memeorandum: Why DOGE is struggling to find fraud in Social Security (Washington Post)

4:15 PM ET, March 24, 2025

Top Items:

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic:

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans — The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen. — I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming.

Axios:

“Heads should roll”: Congress erupts over stunning Trump admin leak — Members of Congress in both parties exploded in anger Monday after the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic revealed he was inadvertently included in a highly-sensitive Trump administration Signal chat on airstrikes in Yemen.

Discussion: Deseret News and The Hill

Amy Mackinnon / Politico:

‘Amateur hour’: Washington aghast at Trump administration's war plan group chat — One Democratic lawmaker also called for immediate hearings on the incident. — Members of Congress and national security staffers were stunned Monday by a bombshell report that top Trump administration officials …

Discussion: The Hill

The Guardian:
National security council investigating after Trump officials accidentally text journalist top-secret Yemen war plans - live

Discussion: CBS News

Washington Post:
White House acknowledges ‘inadvertent’ leak involving top Trump officials

Discussion: New York Times and Raw Story

Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:
Atlantic journalist says Trump officials included him in war plans group chat

Discussion: The US Sun, Daring Fireball, The National Pulse, New York Post and Daily Mail

Media Matters for America:

Fox's Brian Kilmeade: “It's not practical to think that we can do due process on 8 million people” — Co-host Lawrence Jones: Constitutional rights “are afforded to illegals in this country. We should revisit that.”

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:

Why DOGE is struggling to find fraud in Social Security — Claims of massive problems by Elon Musk and President Trump are at odds with the agency's audits and reports. — Just now — Elon Musk put a big target on the Social Security Administration in the first weeks of the Trump administration …

Discussion: Axios, NPR, Daily Kos, Raw Story and Washington Examiner

Paul Krugman:

Social Security: A Time for Outrage — Trump's policies attack his own base — but who will tell them? — Donald Trump is often described as a “populist.” Yet his administration is stuffed with wealthy men who are clueless about how the other 99.99 percent lives, while his policies involve undermining …

Discussion: The Hill, McSweeney's and Raw Story

Amanda Friedman / Politico:

Trump calls on Polis to remove ‘purposefully distorted’ portrait of himself hanging in the Colorado capitol — “Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves,” Trump said. — President Donald Trump on Sunday night disparaged a portrait of himself hanging in the Colorado Capitol as …

Discussion: New York Post, Axios, New York Times, The Guardian, The US Sun, New York Daily News, No More Mister Nice Blog, Rolling Stone, Daily Mail and Not the Bee

Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
Trump demands Colorado take down ‘purposefully distorted’ painting

Ed Mazza / HuffPost:
‘Full-Blown Meltdown’: Trump Flips Out Over A Not-Very-Flattering Official Portrait

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, Scripps News, The Colorado Sun, Denver Post, CityNews Montreal, Baltimore Sun, The US Sun, Metro.co.uk and Washington Examiner

Axios:

Behind the Curtain: Dems' dark, deep hole — Top Democrats tell us their party is in its deepest hole in nearly 50 years — and they fear things could actually get worse: — The party has its lowest favorability ever. — No popular national leader to help improve it.

Discussion: Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller

Jill Colvin / Associated Press:
The year's first major political test in Wisconsin becomes a referendum on Elon Musk

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Daily Wire, The Federalist, New York Post, Washington Times, Washington Post, The Post Millennial and The Message Box

Barbara Sprunt / NPR:
Democrats in Trump-won districts call on party to rebrand

Discussion: Fox News

Miranda Bryant / The Guardian:

Anger in Greenland over Usha Vance and Mike Waltz's planned visit this week — Greenland's prime minister says move is ‘demonstration of power’ and accuses US of interfering in its political affairs — Greenland's prime minister, Múte B Egede, has called for the international community …

New York Times:

Trump's Moves on Greenland Appear to Be Backfiring — The Greenlandic government is calling an upcoming visit by Trump officials “aggressive,” pushing the island further from the United States. — For more than 150 years, U.S. officials have repeatedly wanted, as President Trump puts it, to “get” Greenland.

Discussion: Metro.co.uk, Deseret News, The Independent, Associated Press, Semafor, NBC News, The Hill, Bloomberg, Washington Times, USA Today, Washington Post and Reuters

Tessa Stuart / Rolling Stone:

‘We Are in an Emergency’: Progressive TikTok Star Launches Bid to Unseat Old-Guard Dem — The Democratic district where Kat Abughazaleh is running hasn't had a competitive primary in decades — Illinois 9th District has only been represented by two people since 1965 …

Shia Kapos / Politico:
Illinois progressive Congress member attracts Gen-Z challenger

Discussion: The Hill and Axios

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Trump: ‘I may give a lot of countries breaks’ on reciprocal tariffs — President Trump on Monday signaled he may provide exemptions for certain countries when his administration imposes reciprocal tariffs on imports next week. — “I may give a lot of countries breaks.

