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How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy — The operation was driven with a frenetic focus by the billionaire, who channeled his resentment of regulatory oversight into a drastic overhaul of government agencies. — On the last Friday of September 2023 …
Discussion:
Christian Science Monitor
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Inside DOGE's Clash With the Federal Workforce — With a surprise incursion in the first minutes of the Trump presidency, Elon Musk's programmers seized control of a key personnel agency; ‘rogue bureaucrats’ fight back — WASHINGTON, D.C.-At 12:01 p.m. on Jan. 20, as Donald Trump …


Elon Musk's Takeover Is Being Aided by a Trumpworld Power Couple
Discussion:
Raw Story


Office Closures and Relocations Part of Trump's Plan for Large-Scale Layoffs
Discussion:
USA Today


Judge blocks Trump administration's mass firings of federal workers — A federal judge ruled that the terminations at several agencies, including the Department of Defense, were likely illegal. — SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Office of Personnel Management …
Discussion:
Politico, GovExec.com, Reason, OutsideTheBeltway, USA Today, Townhall, The Daily Caller, Axios, The Independent and Forbes
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Trump fires hundreds working on weather forecasts, satellite data and radar systems — The terminations come days before a potential severe weather outbreak in the southeastern U.S. — and just months ahead of the next Atlantic hurricane season. — just now
Discussion:
Heatmap News, USA Today and Raw Story


Feds to start getting weekly emails asking what they did. Bosses will see if it fits Trump goals.
Discussion:
NewsNation

Judge orders Trump administration to rescind directives on probationary employee firings
Discussion:
The Guardian, NBC News, New York Times, Business Insider, Associated Press, NPR, USA Today, Defense One, UPI, Washington Examiner, Blaze Media and Federal News Network

US judge in San Francisco will hear request by unions to halt mass firings of probationary workers
Discussion:
RedState and Associated Press


U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World — Here are some of the 5,800 contracts the Trump administration formally canceled this week in a wave of terse emails. — Starting Wednesday afternoon, a wave of emails went out from the State Department …
Discussion:
Politico
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Services to millions of people collapse as USAID cuts contracts worldwide
Discussion:
Associated Press

Behind the scenes, GOP senators challenge legality of Trump's aid cuts
Discussion:
Wired, Hartford Courant, Raw Story and Daily Kos

US shutdown of HIV/Aids funding ‘could lead to 500,000 deaths in South Africa’
Discussion:
Al Jazeera


BREAKING: SEC halts fraud prosecution of Chinese national who sent Trump millions — In December, Popular Information reported that Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun purchased $30 million in crypto tokens from World Liberty Financial (WLF), a new venture backed by President Donald Trump and his family.
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Bloomberg and CoinDesk, more at Techmeme »
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A crypto mogul who invested millions into Trump coins is getting a reprieve on civil fraud charges
Discussion:
New York Times, CoinDesk, Wired and Fortune, more at Techmeme »


NOAA fires about 800 employees, with more possible Friday — The Trump administration has its government-shrinking sights set on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where around 800 employees have been tapped for termination, according to two sources close to the agency.
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Mass Layoffs Begin at NOAA, With Hundreds Said to Be Fired in One Day
Discussion:
Forbes, The Hill, Bloomberg, CBS News, Denver Post and U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman

Hundreds of weather forecasters fired in latest wave of DOGE cuts
Discussion:
Axios, USA Today, OPB, The Colorado Sun, Mock Paper Scissors, The Independent, Scripps News, Washington Examiner and E&E News


FBI takes up EPA probe amid pushback from judge, prosecutors — While career prosecutors in two U.S. attorney offices and a U.S. judge balked at a court-ordered freeze, Citibank has locked down billions without explanation — FBI agents this week questioned Environmental Protection Agency …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and IJR


Trump to Sign Executive Order Making English Official U.S. Language — The U.S. has never had a national language in its nearly 250-year history — WASHINGTON—President Trump is planning to sign an executive order that would for the first time make English the official language of the U.S., according to White House officials.
Discussion:
Axios, MeidasTouch News, Fox News, Reuters, CBS News, The Independent, The Post Millennial, masslive.com, WUSA, The National Pulse, New York Post, Global Voices and 9to5Mac
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Trump to sign order making English the official U.S. language … President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order making English the official language of the United States, three White House officials told CNBC on Friday. — The order would establish a national language for the first time in U.S. history.
Discussion:
NBC News, Reuters and NewsNation


Republicans consider major budget change to obscure deficit impact of extending Trump's tax cuts — GOP leaders argue that extending Trump's expiring 2017 tax cuts shouldn't be treated as costing any money. Democrats compare the tactic to nuking the 60-vote filibuster rule.
Discussion:
Committee for a …, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, Grabien, The Hill, Axios and New York Times
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Republicans Want to Gut Medicaid. They Might Regret It.
Discussion:
WUSA, USA Today, Raw Story, Politico, Montana Free Press, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and ABC News


