Top Items:


RFK Jr. forces out Peter Marks, FDA's top vaccine scientist — Marks, an architect of Operation Warp Speed, warned that a recent measles outbreak shows how confidence in science and public health is being “undermined.” — The Trump administration on Friday pushed out Peter Marks …
Discussion:
Politico and Rolling Stone
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Top F.D.A. Vaccine Official Resigns, Citing Kennedy's ‘Misinformation and Lies’ — Dr. Peter Marks, a veteran of the agency, wrote that undermining confidence in vaccines is irresponsible and a danger to public health. — The Food and Drug Administration's top vaccine official …


Top Vaccine Official Out at FDA — In his resignation letter, Dr. Peter Marks cited ‘misinformation and lies’ from Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. — The Food and Drug Administration's top vaccine official has been pushed out, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
STAT, CNN, Lawyers, Guns & Money and “Relentless” Newsletter

The CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — Leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered staff …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, The Barbed Wire, Mercury News and Plain Dealer

Two major law firms fight back against Trump orders seen as retribution — Two major law firms are suing the Trump administration. They're asking a judge to block executive orders that punish them because of their clients and the lawyers that they hired. — AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Discussion:
USA Today, The Guardian, Associated Press, Executive Functions, CNBC and Washington Post
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Trump Administration Live Updates: Major Law Firm Makes Deal to Avoid Punishing Order, President Says
Discussion:
The Hill, CNBC, New Republic, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Washington Times, NOTUS, Politico, CBS News, Bloomberg, HuffPost and NPR


JD Vance says US needs control of Greenland to fend off China and Russia — Vice-president criticises Denmark's treatment of Arctic island and says it should come under US ‘security umbrella’ — JD Vance told troops in Greenland that the US has to gain control of the Arctic island to stop …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, One America News Network, Townhall, The Daily Wire, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, RedState, WCSH, Baltimore Sun, New Republic, UPI and Scripps News
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Vance, citing threats from Russia and China, urges Greenland to ‘cut a deal’ with the U.S.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Guardian, Raw Story, The Daily Signal, Forbes, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Politico, The Daily Wire, NPR, Mediaite, USA Today and Al Jazeera

After Vance visit, Denmark tells US: Stop treating us like dirt
Discussion:
Deseret News, USA Today, CBS News, The Hill, Fox News, The Independent, Washington Times, Associated Press, The US Sun, NewsNation, Reuters, Fortune, KTVZ-TV, RTÉ, Agence France-Presse and HuffPost


Hegseth Brought His Wife to Sensitive Meetings With Foreign Military Officials — Defense secretary's wife is a former Fox News executive. His handling of sensitive information is under fire after he shared details about a strike on Houthi militants in a group chat on a commercial messaging platform.


Trump Commutes Ozy Media Founder's Sentence Just Before His Surrender — Carlos Watson, who started the now-defunct digital media company, had been sentenced to almost 10 years in prison for trying to defraud investors and lenders. — President Trump on Friday commuted the sentence of Carlos Watson …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Independent, Variety, Deadline and Defector
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Trump commutes sentence of Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson just before prison surrender
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, Mediaite and UPI, more at Mediagazer »

Collision warning sounds in cockpit of Delta plane due to close call with Air Force jet near Reagan National Airport — A close call between a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 taking off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and a US Air Force T-38 jet, often used by the military for training …
Discussion:
CBS News, Reuters, WUSA, New York Post and Fox News


Musk's xAI buys Musk's X social media platform for $33 billion — Elon Musk's xAI artificial intelligence firm has acquired Musk's X, the social media outfit formerly known as Twitter for $33 billion. — The all-stock deal announced on Friday consolidates two of Musk's multiple portfolio companies …
Discussion:
New York Times, CNBC, NBC News, TechCrunch, UPI, Fortune, Wired, RTÉ, The Hill, CBS News, Semafor, Ars Technica, Engadget, Rolling Stone, Mercury News, Deadline, KTVZ-TV, Variety, The Verge, KFMB, The Information, The Post Millennial and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Mediagazer »


Hegseth's younger brother is serving in a key role inside the Pentagon — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's younger brother is serving in a key position inside the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser, Hegseth's office confirmed.


