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5:50 PM ET, April 16, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
CNN:
IRS making plans to rescind Harvard's tax-exempt status  —  The Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, according to two sources familiar with the matter, which would be an extraordinary step of retaliation as the Trump administration seeks …
Discussion: NPR
RELATED:
Fatima Hussein / Associated Press:
Trump administration plans to end the IRS Direct File program for free tax filing, AP sources say  —  The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS' Direct File program, an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free, according to two people familiar with the decision.
Wall Street Journal:
Donald Trump Tries to Run Harvard  —  Many of his demands on the school exceed his power under the Constitution.  —  Click for Sound  —  The Trump Administration on Monday froze $2.2 billion in funds to Harvard after the university refused to surrender to its sweeping demands.
Washington Post:
Trump administration asks IRS to revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status
Discussion: E&E News
David Sirota / The Lever:
Trump IRS Pick Was Just Enriched By Tax Schemers
Discussion: CBS News
Senator Chris Van Hollen / Senator Chris Van Hollen on YouTube:
Van Hollen speaks to press after meeting with El Salvador VP about return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia  —  Van Hollen speaks to press from El Salvador after meeting with El Salvador Vice President Félix Ulloa about return of wrongly deported Marylander Kilmar Abre...
RELATED:
Sareen Habeshian / Axios:
El Salvador denies senator visit with mistakenly deported man: Van Hollen  —  The government of El Salvador denied a request from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) to see or speak to his Maryland constituent who was mistakenly deported there, the senator said during a visit to the country on Wednesday.
New York Times:
Law Firms Made Deals With Trump.  Now He Wants More From Them.  —  To avoid retribution, big firms agreed to provide free legal services for uncontroversial causes.  To the White House, that could mean negotiating trade deals — or even defending the president and his allies.
Wall Street Journal:
Former Trump Official Targeted With Government Probe Vows to Fight  —  Chris Krebs, the top cybersecurity official in Trump's first term, resigned from his private-sector job  —  WASHINGTON—A former top Trump administration official targeted with a federal investigation by President Trump …
Discussion: Axios, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
NBC News:
Federal judge calls Trump's order targeting prominent law firm a ‘shocking abuse of power’  —  Trump, three months into his term, has moved swiftly to use the powers of the presidency in unprecedented ways to punish, weaken and silence his enemies, experts say.
Wall Street Journal:
Trump, Abrego Garcia and the Courts  —  The President may win this showdown, but by taunting the Supreme Court he is tempting fate later on cases of far greater consequence.  —  Does President Trump want to force a showdown at the Supreme Court over executive power and the judiciary?
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Trump's D.C. U.S. attorney pick appeared on Russian state media over 150 times  —  Trump nominee Ed Martin's 100-plus appearances on Russian state-directed media RT and Sputnik from 2016 to 2024 alarm some former national security officials.
Discussion: Bloomberg and Raw Story
RELATED:
Alex Griffing / Mediaite:   Trump Nominee for DC U.S. Attorney Did Not Disclose Over 100 Appearances on Russian State Media to the Senate: Report
Paul Krugman:
Why Trump Will Lose His Trade War  —  Scenes from the trade war:  — In response to Donald Trump's huge tariffs on Chinese exports, China's government has suspended exports of rare earth minerals and magnets, both critical to many modern industries and the military
RELATED:
Vox:
China has a plan to win Trump's trade war
Discussion: Axios, CNN, The Hill and The Independent
Senator Chris Van Hollen / YouTube:
Just landed in El Salvador to discuss release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia  —  I just landed in San Salvador a little while ago, and I look forward to meeting with the team at the U.S. embassy to discuss the release of Mr. Abrego Garcia...
Discussion: The Guardian and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Megan Lebowitz / NBC News:
Sen. Chris Van Hollen travels to El Salvador to advocate for Kilmar Abrego Garcia's release
Marc Caputo / Axios:
Trump dashed Musk's secret Pentagon briefing on China  —  Beyond tariffs and court battles over Trump policies, two pieces of White House palace intrigue emerged Tuesday:  — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suspended two top Pentagon officials, Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick …
RELATED:
Eileen Guo / MIT Technology Review:
US office that counters foreign disinformation is being eliminated  —  The only office within the US State Department that monitors foreign disinformation is to be eliminated, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, confirming reporting by MIT Technology Review.
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Truth Social launches scheme to profit from Trump's tariff policies  —  The signature economic policy of President Trump's second term has been tariffs, which Trump has imposed, frozen, and revised haphazardly.  On April 2, which Trump dubbed “Liberation Day,” Trump imposed “reciprocal” …
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Inside the Mind of an ICE Agent  —  Is this what she signed up for?  —  ∙ Paid  —  Quick update: Yesterday it was reported Cory Booker is joining Chris Van Hollen in going to El Salvador.  John Lewis would be proud.  This is good trouble; necessary trouble.  —  1. Choices
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Schumer Moves to Block Trump Picks for Two Key Prosecutor Positions  —  An arcane Senate tradition effectively gives senators veto power over nominees for U.S. attorney in their home states, providing Democrats a potential opening to stop President Trump's picks.
