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5:50 PM ET, February 27, 2025

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 Top Items: 
Liz Goodwin / Washington Post:
Behind the scenes, GOP senators challenge legality of Trump's aid cuts  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who lauded the USAID cuts, quietly joined Democrats in expressing alarm.  —  Just now  —  A handful of Republican senators have joined their Democratic colleagues in expressing alarm …
Discussion: Reuters and The Guardian
RELATED:
Leigh Ann Caldwell / Puck:
Trump's Screaming Call & G.O.P. Moderate Misery  —  The House has cleared a budget hurdle... barely.  But the chamber's Republican lawmakers may yet be thwarted by their own internal dynamics—not to mention the Senate.  —  Representative Victoria Spartz, among the more chaotic …
Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
Trump's Third-Term Talk Faces Pushback From a Democratic Congressman
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
Trump and GOP leaders discuss using tariffs to pay for agenda
Discussion: The Daily Signal and The Hill
Politico:
How Medicaid cuts would affect Florida
Discussion: Florida Politics and Blaze Media
Paul Krugman:
Cruel and Usual: Republicans Prepare to Gut Medicaid
Discussion: WPR, Business Insider and Vox
Robert Tait / The Guardian:
Republicans terrified of crossing Trump due to physical threats, Democrat says
Discussion: The Hill
Politico:
GOP senators privately push Musk to coordinate more with Congress
Discussion: Washington Examiner and IJR
Associated Press:
Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were dead for some time, warrant shows  —  Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and their dog were found dead in different rooms of their Santa Fe home, and they had apparently been dead for some time, according to investigators.
RELATED:
Robert Berkvist / New York Times:
Gene Hackman, Hollywood's Consummate Everyman, Dies at 95  —  The winner of two Oscars, he was hailed for his nuanced performances in films like “The French Connection,” “Unforgiven” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”  —  Gene Hackman, who never fit the mold of a Hollywood movie star …
Emily Davies / Washington Post:
She hoped Trump's victory would change her life, but not like this  —  Ryleigh Cooper is normally more focused on motherhood than politics.  Then came DOGE.  —  BALDWIN, Mich. — Ryleigh Cooper exhaled as she slid onto the couch after nine hours of work for the U.S. Forest Service …
Chris Isidore / CNN:
Elon Musk says upgrade of FAA's air traffic control system is failing and SpaceX needs to take over Verizon's contract  —  New York CNN —  Elon Musk said Thursday that Verizon's efforts to provide a critically needed upgrade to the FAA's air traffic control system is failing.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
FAA targeting Verizon contract in favor of Musk's Starlink, sources say
Hafiz Rashid / New Republic:
RFK Jr. Takes a Sledgehammer to Two Major Vaccine Developments  —  Multiple vaccine projects have been paused by the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  —  Kennedy paused a multimillion-dollar project to create a new Covid-19 vaccine in pill form on Tuesday …
RELATED:
Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:
HHS weighs rescinding Moderna bird flu vaccine contract  —  The Trump administration confirmed it is reevaluating a $590 million human bird flu vaccine contract awarded to Moderna in the waning days of the Biden administration.  —  “While it is crucial that the U.S. Department and Health …
Politico:
Judge orders Trump administration officials to give sworn testimony on DOGE  —  The Justice Department fought the effort to put staffers involved in the controversial cost-slashing effort under oath.  —  A federal judge has ordered Trump administration officials involved in Elon Musk's …
Discussion: NBC News, Bloomberg and Raw Story
Wall Street Journal:
Inside Kash Patel's Whirlwind Start at the FBI  —  The new FBI director ordered officials to undertake a $100 million restructuring with no clear way to fund it—and took on a second job  —  WASHINGTON—FBI officials from regional field offices gathered on a video call this week to hear …
Discussion: CNN, Raw Story, Reuters and Tangle
RELATED:
Frank Andrews / CBS News:
Andrew Tate and brother Tristan, who face human trafficking charges in Romania, arrive in the U.S.  —  London — Self-proclaimed misogynist social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan arrived in the U.S. Thursday despite facing rape and human trafficking charges that are still pending in Romania.
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Andrew Tate, who faces rape and trafficking charges in Romania, has left for the US
New York Times:
Who Is in DOGE?  Tracking Its Staffers and Allies in the Federal Government  —  The New York Times identified 45 people within the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a group formed by Elon Musk that in a short few weeks has radically upended federal agencies.  Few members have formal Washington experience.
Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
How the Bezos-Trump alliance began … - It wasn't until late October — three months later — that Bezos spiked the Post editorial page's planned endorsement of Kamala Harris for president, and his outreach to Trump came into focus. … - The move was praised by Trump allies such as Elon Musk …
Marcia Brown / Politico:
Trump administration struggles to rehire fired bird flu employees  —  USDA supervisors are being asked to justify rehires and some employees still haven't gotten their laptops back.  —  The Trump administration touted a nearly $1 billion plan Wednesday to combat the spread of avian flu …
Jay Willis / Balls and Strikes:
Elon Musk's Attacks On Judges Are Getting More Racist and More Dangerous  —  In recent weeks, federal judges across the country have blocked several of President Donald Trump's more ambitious attempts to treat following the law as optional.  Elon Musk, who is leading the administration's efforts …