RFK Jr. to gut vaccine promotion and HIV prevention office, sources say — The entire staff of the federal government's Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy is expected to be laid off, multiple federal health officials told CBS News Friday. The moves are part of a broader …
Discussion:
Advocate


Appeals court clears way for Trump to fire leaders of ‘independent’ federal agencies — The ruling is a victory for Trump's effort to control regulatory bodies that Congress intended to operate with some independence. — A federal appeals court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Bloomberg, CBS News, Fox News, New York Times, The Daily Caller, NPR, Washington Examiner, HotAir, RedState, KTVZ-TV, The Hill, USA Today and Democracy Docket
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What is the Smithsonian, and why is President Trump unhappy with it? — President Donald Trump's executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” targets the Smithsonian Institution — which has, he contends, “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.”
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Critics see Trump attacks on the ‘Black Smithsonian’ as an effort to sanitize racism in US history
Discussion:
Frontpage Mag, Townhall and USA Today


Columbia University's President, Katrina Armstrong, Resigns — Katrina Armstrong is leaving the post a week after the university agreed to a list of demands from the White House. — Columbia University changed its president on Friday evening, one week after the university bowed to a series …


Elon Musk stepping down from DOGE in May. Here's what he said — Elon Musk may be getting out of DOGE. — On Thursday, Musk said he plans to step down from his role in Donald Trump's administration this spring. — The head of Tesla and X owner said he plans on stepping down in May during …
Discussion:
The National Pulse, The Daily Signal, The Daily Wire, RedState and Bloomberg


Federal judge blocks Trump from dismantling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — A federal judge agreed Friday to block the Trump administration from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that was targeted for mass firings before the court's intervention.
Discussion:
New York Times, OPB, CNN, The Hill, Reuters, Fox Business, Al Jazeera, Blaze Media, RedState, The Independent, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The Verge, Raw Story, Axios, Politico, ABC News and One America News Network
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Judge releases detained Venezuelan couple with temporary protected status — The judge said the detention of the couple was baseless and unlawful.
Discussion:
Raw Story


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.
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Trump Admin Spies on Social Media of Student Visa Holders — Ideological purge of foreign students revealed in new leaked directive — The Trump administration is requiring that foreign students studying in, or seeking to study in the United States, pass an ideological test in order to obtain a visa …
Discussion:
The Guardian


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 blocked from deporting migrants to countries where they're not citizens — A federal judge said deportees must first have a “meaningful opportunity” to seek humanitarian protection in the United States. — A federal judge in Boston issued a temporary emergency order blocking …


Vance and top Trump advisers suggested firing Waltz — The national security adviser almost got fired. He still might. — On Wednesday evening — following a brutal day of headlines surrounding the now-infamous Signal chat — Vice President JD Vance, chief of staff Susie Wiles …
Discussion:
Daily Mail and CBS News


Winning: Notorious Venezuelan Illegal Alien ‘Influencer’ Repatriated — In another win for the Trump administration and the American people, an extremely annoying Venezuelan illegal immigrant, Leonel Moreno, has been sent back to Venezuela. — And boy, is the schadenfreude strong with this one.
Discussion:
New York Post, The Daily Caller, Twitchy, Ace of Spades HQ, Mediaite and The Gateway Pundit


Consumer sentiment worsens as inflation fears grow, University of Michigan survey shows … The deterioration in consumer sentiment was even worse than anticipated in March as worries over inflation intensified, according to a University of Michigan survey released Friday.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and The Hill


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.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Mahablog, The Register, Raw Story, Mock Paper Scissors and driftglass, more at Techmeme »


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.
Discussion:
New York Times, BBC, Associated Press, KTVZ-TV, RTÉ, The Gateway Pundit, Blaze Media, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, The Daily Caller, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, MMA Fighting, KFMB, NPR, Forbes, Fortune, Fox News, ABC17NEWS, The US Sun, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Portal and Semafor


UAW's Shawn Fain slams Trump executive order targeting federal unions — Shawn Fain, the president of the United Automobile Workers, assailed a new executive order signed this week by President Trump as an attack on federal workers. — He compared it to the 1981 air traffic controller strike …
Discussion:
UAW, Baltimore Sun, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Caller News Foundation


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?
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, The Independent, Raw Story and Daily Mail


Trump admin offers Voice of America employees buyouts as judge blocks it from being shut down — Just as a federal judge issued an order blocking the administration's efforts to dismantle the broadcaster, U.S. Agency for Global Media staffers received an email offering them a renewed opportunity …
Discussion:
New York Times, ABC17NEWS and New York Daily News, more at Mediagazer »


USAID terminates nearly all its remaining employees — The Trump administration is terminating nearly all of the remaining 900 employees of the United States Agency for International Development, in a final reduction-in-force. — Virtually no one will be spared, not even political appointees …


Conservative US appeals court judge knocks calls to impeach jurists — A conservative federal appeals judge who President Donald Trump considered a potential candidate for a U.S. Supreme Court nomination during his first term said impeaching judges was not the way to address court rulings with which parties disagreed.
Discussion:
Above the Law and The Hill