DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Code Base in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse  —  Social Security systems contain tens of millions of lines of code written in COBOL, an archaic programming language.  Safely rewriting that code would take years—DOGE wants it done in months.

Musk changes reason for visiting Wisconsin to hand out $2 million ahead of Supreme Court election  —  Wisconsin's Democratic attorney general asked a court on Friday to block billionaire Elon Musk from handing out $1 million checks to voters this weekend, just two days before the state's hotly contested Supreme Court was to be decided.

Trump Administration Live Updates: Major Law Firm Makes Deal to Avoid Punishing Order, President Says  —  Where Things Stand  — Law firm deal: President Trump announced that the major law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom had agreed to provide $100 million in pro bono work …

Vance, citing threats from Russia and China, urges Greenland to ‘cut a deal’ with the U.S.  —  “When the president says 'We've got to have Greenland,' he's saying this island is not safe,” the vice president said.  —  Vice President JD Vance on Friday did not rule out using military action …

Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to the Press  —  SECRETARY RUBIO: Grant?  —  QUESTION: The Ukrainian children who —  SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh, the data.  The data is secured.  We secured the data.  We'll transfer it to the appropriate party.  We've ensured that.

They Are Going to Take Everything If We Don't Stop Them  —  The worst thing that the federal government has done to labor unions in my lifetime happened last night.  Donald Trump signed an executive order saying that the government will no longer recognize and bargain with a huge portion of the unions that represent federal workers.

'If We Don't Get Our S—t Together, Then We Are Going to Be in a Permanent Minority'  —  It's been months since Democrats suffered a devastating defeat at the polls.  For all the talk about the party's need for change, few seem actually willing to make the leap.

Vance to wipe ‘improper ideology’ from the Smithsonian  —  The project offers the vice president the opportunity to make headway on his yearslong crusade against progressive principles.  —  Vice President JD Vance has a new job: erasing what the White House considers “improper ideology” …

This Is Just Dumb  —  It's not the hypocrisy that bothers me; it's the stupidity.  We're all shocked — shocked! — that President Trump and his team don't actually care about protecting classified information or federal record retention laws.  But we knew that already.

Trump pardons Nikola founder Trevor Milton in securities fraud case … President Donald Trump pardoned Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton for his October 2022 conviction of federal crimes related to defrauding investors with false claims about the success of the electric and hydrogen-powered truck maker.

Dow sinks 600 points.  Stocks are on track for their worst quarter since 2023  —  New York CNN —  US stocks were lower Friday as investors digested souring consumer sentiment and inflation data that showed an uptick in one of the Federal Reserve's key gauges, underscoring the delicate state …

Strong earthquake strikes central Myanmar, panic in Bangkok  —  A powerful earthquake killed more than 140 people in Myanmar on Friday, authorities said, toppling buildings and wrecking infrastructure across a wide area, including a skyscraper under construction in neighbouring Thailand.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's ‘kafir’ tattoo draws criticism.  What does it mean?  —  Hegseth has previously attracted attention over his many tattoos.  This time, new photos show that he has the word ‘kafir’ on his upper arm.  What does that mean and what do critics say it's indicating?

Federal judge blocks mass firings of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau workers  —  U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a preliminary injunction Friday that blocks the Trump administration from dismantling the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau.

Cuomo held up Citi Field mass vaccine site amid beef with de Blasio  —  The account, shared by nine people involved in New York's pandemic response, conflicts with the image Cuomo cultivated as a steady leader in a time of tumult.  —  NEW YORK — In early 2021, pandemic-battered New Yorkers …

Russian medical researcher at Harvard, who protested the Ukraine war, detained by ICE  —  Kseniia Petrova's attorney said her previous arrest in Russia and social media activity “will almost certainly ensure a nice, hefty jail sentence for her” if she is deported back.

Trump Warned U.S. Automakers Not to Raise Prices in Response to Tariffs  —  Threat came in a call earlier this month, in which carmakers feared punishment if prices go up  —  When President Trump convened CEOs of some of the country's top automakers for a call earlier this month …

Wall Street tumbles, and S&P 500 drops 2% on worries about slower economy, higher inflation  —  Another wipeout is swamping Wall Street Friday on worries about a potentially toxic mix of worsening inflation and a U.S. economy slowing because of households afraid to spend due to the global trade war.

Officials say texts sent by Waltz, Ratcliffe in Signal chat may have damaged US' ongoing ability to gather intel on Houthis  —  Current and former US officials have told CNN they believe two texts sent by national security adviser Mike Waltz and CIA Director John Ratcliffe …

The Everything Scandal  —  Democrats have shown real signs of life since The Atlantic exposed the amateurish inner-workings of the Trump administration.  But in the interests of keeping them bucked up so they don't return to hibernation (and, frankly, in the interest of fueling distrust between …

Majority of voters, plurality of GOP say Hegseth should resign: Poll  —  A majority of Americans, including the largest share of Republican voters, say in a new survey that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should resign after the revelation that he shared details of a forthcoming U.S. airstrike …

U.S. Judge Orders Halt to Trump's Effort to Dismantle Voice of America  —  Voice of America journalists had argued in a lawsuit that the administration's actions violated their First Amendment rights.  —  A federal judge on Friday temporarily halted the Trump administration's efforts …

Bannon: Trump ‘going to prison’ if Democrat wins White House in 2028  —  President Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon predicted Thursday that President Trump will go to prison if a Democrat wins back the White House in 2028.  —  “God forbid we don't win in '28, President Trump is going to prison …

Global anti-Elon Musk protests planned at nearly 200 Tesla showroom locations  —  Tesla Takedown's Global Day of Action will be the largest in a series of demonstrations that began after Trump term 2.0  —  Hundreds of protests at Tesla showrooms are planned across the US and internationally on Saturday.