbock …
Discussion:
NOTUS, Texas Department …, Rolling Stone, Ars Technica, Daily Mail, Forbes and NewsNation


Measles death of unvaccinated child in Texas outbreak is 1st fatality in US in a decade — The majority of cases have occurred among unvaccinated people. — The MMR vaccine for measles, mumps or rubella at Logan Square Health Center in Chicago in 2019. — Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images, FILE
Discussion:
Texas Department …, NBC News, Roll Call, New York Magazine, NPR, Gizmodo, Raw Story and Texas Standard


Jeff Bezos' Directive for Washington Post Opinion Pages Leads to Editor David Shipley's Exit — David Shipley, The Post's opinion editor, is resigning after trying to persuade Jeff Bezos to reconsider the new direction. — 1k — Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post …
Discussion:
Deadline, The Verge, HotAir, New York Magazine and Backbencher, more at Mediagazer »
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Legendary WaPo Editor Slams Bezos' ‘Disgusting’ MAGA Makeover — BETRAYAL — Former executive editor Marty Baron told the Daily Beast there was “no doubt in my mind” that Bezos was prioritizing his business interests over The Washington Post.
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Mediaite, RedState, The Hill, Daily Mail and Eschaton, more at Mediagazer »


Bezos directs Washington Post opinion pages to promote ‘personal liberties and free markets’ — Amazon executive and newspaper owner says in letter that ‘viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others’ — Jeff Bezos, the self-proclaimed “hands-off” …
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Washington Post, HotAir, Axios, Robert Reich, Mediaite, NPR, The Information, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Free Beacon, The National Pulse, Al Jazeera, Washington Times, The Post Millennial, UnHerd, Twitchy, Instapundit, Gizmodo, Raw Story, Blue Virginia, New York Post, New Jersey Online, The Daily Wire, The Hollywood Reporter and Blaze Media, more at Mediagazer »



Jeff Bezos is muzzling the Washington Post's opinion section. That's a death knell
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The Atlantic, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, Instapundit, CNBC, The Daily Signal, Associated Press, New Jersey Online, New York Daily News, Townhall, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, USA Today, Variety, Breitbart, Raw Story, Daily Caller News Foundation, Newsbusters, PoliticusUSA, New Republic, IJR and Fox News, more at Techmeme »


Trump and Musk's slash-and-burn tactics are a sticking point in talks to prevent a shutdown — Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democratic appropriator, urged Republicans to help stop Trump from usurping Congress' spending powers and not to “follow Elon towards a shutdown.”
Discussion:
Politico, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, Forbes and Washington Times
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Senate Republicans say House budget won't fly with them — Tuesday's big win for Speaker Mike Johnson might not last long. — House Republicans spent weeks in painstaking negotiations before delivering a budget blueprint for “one big, beautiful bill.” Now Senate Republicans are preparing to tear it apart.


House Republicans hit the brakes on town halls after blowback over Trump's cuts
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Washington Post, Newsbusters, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Rolling Stone, Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, UnHerd, Axios, Deseret News, HuffPost and The Bulwark

71 percent of Trump voters oppose Medicaid cuts: Poll
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Slate, ABC News, New York Times, Forbes, Hollywood Life, Congressman Kevin Mullin, USA Today, Politico, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Fox News and Washington Examiner

South Carolina Republican wants to put Trump on new $250 bill
Discussion:
Axios, Daily Mail, The Gateway Pundit and Associated Press


Musk's Ex-Twitter Workers Win Severance Over ‘Fork in the Road’ Email — Ex-employees prevail in challenges to ‘Fork in the Road’ email — Billionaire has Trump's support using similar tactics at DOGE — Former Twitter employees are scoring early victories in legal challenges …
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The Trump administration sets the stage for large-scale federal worker layoffs in a new memo
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They voted for Trump, but now they're losing their U.S. government jobs
Discussion:
Associated Press, New Jersey Online and Raw Story

Musk and Trump's federal layoffs are just getting started
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GovExec.com, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Hill and E&E News

Trump Orders Federal Agencies To Submit Plans For ‘Large-Scale’ Firings, Per Memo
Discussion:
Associated Press, Washington Examiner, New Republic and Bloomberg


DOGE Staffers at HUD Are From an AI Real Estate Firm and a Mobile Home Operator — Elon Musk's men at HUD come from the real estate sector. They have access to vast stores of personal and financial data—and control over who can access which HUD systems. — On February 10 …
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White House bars AP, Reuters and other media from covering Trump cabinet meeting — The White House on Wednesday denied reporters from Reuters and other news organizations access to President Donald Trump's first cabinet meeting in keeping with the administration's new policy regarding media coverage.
Discussion:
The Hill, New Republic, Bloomberg, WNYW-TV, Axios, Daily Mail, Washington Times, Scripps News, Townhall and The Daily Wire, more at Mediagazer »
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White House Kicks Out HuffPost Reporter From Press Pool
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Donald Trump's Extraordinary Act Of Weakness
Discussion:
Washington Examiner


Social Security Administration Could Cut Half Its Workforce — Sources tell the Prospect that a meeting called for a 50 percent reduction in an agency that millions rely on for benefit implementation. — There are more than 1,200 Social Security field offices across the country.
Discussion:
GovExec.com, Talking Points Memo, Fortune and New York Post


The Supreme Court is in “radical agreement” that a bizarre DEI rule needs to go — The proper term for a Supreme Court session where the justices hear verbal presentations by lawyers is an “oral argument,” but Wednesday's hearing in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services hardly qualified as an argument.
Discussion:
ABC News, Washington Examiner, New York Times, El País, Bloomberg, Imprisoned for llama crimes, USA Today, CBS News and Advocate
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Supreme Court leans toward reviving straight woman's reverse discrimination claim
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USA Today, The Hill, Advocate, New York Daily News, The Post Millennial, The Daily Wire, SCOTUSblog, CNN, The Independent, Washington Examiner, Fox News, CBS News and Washington Post


