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 …

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.

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 …

How Medicaid cuts would affect Florida  —  Good morning and welcome to Thursday.  —  A government health care program in Florida that covers 4.2 million vulnerable people is facing the prospect of an overhaul under the House's plans for implementing President DONALD TRUMP's agenda.

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.

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.

FBI Director Kash Patel wants to bring the UFC to the FBI, sources say  —  Patel suggested he wants UFC to help agents improve their fitness, sources said.  —  Kash Patel is sworn in during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be FBI Director, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2025.

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).

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 …

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 …

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 …

FAA targeting Verizon contract in favor of Musk's Starlink, sources say  —  Turning the $2.4 billion project over to Musk's company would be a major test of conflict-of-interest rules in government contracting.  —  Just now  —  The Federal Aviation Administration is close to canceling …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

Five Key Insights Into Americans' Views of the News Media  —  Trust in media has dropped precipitously in recent years, particularly among young adults and Republicans  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — When Gallup began tracking Americans' views of the news media in the early 1970s …

OPM Tells CFPB to Reinstate Fired Veterans, Military Spouses  —  The Office of Personnel Management told the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to reinstate veterans, disabled veterans, and military spouses who were fired, according to an email sent to CFPB employees who saw their terminations reversed.

Trump Team Tightens Control Over Government Lawyers Who Might Say ‘No’  —  At the Justice Department and the Pentagon, the administration is curtailing the ability of lawyers to raise internal objections to the president's use of power.  —  After President Trump lost the 2020 election …

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.

Federal judge rules Trump administration can fire career intel officers who had DEI jobs  —  A group of CIA and other intelligence officers had sued asking to be reassigned to other positions instead of fired but the court rejected their challenge.  —  A federal judge ruled Thursday …

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”.

A Midnight Global Health Massacre  —  Jam-packed one this morning.  Let's get right into it, shall we?  Happy Thursday.  —  Is W. Awake?  —  by Sam Stein  —  On Wednesday, reports began dribbling out that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had signed off on eliminating 92 percent of USAID grants …

5th Circuit rebuffs ruling against Planned Parenthood  —  The unanimous ruling overturns a decision by Texas U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee.  —  A three-judge panel at the conservative-leaning 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed …