A US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’  —  An internal email reviewed by WIRED calls DOGE staff's access to federal payments systems “the single biggest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”

Musk's DOGE Teen Was Fired By Cybersecurity Firm for Leaking Company Secrets  —  Edward Coristine posted online that he had retained access to the firm's servers.  Now he has access to sensitive government information.  —  Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of Elon Musk's squad that's …

Musk to rehire Treasury DOGE staffer behind racist posts after Trump endorses idea … Elon Musk said Friday he will rehire a DOGE staffer who abruptly resigned following the exposure of his tweets advocating for racism and eugenics.  —  Musk's announcement on his social media platform X came …

Be clear about what Trump and Musk's aid axe will do: people will face terror and starve, many will die  —  The decimation of USAid is already having a terrible effect in some of the poorest places on the planet.  It damages America: it will harm us all  —  An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or above could not have caused more carnage.

I Work in the Office Carrying Out the Government Purge.  Here's What I Want You to Know.  —  We're as freaked out and angry as everyone else.  —  I'm a career civil servant at the federal government's Office of Personnel Management, and I'm sorry.  Normally, the only time anyone hears …

Trump holds joint news conference with Japan's prime minister  —  President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba held a joint news conference as part of Ishiba's visit to the White House on Friday.  The two leaders met earlier to discuss issues including trade and the economic …

Staffer with Elon Musk's DOGE amplified white supremacists online  —  One of the people working with billionaire Elon Musk in his efforts to overhaul the U.S. government is a Berkeley-educated computer scientist who has boosted white supremacists and misogynists online.

FCC Investigates SF Radio Station for ICE Reporting, Sparking Press Freedom Fears  —  The Federal Communications Commission is investigating San Francisco-based KCBS for its coverage of immigration enforcement actions in San José last month, sparking concerns from press freedom advocates …

Scoop: Jeffries' centrists press him to let them vote for GOP bills … - The discussion, according to one House Democrat who was present, centered on giving centrist and swing-district Democrats “flexibility to take certain votes.” … - Said another member who was at the meeting …

U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users' encrypted accounts  —  Secret order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world, which if implemented would undermine Apple's privacy pledge to its users.  —  Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create …

Trump makes an outrageous choice for his White House Faith Office  —  After Trump's 2020 loss, Paula White said “demonic confederacies” were trying to steal the election.  She'll now lead the new White House Faith Office.  —  Donald Trump's remarks at the latest National Prayer Breakfast went about as well as expected.

Members of Congress denied access to Department of Education  —  Multiple members of Congress were denied entry to the Department of Education on Friday, according to videos and social media posts from lawmakers.  —  “They are blocking members of Congress from entering the Department of Education!

How to Win the USAID Fight  —  First up: Sarah and I argued about everything on the Secret pod today.  The show is here.  —  Second: An update on yesterday's story about the confusion surrounding Trump's (maybe?) firing the head of the National Archives.  There had been conflicting reports …

Goodbye, Pamela Paul … Goodbye, Pamela Paul!  You hardly knew us.  —  The controversial columnist is exiting the New York Times “Opinion” section this spring as part of a wave of job cuts.  In 2022, after a decade of editing the Book Review, Paul joined “Opinion,” where she quickly gained …

Dem Overseeing ‘Digital Assets’ to Hold Luxury Retreat With Crypto Kingpin  —  Ruben Gallego, Arizona's new senator, is set to hold a fundraising weekend with Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen and blogger Matt Yglesias  —  Freshman Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego was recently named …

Elon Musk Demands Firing of ‘Disgusting and Cruel’ WSJ Reporter Who Uncovered DOGE Employee's Racist Tweets  —  Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), suggested that The Wall Street Journal reporter responsible for uncovering …

A House Democrat warns against making ‘everything Defcon 5’  —  The Washington Post's essential guide to power and influence in D.C.  —  with research by Alec Dent  —  Good morning, Early Birds.  Photos were taken down from the USAID office hallways.  Portraits were removed from the Pentagon.

What Elon Musk Wants  —  This is an edited transcript of an episode of “The Ezra Klein Show.”  You can listen to the conversation by following or subscribing to the show on the NYT Audio App, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

Musk's team lands at consumer bureau  —  Three Musk allies, some of whom are tied to his Department of Government Efficiency, have embedded with the consumer bureau, according to the CFPB's employees union.  —  Elon Musk's team on Friday entered the headquarters of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau …

Ye Takes Back Apology and Calls Himself a Nazi in Social Media Rant  —  The rapper praised Hitler and took back an apology he made in 2023 for his past antisemitic remarks.  —  Ye, the rapper and designer formerly known as Kanye West, took back the apology he made in 2023 …

Trudeau tells business leaders at economic summit Trump's 51st state threat ‘is a real thing’  —  PM meeting business leaders, unions to discuss fortifying Canada's trade in face of Trump's tariff threat  —  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told business leaders at the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit …

From COBOL to chaos: Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem … In trying to make sense of the wrecking ball that is Elon Musk and President Trump's DOGE, it may be helpful to think about the Evil Housekeeper Problem.  It's a principle of computer security roughly stating …

Judges curb Trump's sweeping executive actions  —  Federal judges are curbing President Trump's sweeping directives to reshape the government, issuing a flurry of rulings blocking his agenda from charging forward.  —  More than three dozen lawsuits have been filed challenging major …

The US Government Is Not a Startup  —  Elon Musk is moving fast and breaking things that can't afford to be broken.  —  It feels like no one should have to say this, and yet we are in a situation where it needs to be said, very loudly and clearly, before it's too late to do anything about it: The United States is not a startup.

Measles Outbreak Mounts Among Children in One of Texas' Least Vaccinated Counties  —  A measles outbreak is growing in a Texas county with dangerously low vaccination rates.  —  In late January, two school-age children from Gaines County were hospitalized with measles.

Trump pauses de minimis repeal as packages pile up at US customs  —  U.S. President Donald Trump paused his administration's repeal of duty-free treatment of low-cost packages from China on Friday, giving the Commerce Department time to make the order workable, after the rapid change sparked chaos …

Now Will We Believe What Is Happening Right in Front of Us?  —  They told us they would smash the institutions that safeguard our democracy.  And that is exactly what they are doing.  —  Many Americans chose not to believe what they were saying.  Will we now believe what we are seeing?

‘Treated like criminals’: Shackling of Indians aboard 40-hour migrant flight sparks new outrage against Trump  —  New Delhi CNN —  US officials kept around 100 deported Indian migrants in shackles for their 40-hour flight home, including during bathroom breaks, in the latest incident …

Trump's Deportation Dragnet Widens and Puerto Ricans Are Getting Caught in It  —  WHEN THE NEW ADMINISTRATION set up shop, White House border czar Tom Homan acknowledged that collateral arrests would be part of the coming immigration raids.  Yes, the administration was going to focus …

‘Just causing havoc’: Transportation Department suspends EV charger program  —  Billions of dollars set to flow to fast EV chargers along highways is at risk.  —  States trying to build a network of EV chargers are reeling after the Trump administration abruptly ordered a halt to a $5 billion program …

The “cognitively irresponsible” presidency  —  “It's a giveaway that a leader is an authoritarian,” Jen Mercieca tells us.  —  ∙ Paid … 🗣️ 🎤 🤯  —  The volume of BS that Donald Trump blasts into the public sphere on a daily basis is flabbergasting.