Elon Musk's business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding — Government infusions at key moments helped Tesla and SpaceX flourish, boosting Musk's wealth — Elon Musk and his cost-cutting U.S. DOGE Service team have been on a mission to trim government largesse.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Gizmodo, Fortune, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New Republic, Daily Kos and Associated Press


Who Is the Anonymous Data Expert Telling Elon Which Cuts to Make? — Conservatives have used DataRepublican to spread misinformation about federal agencies. She's been working at a tech firm that's battled the CFPB … The account, and its alleged findings of mismanaged government agency spending …
Discussion:
Blaze Media


Trump Press Sec Seethes at Media over Musk as More Bad Econ News Hits … At Tuesday's media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the White House will now decide who attends briefings, an effort to insulate President Trump from tough scrutiny.
Discussion:
The Hill, Axios, Mediaite, NPR, Washington Post, The Independent, Raw Story, Daily Caller News Foundation, Townhall, New York Post, Daily Kos, CBS News, Washington Examiner and RedState


Trump's nominee for solicitor general won't rule out ignoring court orders in ‘extreme cases’ — President Donald Trump's nominee to be solicitor general told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that presidents might rightfully defy court orders in “extreme cases.”
Discussion:
The Hill, Democrats and The Federalist
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Justice Dept. Nominees Suggest Some Court Orders Can Be Ignored
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NBC News, Roll Call, E&E News and Washington Post


Trump faces Truth Social backlash over AI video of Gaza with topless Netanyahu and bearded bellydancers — Users of president's own social media site criticise video showing reimagined Gaza featuring Trump and Israeli PM sipping cocktails — Donald Trump is facing a backlash …
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New York Magazine, The Hill, Axios, Politico, Breitbart, New York Times, Scripps News, Washington Examiner, WAGA-TV, Mother Jones, TMZ.com, Raw Story, Rolling Stone, The Forward, NPR, Washington Post, WCSH, New Jersey Online, Forbes, Fortune, MeidasTouch News, USA Today, WHDH-TV, Daily Kos, New York Post, Deadline, Daily Mail, The Daily Wire, Washington Times, The Independent, New York Daily News, New Republic, IJR, Crooks and Liars, Al Jazeera and Political Wire


Justice Department tells judges it can't comply with court-ordered deadline to release frozen aid funding — In court filings, the DOJ contends it will take “weeks” to free the funding that a federal judge ordered to be released almost two weeks ago. — The Trump administration …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera


White House point man at Homeland Security shared ‘martial law option’ post to keep Trump in office — The Trump administration's new point man for dealings with the Department of Homeland Security is a former far-right podcast host and election denier who once shared an article calling for …
Discussion:
The Dispatch and Raw Story


American Airlines flight from Boston aborts landing at D.C. airport to avoid departing plane — An American Airlines flight from Boston aborted its landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Tuesday morning to avoid another plane that was taking off on the same runway, authorities said.
Discussion:
CNN, Fox News, WHDH-TV, The National Pulse, Breitbart, New York Post, Deseret News, The Hill, The Daily Wire, New York Times, New York Daily News and The Gateway Pundit


Multimillion-dollar Biden-era COVID-19 vax project halted by Trump's HHS — FIRST ON FOX: Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has paused a multimillion-dollar contract from the Biden administration to create a new COVID-19 vaccine, Fox News Digital has learned.


Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off — Findings from the 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study — Table of Contents Table of Contents — Findings from the 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study — Pew Research Center conducts the Religious Landscape Study …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Examiner, RNS, Associated Press, Daily Caller News Foundation, Deseret News, WNYW-TV and The Hill


“A woman is like a child”: MAGA quickly turns its sights on stripping Republican women of power — Conservative women believe complicity will save them. But an emboldened far-right is gunning for their rights — For decades, the anti-abortion movement has aggressively promoted women into visible leadership roles.


Not known for political coverage, Wired takes a leading role in tracking Elon Musk's team — Shortly after becoming Wired's global editorial director in 2023, Katie Drummond acted on an early-morning idea. With a presidential election coming, the tech-focused news outlet needed a team …


Trump prepares to use controversial 1798 ‘Alien Enemies’ law to speed deportations — The Trump administration is preparing to invoke a sweeping wartime authority to speed up the president's mass deportation pledge, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
Discussion:
New Republic


DOGE barrels toward a fresh round of firings, the most widespread yet — Records show a Department of Labor component that enforces equal employment opportunity laws is developing a plan to reduce its workforce by 90 percent. — Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service is barreling toward a fresh round of firings …


Exclusive: Anti-Trump Podcaster Who Dethroned Joe Rogan Wants to Beat Fox News — The MeidasTouch Podcast, a progressive, anti-Trump show hosted by three brothers—Brett, Ben and Jordan Meiselas—became America's most popular podcast this month, knocking off


Elon Musk appears to be driving Europe away from Teslas — London — Sales data show many Europeans, seemingly angry with Elon Musk as he navigates his close relationship with President Trump to influence U.S. policy, may be choosing to steer clear of Tesla vehicles.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, Mercury News, Washington Post and The Information


Donald Trump threatens to impose 25% tariffs on EU goods — US president warns levies will target auto sector and be applied ‘generally’ — Donald Trump has threatened to slap 25 per cent tariffs on imports from the EU, as he lashed out at the bloc, saying it “was formed to screw the United States”.
Discussion:
USA Today, The Guardian, Politico, Reuters, Bloomberg, Daily Mail, CoinDesk, Washington Times and The National Pulse