Discussion: Washington Post and MSNBC
Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
Reality Counts  —  President in Name Only (PINO) Donald Trump and acting president Elon Musk might be able to bamboozle some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot bamboozle all of the people all of the time (to paraphrase Lincoln).
Discussion: Bloomberg
RELATED:
Steven Nelson / New York Post:
Here's what on the Jeffrey Epstein list that the Trump DOJ is set to release later today  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is preparing to release notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein's personal address book Thursday, The Post has learned.  —  A source who has reviewed the files …
Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:
The Era of Purges  —  Here is what happened.  An intelligence employee at the National Security Agency leaked chats of fellow officers to a political activist.  The chats included inappropriate messages, mostly around medical issues, plus mockery of political commenters.
Discussion: Erin In The Morning and Townhall
Marco Margaritoff / HuffPost:
CNN Fact-Checker Floored By Trump Cabinet Meeting: ‘There Was Just So Much’  —  Daniel Dale picked apart the president's statements during the first meeting of his new administration's department heads.  —  President Donald Trump's first Cabinet meeting Wednesday of his new administration …
Discussion: Mediaite, CNN, USA Today and Raw Story
Connor Stringer / Telegraph:
White House official threatens to redraw Canadian border  —  Peter Navarro is pushing negotiators to discuss reworking country's boundaries, The Telegraph can reveal  —  A top White House official has threatened to redraw the Canadian border amid Donald Trump's ambition to turn the country in America's “51st state”.
Discussion: The Daily Caller
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
How many Trump voters regret their votes?  —  Anecdotes aside, polls show little sign of significant Trump-voter backlash.  But some warning signs of discontent loom.  —  If you're on social media these days, you might have noticed a growing volume of posts about Trump supporters who, to paraphrase, effed around and found out.
Daniel Wu / Washington Post:
Neo-Nazis targeted a majority-Black town.  Locals launched an armed watch.  —  Residents of Lincoln Heights, Ohio, are guarding their streets with rifles after criticizing the police response to a neo-Nazi rally.  —  For weeks, men carrying rifles have guarded the roads leading into Lincoln Heights …
Discussion: Raw Story and The Root
Marie J. French / Politico:
Dems are icing out Tesla lobbyists over Elon Musk's Trump ties  —  Tesla's campaigns to sell its electric vehicles directly to consumers, bypassing traditional dealerships, face more challenges in Democratic statehouses as Musk's national clout grows.  —  ALBANY, New York …
Discussion: Raw Story and Mercury News
Katherine J. Wu / The Atlantic:
Inside the Collapse at the NIH  —  Administration officials pressured the NIH to avoid clear advice from the agency's own lawyers to restart grant funding now.  —  For decades, the National Institutes of Health has had one core function: support health research in the United States.
Discussion: NPR and Slate
Matt Burgess / Wired:
Elon Musk's Starlink Is Keeping Modern Slavery Compounds Online  —  A WIRED investigation reveals that criminals who make billions from scam compounds in Myanmar—where tens of thousands of people are enslaved—are using Starlink to get online.  —  The plea for help arrived last summer.
Jael Holzman / Heatmap News:
Nature Conservancy Allegedly Told to Say ‘Gulf of America’ or Lose Federal Funding  —  The Nature Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit, was told by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration it had to rename a major conservation program as the “Gulf of America” or else lose federal funding …
Bloomberg:
HHS Lays Off Lawyers Executing the Medicare Drug Price Cuts  — Medicare is facing lawsuits filed by pharmaceutical companies  — Part of pattern of chaotic firings at federal health agencies  —  At least three government lawyers working on defending a major Biden-era drug pricing law …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Zack Budryk / The Hill:
NOAA begins firing hundreds of staffers
Discussion: Axios, E&E News and Adweek
Perry Stein / Washington Post:
Justice Dept. hires for court battles as Trump slashes other agencies
CBS News:
Elon Musk makes baseless claim about large number of dead people on government payroll
Discussion: The Independent
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
Trump accepts invite to UK to meet King Charles
 Earlier Items: 
Bloomberg Law:
OPM Tells CFPB to Reinstate Fired Veterans, Military Spouses
Discussion: ABC News
Jenna Gloeb / Alpha News:
CAUGHT ON TAPE: Walz says country stolen ‘by fascists and Nazis’ at nurses event
Discussion: RedState, IJR and Townhall
New York Times:
A Union Takes On Musk via Tesla's Stock
Discussion: The Independent, Raw Story and The Hill
NBC News:
Federal judge rules Trump administration can fire career intel officers who had DEI jobs
Brian Barrett / Wired:
The DOGE Takeover Is Worse Than You Think
Alice Miranda Ollstein / Politico:
5th Circuit rebuffs ruling against Planned Parenthood
 

 
From Techmeme:

Fareed Sahloul / Bloomberg:
Sources: StubHub, Klarna, eToro, and adtech group MNTN have paused their IPO plans as President Trump's trade war upends the global economy

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Nintendo delays Switch 2 preorders that were set for April 9 due to concerns about Trump's tariffs but the June 5 launch date remains unchanged

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Amazon introduces a Kindle Recaps feature that uses GenAI and moderators to create short summaries of books in a series

 
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