Trump's Assault on Social Security — Social Security is our biggest and most successful safety net program. The annual $1.6 trillion in benefits constitutes 21% of federal spending and 40% of older adults' income. It lifts more people out of poverty than any other government program.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Associated Press, Newsweek, Talking Points Memo, Democrats, Fox Business and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries


Young Republicans Group Invites Accused Sex Trafficker Brothers to Speak: ‘As Free Speech Absolutists...’ — The Tampa Bay Young Republicans tweeted an invitation to Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan to come speak to their group, drawing swift criticism for the outreach to the men currently facing charges …
Discussion:
Florida Politics
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CDC Statement on Measles Outbreak — RELEASE — CDC Media Relations — (404) 639-3286 — media@cdc.gov — CDC continues to be in close communication with Texas health authorities about the measles outbreak in West Texas, following the death of a child. HHS sends its deepest condolences to the family.
Discussion:
STAT
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Musk Makes Big Mistake While Trying to Smear CNN Legal Analyst Norm Eisen — CARELESS — The billionaire DOGE chief found a woman with the same last name as a lawyer he hates. Cue the conspiracy.
Discussion:
emptywheel


Trump tried to extort Zelenskyy and was impeached - now he may succeed — The Ukrainian president is expected at the White House on Friday to sign a multimillion-dollar minerals deal with echoes of a notorious 2019 phone call — Alexander Vindman remembers the phone call - and what he did next.
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Speaker Mike Johnson Is Living in a D.C. House That Is the Center of a Pastor's Secretive Influence Campaign — In 2021, Steve Berger, an evangelical pastor who has attacked the separation of church and state as “a delusional lie” and called multinational institutions “demonic,” set off on an ambitious project.


Here's the real threat to ‘personal liberties and free markets’ — The rapidly spreading authoritarianism coming from this administration threatens all of our freedoms. — Over the last 48 hours, I've been receiving from readers and friends the sort of notes one gets upon losing a loved one …
Discussion:
Thinking about, The Gene Pool, RedState and Issues & Insights


The MAGA War on Speech — In 1791, the nation's founders ratified the First Amendment to the Constitution. It would come to offer protections in the new nation essentially never seen before: the right to ask things of and to criticize the government; to express opinions, popular or not …


Attorney General Pamela Bondi Releases First Phase of Declassified Epstein Files — Today, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), declassified and publicly released files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his sexual exploitation …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News, New York Post, Gizmodo, Townhall, The Hollywood Reporter, Israpundit, IJR, UPI, The Hill, The National Pulse, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, One America News Network, Rolling Stone, Page Six, RedState, NewsNation, Washington Examiner, The Daily Signal, Bloomberg, New Republic, FOX 32 Chicago, Raw Story, The Post Millennial, The Federalist, Daily Mail, Associated Press, The Maine Wire, Florida Politics, Human Events, Scripps News and Hollywood Life


Harsh findings on Trump's aid freeze kept secret by USAID watchdog — Two reports showing dire impacts on Africa and Gaza have not been released in fear of Trump's wrath, official says — The watchdog for the U.S. Agency for International Development has yet to release two critical reports …


2/28/25 ☀️ AM: — New Democratic ads, plus a big CPC PAC-DCCC fundraiser — Dem freshman confronts constituent concerns about DOGE … So it's time to take a spin around Capitol Hill for a Leader Look. — This is a particularly advantageous time to pass judgment …
Discussion:
The Hill, Breitbart and Blaze Media


Elon Musk Is South African. It Explains a Lot. — Elon Musk is everywhere. — He is firing federal employees, gaining access to important government data, popping into the Oval Office, appearing on Fox News alongside President Trump and even attending a White House cabinet meeting.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Louder With Crowder, RedState, Fox News and The Independent


Some people online are planning an ‘economic blackout’ Friday. What does that mean? — Shoppers say they're targeting major companies to protest what they describe as corporate corruption. — An effort to encourage U.S. consumers to participate in a day of protest by not spending money Friday …
Discussion:
CNN, Associated Press, Washington Post, The Intercept, WUSA, El País, HotAir, TheGrio, New Jersey Online, masslive.com and Chicago Sun Times


Former defense chiefs denounce Trump's ‘reckless’ Pentagon firings — The five former leaders urged Congress to hold the president accountable for what they called his unjustified removal of the Joint Chiefs chairman and other top military officers. — Five former defense secretaries …
Discussion:
New York Times, Reuters, The Guardian, Associated Press, Raw Story and Political Wire