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 …

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 and Mercury News


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:
CNN, STAT and Lawyers, Guns & Money

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:
The Guardian, USA Today, Associated Press, Washington Post, CNBC and Executive Functions
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Judges block Trump executive orders targeting law firms tied to Mueller probe
Discussion:
New York Times, The Hill, Politico, Daily Mail, The Independent, ABC17NEWS, The Guardian, JURIST, KTVZ-TV, Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, City A.M. and Reuters

Trump Administration Live Updates: Major Law Firm Makes Deal to Avoid Punishing Order, President Says
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner, CNBC, CBS News, Washington Times, New Republic, Raw Story, Politico, NOTUS, HuffPost, Bloomberg and NPR


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 Register, The Mahablog and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »


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, Deadline, The Independent and Variety
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Trump commutes sentence of Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson just before prison surrender
Discussion:
UPI, Columbia Journalism Review and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »


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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Musk butts up against Wisconsin state law with (now deleted) $1 million check giveaway
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Examiner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Hill, Associated Press, The Nation, Raw Story, New York Daily News, PolitiFact, WisPolitics, USA Today, Mediaite, The Post Millennial, NOTUS, WTMJ, MeidasTouch News, Business Insider, WPR, UPI, Althouse and The Daily Wire

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:
Reuters, CBS News, New York Post and WUSA


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:
OPB, CNN, The Hill, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, The Independent, Al Jazeera, The Atlantic, One America News Network, Politico, Blaze Media, RedState, Axios, Raw Story, The Verge and ABC News
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Federal judge blocks mass firings of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau workers
Discussion:
Reuters

Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Dismantling CFPB
Discussion:
State of California


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.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, CBS News, Democrats, The Hill, New York Times, San Diego Union-Tribune and New Jersey Online
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Consumer sentiment worsens as inflation fears grow, University of Michigan survey shows
Discussion:
The Hill


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.


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 …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Guardian, Raw Story, Politico, The Daily Signal, NPR, Forbes, Washington Examiner, The Daily Wire, Fox News, Mediaite and USA Today
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JD Vance says US needs control of Greenland to fend off China and Russia
Discussion:
Politico, Al Jazeera, Townhall, USA Today, RedState, One America News Network, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, The Daily Wire, WCSH, Baltimore Sun, UPI, Scripps News and New Republic


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, TechCrunch, NBC News, Semafor, The Hill, UPI, Rolling Stone, Mercury News, Fortune, The Verge, Wired, KTVZ-TV, RTÉ, CBS News, The Information, Ars Technica, Engadget, Deadline, Variety, KFMB, 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.


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:
Bloomberg, Raw Story, CBS News, New York Times, LAist, KTVZ-TV, USA Today, Fox News, The Hill, Democracy Docket, The Daily Caller, RedState, HotAir and Washington Examiner
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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:
ABC17NEWS and New York Daily News, more at Mediagazer »
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U.S. Judge to Halt Trump's Effort to Dismantle Voice of America
Discussion:
The Hill, Reuters, Government Accountability … and Washington Post


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 and The Daily Wire


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


Trump pardons three BitMEX crypto exchange co-founders, and ex-employee … President Donald Trump granted pardons to three co-founders of the BitMEX global cryptocurrency exchange, as well as to a former high-ranking employee of the company, CNBC has learned.
Discussion:
WTTG-TV, The Hill, Bloomberg and USA Today, more at Techmeme »
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Trump pardons Nikola founder Trevor Milton in securities fraud case
Discussion:
New York Times, Associated Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Electrek, Trevor Milton Media, Financial Times, NBC News, The Daily Wire, Rolling Stone, UPI, Engadget, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Verge, Wall Street Journal, CBS News, ABC17NEWS, TechCrunch, Fox Business, USA Today, Bloomberg, Axios and New Republic


Judge releases detained Venezuelan couple with temporary protected status — The judge said the detention of the couple was baseless and unlawful.
Discussion:
Raw Story


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 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


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 …


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, Mediaite, Twitchy, Ace of Spades HQ and The Gateway Pundit


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 …


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:
BBC, Associated Press, Blaze Media, New York Times, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, RTÉ, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, KFMB, CBS News and MMA Fighting


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


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 …


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.”
Discussion:
Politico, Ars Technica, Blaze Media, Baltimore Sun, KTVZ-TV, WTTG-TV, Vanity Fair, NPR, Breitbart, Plain Dealer, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Washington Examiner, The Daily Wire and Daily Kos