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1:00 PM ET, February 7, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Washington Post:
Treasury installs ally of Musk's DOGE as head of payment system  —  The move follows the ousting of a career official who rebuffed attempts to use the payment system to stop federal spending.  —  The Treasury Department will make an ally of billionaire Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service the head …
Discussion: New York Times
RELATED:
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Vance tells Musk that DOGE staffer who resigned for racist tweets should be re-hired … Vice President JD Vance on Friday called for the rehiring of a DOGE staffer who resigned from a sensitive Trump administration post over the exposure of tweets advocating for racism and eugenics.
Shelby Talcott / Semafor:
DOGE follows longtime Musk pattern — and turns attention to Social Security Administration  —  The News  —  Elon Musk's DOGE shuttered USAID.  It has searched Medicare payments and gained access to a sensitive Treasury Department payment system.  Its initial Labor Department presence prompted a lawsuit.
Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:   New Time cover features Musk behind Resolute Desk
Katherine Long / Wall Street Journal:
Exclusive | DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Racist Posts
Newsweek:
DOGE Emails Went Out to Federal Judges by Mistake  —  One of the people who received an email from allies of  —  was a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit aimed at blocking these messages.  —  “I, like probably every other judge in the country, also received the [Office of Personnel Management] …
Discussion: WUSA, Axios, ZeroHedge News and CBS News
RELATED:
Annie Porter / Slate:
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 …
Discussion: Washington Post, Steady and Raw Story
Scott Pilutik / Slate:
Why Elon Musk's Buyout Offer “Reads Like a Scam”  —  Elon Musk's “Fork in the Road” email offering 2.3 million federal civil servants a “deferred resignation” through September set off a number of legal questions this country has never been forced to consider, and they're finally making their way to federal court.
NBC News:
FBI turns over names of agency staff who worked on Jan. 6 cases to Justice Department
Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller and Raw Story
The Atlantic:
The Government's Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified … Elon musk's unceasing attempts to access the data and information systems of the federal government range so widely, and are so unprecedented and unpredictable, that government computing experts believe the effort has spun out of control.
RELATED:
New Republic:
Transcript: Trump's Angry USAID Rant Undercut by Surprise Rubio Video
Juan Carlos Lara / KQED:
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 …
Reese Gorman / NOTUS:
GOP Lawmakers Are Already Annoyed by Trump's Chaotic Governing Style  —  “Hard to defend controversial executive orders when there's no heads-up nor rationale,” one GOP lawmaker told NOTUS.  — Copy  —  After a turbulent few weeks to begin his presidency, Republicans in Congress …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Trump meeting with Japan's prime minister, to dine with Senate Republicans
Gerald F. Seib / Wall Street Journal:   Will the Other Two Branches Dare to Push Back Against Trump?
Gordon Brown / The Guardian:
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.
Discussion: New York Times
Zack Budryk / The Hill:
Transportation Department suspends $5 billion EV charger program  —  The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) on Thursday announced the suspension of a Biden-era electric vehicle (EV) charging network, the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration to gut its predecessors' energy and environmental moves.
RELATED:
Joey Garrison / USA Today:
Trump tries to fire chair of Federal Election Commission.  Why she's refusing to leave.  —  WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump has moved to fire Ellen Weintraub, the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission, but she says her termination is invalid and is refusing to step down.
RELATED:
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
White House Forces Showdown Over Congress's Power of the Purse  —  The confirmation of Russell T. Vought to lead the powerful White House budget office is likely to escalate the funding fights roiling Washington and the nation.  —  Susan Collins was a Senate intern in 1974 when Congress …
RELATED:
German Lopez / New York Times:
A Constitutional Crisis?  —  We're covering an imbalance of power in the government.
Discussion: Unfogged
Joseph Menn / Washington Post:
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 …
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
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?) replacement the head of the National Archives.
Discussion: New York Times and DNyuz
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:
Trump Tax Priorities Total $5 to $11 Trillion  —  In a closed-door meeting with House Leadership today President Trump reportedly outlined his tax priorities.  According to press reports, they included extending the expiring pieces of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA); …
Roy Canivel / The Daily Dot:
Conservative film critic who called child trafficking movie a ‘call to action’ arrested for child molestation  —  In 2023, Aaron Craig Gleason wrote a review for the conservative publication the Federalist about The Sound of Freedom, an indie hit and a favorite among right-wing circles.
Discussion: Mediaite and Raw Story
Michael Sainato / The Guardian:
‘Constitutional emergency’: senior US Democrat demands inquiry into Musk's government blitz  —  Exclusive: Bobby Scott sounds alarm over ‘void of oversight’ as Doge accesses sensitive data within US agencies  —  Elon Musk's blitz through the US federal government has triggered a …
Discussion: Democracy Docket
Public Notice:
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.
CNN:
‘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 …
Adrian Carrasquillo / The Bulwark:
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 …
Russell Contreras / Axios:
Exclusive: Jewish groups rebuke Trump on immigration, Musk moves … - The groups emphasize that legitimate policy debates and disagreements are fine — and note that there are disputes among the letter's signees — but say Trump's recent actions go far beyond that.
Discussion: Sun-Sentinel
Andrew Solender / Axios:
A fourth federal agency locks its doors to Democratic lawmakers … - The lawmakers were there to follow up on a letter they sent Carter demanding an “urgent meeting” on “plans to illegally dismantle or drastically reduce the Department.”  — “We then proceeded to enter the Department …
Discussion: New York Post, Reason and WGN-TV
Robert Downen / The Texas Tribune:
Houston man pardoned by Trump arrested on child sex charge  —  Andrew Taake received a six-year sentence for assaulting officers on Jan. 6.  He was arrested Thursday on an outstanding charge of soliciting a minor.  —  A Houston man who was recently pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role …
Ezra Klein / New York Times:
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.
Discussion: CNN and Grabien
Politico:
Trump considering Blagojevich for ambassador to Serbia  —  The former governor of Illinois, whose corruption conviction sentence Trump commuted, chaired a group called Serbians for Trump in the 2024 election.  —  President Donald Trump is considering nominating former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Brian Barrett / Wired:
The US Government Is Not a Startup
Discussion: Townhall and Washington Post
Lexi Lonas Cochran / The Hill:
Members of Congress denied access to Department of Education
Discussion: The Post Millennial
Amy Maxmen / KFF Health News:
Measles Outbreak Mounts Among Children in One of Texas' Least Vaccinated Counties
Discussion: WAGA-TV
Andrea Long Chu / New York Magazine:
Goodbye, Pamela Paul
Derek Saul / Forbes:
January Jobs Report Reveals Weaker Growth Than Predicted—Weakest Start To Year Since 2016
 Earlier Items: 
Politico:
Trump continues federal purge, gutting cyber workers who combat disinformation
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Mentions of trans kids scrubbed from national child safety clearinghouse website
Quinta Jurecic / Default:
Justice Dept. Releases Slate of Memos from Attorney General Bondi
Discussion: emptywheel and The Daily Caller
Matthew Continetti / freebeacon.com:
Trump's Youth Revolution
Discussion: American Thinker
Eric Berger / Ars Technica:
White House budget proposal could shatter the National Science Foundation
The White House:
Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Annual letter: YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says TV has overtaken mobile as the “primary device for YouTube viewing in the US”, indicating YouTube is “the new TV”

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources and a memo: Disney makes changes to its DEI programs, like scraping its Reimagine Tomorrow initiative and changing content disclaimers on some titles

Matthew Weaver / The Guardian:
A BBC study finds 51% of AI answers to questions about the news had “significant issues”, and 19% of answers citing BBC content introduced factual errors

 
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