Discussion: CNBC, Bloomberg, Forbes, New York Post and Wall Street Journal

Elisabeth Buchwald / CNN:
Trump says any country buying Venezuelan oil will face a 25% tariff

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Times, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, New York Post, USA Today, Fox Business, Baltimore Sun, Politico, Washington Times, Scripps News, Townhall, One America News Network, Raw Story and IJR

Bloomberg:
Trump Expects to Be ‘Satisfied’ With DOGE Cuts in Few Months

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News, Metro.co.uk, Fox News and NBC News

ABC News:

Judge keeps block on Trump gang deportations, says they face ‘torture, beatings’ in El Salvador — An appeals court is set to weigh President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act. — Alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua who were deported by the U.S. government …

Discussion: Reuters, CBS News, The Guardian, New York Times, The Hill, NOTUS, UPI, The Mahablog, Mediaite, New York Daily News, The Daily Signal, The Independent, Semafor, Los Angeles Times and Politico

Jacob Knutson / Democracy Docket:
Judge Rejects Trump's Request to Allow Deportations Under Wartime Law

Discussion: Axios, Politico, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Washington Examiner, MeidasTouch News, New Republic, Forbes, Townhall, The National Pulse, Raw Story and The Post Millennial

Greg Sargent / New Republic:

Trump's Most Dangerous Enabler Is Not Who You Think It Is — Who is President Donald Trump's most dangerous enabler? As his second term got underway, it initially appeared that this coveted title might fall to FBI Director Kash Patel, who'd vowed to investigate Trump's enemies.

Ashley Capoot / CNBC:

23andMe files for bankruptcy, Anne Wojcicki steps down as CEO … Embattled genetic testing company 23andMe, once valued at $6 billion, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Missouri federal court on Sunday night. — The company's CEO, Anne Wojcicki, has resigned from her role …

Jennifer Jacobs / CBS News:

Trump to nominate Susan Monarez for CDC director, elevating from acting role, sources say — President Trump has decided to pick Dr. Susan Monarez to be the new nominee to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sources familiar with the decision tell CBS News …

Discussion: STAT, Bloomberg, Associated Press, KTVZ-TV and Fox News

Politico:
Trump to tap CDC acting director as nominee

Discussion: Orlando Sentinel

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow mass firings of probationary workers — The appeal is part of a nascent effort by the Trump administration to press the Supreme Court to rein in district court judges. — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to allow …

Lindsay Whitehurst / Associated Press:
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to halt judge's order to rehire probationary federal workers

Discussion: Scripps News, Washington Post, Reuters, The Hill, ABC News, KTVU-TV, Roll Call, CBS News, UPI, The Daily Wire, Washington Times, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, The Post Millennial, The Gateway Pundit and Associated Press

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Why Charles Schumer could be in trouble — Polling shows the Senate Democratic leader is in a historically bad position for a party leader, as some call to replace him. — Just now — To lead your party in either the House or the Senate is to consent to being disliked.

Discussion: The Hill

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:
Best News Ever From Schumer: I'm Not Quitting

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ, IJR, The Hill and NBC News

NBC News:

Man charged with assault at Tesla dealership after driving car at protesters — The protest was one of several across the country in opposition to Tesla founder Elon Musk, who has been slashing government costs and firing thousands of federal workers. — A man was arrested and charged …

Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story, The Hill, The Daily Wire and Palm Beach Post

Jordyn Dahl / Politico:

Tesla's Europe sales collapse as anti-Musk backlash grows — To add insult to injury, Chinese EVs are surging. — Tesla's downward spiral is turning into a rout, with its share of European electric car sales falling by 58 percent in the first two months of this year …

Discussion: Carscoops

Fritz Farrow / Associated Press:

Trump appoints Alina Habba as US attorney for New Jersey — Habba served as Trump's personal attorney before becoming White House counselor. — Counselor to the President Alina Habba speaks to reporters outside the West Wing at the White House, Mar. 17, 2025, in Washington.

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:

How to Think (and Act) Like a Dissident Movement — We had a good show in Phoenix and during our conversation something clicked for me that I want to unpack today. — I'm leaving this edition unlocked. I hope you'll share it. And if you're not a member of Bulwark+ yet, I hope you'll consider joining today.

Oliver Darcy / Status:

Gulf of Fear — When news anchors tiptoe around the name Gulf of Mexico, it's not just semantics—it's a glimpse at how the press starts to flinch under political pressure. — In China, Taiwan doesn't exist—at least not as a country. On official maps, it's a province.

April Rubin / Axios:

Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to landmark press freedom case — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case seeking to challenge the 1964 precedent that protects news outlets from litigation for publishing critical information about public figures.

Discussion: USA Today, The Hill, CBS News, Washington Examiner, New Republic, Deadline, The Independent and Bloomberg, more at Mediagazer »

Zach Everson / Forbes:

Lobbyist And Government Contractor Bought JD Vance's Home For $170,000 Over Asking Price — A government contractor and lobbyist who served in President Donald Trump's first administration bought Vice President JD Vance's Virginia home in an above-market deal, a sale his spokesperson says was based on the market.

FIRE:

VICTORY: Federal court blocks Texas A&M's unconstitutional drag ban — A federal judge today upheld the First Amendment rights of a Texas A&M student group by blocking an attempt by officials to prohibit the group's upcoming drag show on the College Station campus.

Discussion: The Hill, FOX 7 Austin, Reason, Raw Story, Fox News, Advocate, The Texas Tribune, The Barbed Wire and The Gateway Pundit

Politico:

‘Not how this works’: The GOP agenda is stuck amid House vs. Senate infighting — To show quick progress, lawmakers will have to make a host of difficult decisions in the coming weeks. — Congressional Republicans left Washington riding high after their big victory on government spending.