RELATED:
Politico:
Schumer moves to block Trump's top prosecutors
Discussion: Alternet.org and Blaze Media
Reuters:
Trump administration likely acted in contempt of court by not turning around deportation flights, judge says  —  Judge James Boasberg had ordered the flights to be returned.  —  President Donald Trump meets with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, April 14, 2025.
RELATED:
NPR:
Judge: ‘Probable cause’ to hold U.S. in contempt over Alien Enemies Act deportations
Juliette Rihl / PennLive:
Pa. Gov. Shapiro was targeted for ‘what he wants to do to Palestinian people’: warrant  —  The suspect in the arson attack at the Governor's Residence targeted Josh Shapiro due to his perceived stance on Palestine, according to a search warrant obtained by PennLive.
Nick Miroff / The Atlantic:
We're About to Find Out What Mass Deportation Really Looks Like  —  This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter.  Sign up for it here.  —  The Trump administration is working hard to convince the public that its mass-deportation campaign is fully under way.
Bryan Anderson / Anderson Alerts:
Riggs on track to win NC Supreme Court race  —  Based on a court filing from the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Democratic Supreme Court Justice will defeat Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin.  —  ∙ Paid  —  Democratic Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs …
Discussion: The Guardian
Severin Carrell / The Guardian:
Legal definition of woman is based on biological sex, UK supreme court rules  —  Judges say Equality Act definition excludes transgender women, after gender-critical campaigners' challenge  —  The UK supreme court has ruled that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer …
Washington Post:
Internal budget document reveals extent of Trump's proposed health cuts  —  HHS would be asked to absorb a $40 billion cut, about one third of its discretionary budget.  —  Just now  —  The Trump administration is seeking to deeply slash budgets for federal health programs …
Discussion: Politico
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Inside Democrats' scramble to travel to El Salvador  —  Democrats are rushing to organize trips to El Salvador as President Trump refuses to comply with a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of a Maryland resident who was erroneously deported to the country.
Nick Timiraos / Wall Street Journal:
Powell Warns of ‘Challenging Scenario’ for Fed as Trade War Rages  —  Sees strong likelihood that consumers face higher prices while unemployment rises because of tariff increases  —  Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that the central bank could have less flexibility to quickly cushion …
Jill Lawrence / The Bulwark:
America's Shameful ‘No’ to the World  —  A HISTORIC GEORGETOWN CHURCH recently mailed out flyers about its 2025-26 concert season, and I was drawn to the opening performance this fall: “Stellar Mexican quartet honors music of the New World on farewell tour.”
Brooke Migdon / The Hill:
Judge rules against parents who wore wristbands to protest transgender student athlete  —  A federal judge ruled Monday that two fathers cannot wear pink wristbands with two X's — the symbol for female chromosomes — drawn on them in opposition to a transgender high school athlete on one of their daughters' rival soccer teams.
Carolyn Y. Johnson / Washington Post:
Women, minorities fired in purge of NIH science review boards  —  Scientists, with expertise in fields that include mental health, cancer and infectious disease, typically serve five-year terms and were not given a reason for their dismissal.  —  Thirty-eight of 43 experts cut last month …
Molly Taft / Wired:
DOGE Cuts Pull AmeriCorps Volunteers Off of Disaster Relief Jobs  —  Workers for the National Civilian Community Corps were sent home due to “new operational parameters.”  The program's long-term fate is unclear.  —  AmeriCorps, the US federal agency that oversees volunteerism and service work …
Discussion: Associated Press
Elena Schneider / Politico:
In unprecedented move, DNC official to spend big to take down fellow Democrats  —  David Hogg, the DNC vice chair, wants to take down some safe incumbents.  —  David Hogg, a controversial Democratic National Committee vice chair, is pledging to upend Democratic primaries by funding candidates …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Chiara Eisner / NPR:
In the middle of a hepatitis outbreak, U.S. shutters the one CDC lab that could help
Bloomberg:
GOP Senator McCormick Says Millionaire Tax Hike Won't Fly
New York Times:
Musk's Team Is Building a System to Sell ‘Gold Card’ Immigrant Visas
Cass Sunstein / Cass's Substack:
Universities and Federal Funding
President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement
Tina Reed / Axios:
RFK Jr. contradicts CDC on causes of autism
 Earlier Items: 
Lori Ann LaRocco / CNBC:
Trade war fallout: Cancellations of Chinese freight ships begin as bookings plummet
Camilo Montoya-Galvez / CBS News:
Memo shows U.S. can send migrants without criminal records to Guantanamo, despite Trump's promise to hold “the worst” there
Discussion: New Republic
Maya C. Miller / New York Times:
2 Protesters at Marjorie Taylor Greene Town Hall Are Subdued With Stun Guns
New York Post:
Trump administration refers NY AG Letitia James for potential prosecution over alleged mortgage fraud
Dana Mattioli / Wall Street Journal:
The Tactics Elon Musk Uses to Manage His ‘Legion’ of Babies—and Their Mothers
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Financial Times:
The US DOJ tells a judge it will seek to force Google to divest its ad exchange and publisher ad server units and share real-time ad bidding data with rivals

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Hands-on with Meta's Movie Mate, a chatbot that provides users trivia and other content during a movie, rolled out for one night for Blumhouse's M3GAN rerelease

Laura Holliday / Wired:
An investigation finds 70+ content-farm YouTube channels using AI to produce cartoon content featuring gore and child abuse, featuring characters like minions
 
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