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11:45 PM ET, February 4, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Wall Street Journal:
The CIA Is About to Get a Trump Makeover  —  Spy agency's workforce receives buyout-style offer  —  WASHINGTON—The Central Intelligence Agency offered buyouts to its entire workforce Tuesday, in what officials said is a bid to bring the agency in line with President Trump's priorities, including targeting drug cartels.
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Will Weissert / Associated Press:
Live updates: Trump wants US to take ownership of Gaza Strip  —  President Donald Trump says he wants the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere.  He made the remarks in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Associated Press:
Trump suggests displaced Palestinians in Gaza be ‘permanently’ resettled outside war-torn territory
Eli Stokols / Politico:
Trump says US will ‘take over the Gaza Strip’
Discussion: Daily Mail
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Musk Cronies Dive Into Treasury Dept Payments Code Base  —  Overnight, Wired reported that, contrary to published reports that DOGE operatives at the Treasury Department are limited to “read only” access to department payment systems, this is not true.  A 25-year-old DOGE operative named Marko Elez …
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Elizabeth Popp Berman / Liberal Currents:   Personal Discretion Over the Treasury's Payments System Means the End of Democracy
Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Treasury Defends Musk Team's Access to Federal Payment System
David Dayen / American Prospect:
Illegal Executive Spending Decisions Are Happening Now
Discussion: The Independent and Raw Story
Rachael Bade / Politico:
Democrats Are Falling For Trump and Musk's Foreign Aid Trap  —  Three veteran strategists want their party to be more thoughtful about fighting Trump's anti-bureaucracy campaign.  —  After three months of soul-searching about how to revive their party, some Democrats this week believe …
Discussion: Raw Story and Bloomberg
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NBC News:
Federal health workers terrified after ‘DEI’ website publishes list of ‘targets’  —  The site calls out workers who have been involved with DEI initiatives.  A majority are Black.  —  Federal health workers are expressing fear and alarm after a website called “DEI Watch List” published the photos …
CNN:
FBI turns over names of 5,000 employees who worked on January 6 cases to Trump Justice Department, as agents sue  —  FBI officials have complied with demands to provide the Justice Department with a list of thousands of employees who worked on investigations related to the January 6, 2021 …
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Politico:
FBI agents sue to block DOJ from compiling list of officials who worked on Jan. 6 or Trump cases
Adam Goldman / New York Times:
‘Accidental’ F.B.I. Chief Builds a Following as Agency's Defender
Discussion: Default
Washington Post:
U.S. government officials privately warn Musk's blitz appears illegal  —  The billionaire's DOGE team has launched an all-out assault on federal agencies, triggering numerous legal objections.  —  The chaotic blitz by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has triggered legal …
Dell Cameron / Wired:
Federal Workers Sue to Disconnect DOGE Server  —  Two federal workers, citing reports that Elon Musk's associates are operating an illegally connected email server at OPM, seek a restraining order.  —  Federal employees are seeking a temporary restraining order as part of a class action lawsuit accusing …
Discussion: Mother Jones, Raw Story and FedScoop
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The Atlantic:   Trump Advisers Stopped Musk From Hiring a Noncitizen at DOGE
Rolling Stone:
Inside Trump and Musk's Clumsy, ‘Exhausting’ Hunt for Leakers
Discussion: Raw Story and The Independent
CNN:
Multiple ICE impersonation arrests made during nationwide immigration crackdown  —  Editor's note: This story contains profane and hateful language.  —  Authorities in at least three states have arrested individuals allegedly impersonating Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers …
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Daniel Gonzalez / Arizona Republic:
Family member condemns use of armored vehicle, stun grenades in Phoenix ICE arrest
Discussion: Daily Mail
Suzanne Gamboa / NBC News:
Rep. Jamie Raskin demands details on U.S. citizens caught up in ICE enforcement
Discussion: The Hill, KFMB and The Post Millennial
Michael Waldman / Brennan Center for Justice:
Breaking the Law  —  Just weeks in, the Trump administration has violated rules, laws, and the Constitution.  —  “In America,” Thomas Paine wrote at the founding, “the law is king.”  Amid today's governing and constitutional crisis, we are finding out whether that is still true.
Discussion: DNyuz
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Associated Press:
Trump and Musk demand termination of federal office leases through General Services Administration  —  One of the next moves in President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's sweeping effort to fire government employees and curtail operations is using the agency that manages thousands …
CNN:
Hong Kong CNN  —  The US Postal Service says it has temporarily suspended the acceptance of incoming international parcels from China and Hong Kong until further notice.  —  It did not provide a reason for the suspension, but said in a statement Tuesday the flow of letters will not be affected.
Discussion: Wired, CBS News, WTTG-TV and The Information
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Marc Caputo / Axios:
About 20,000 federal workers took “buyout” so far, official says  —  About 20,000 federal workers have accepted the “buyout” offer put forward by the Trump administration last week, a senior administration official tells Axios. … - The offer is open through Thursday, meaning the total could rise …
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Michael Sainato / The Guardian:
Doge staffers enter Noaa headquarters and incite reports of cuts and threats  —  Members reportedly sought access to IT systems at agency that Project 2025 has called ‘harmful to US prosperity’  —  Staffers with Elon Musk's “department of government efficiency” (Doge) reportedly entered …
Discussion: Axios, Bloomberg and The Hill
NBC News:
White House preparing executive order to abolish the Department of Education  —  The planned order follows years of campaign promises from President Donald Trump to abolish the federal Education Department.  —  The White House is preparing an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education …
Olivia Reingold / The Free Press:
EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Penny Gets Hired by Andreessen Horowitz  —  “Daniel acted with courage in a tough situation,” said partner David Ulevitch in a statement explaining the hire.  —  In less than two months, Daniel Penny has gone from facing a potential 20 years in prison to landing a role …
ABC News:
State Department moving to evacuate USAID staff worldwide: Sources  —  The State Department has begun working to assist in evacuating all USAID staff who are on foreign assignments worldwide, sources familiar with the effort told ABC News.  —  The Department is aiming to recall all USAID employees …
Ross O'Keefe / Washington Examiner:
Biden signs with Hollywood agency  —  Former President Joe Biden is signing with a Hollywood agency in one of the first major indicators of what the 82-year-old will do after his presidency.  —  Biden previously signed with the Creative Artists Agency from 2017 to 2020 after leaving office as vice president.
Cathy Gellis / Techdirt:
When It's Not Just A Coup But A CFAA Violation Too  —  The hazard with landing upon a legal solution that seems too good to be true is that it often is.  So as you read this post it is important to keep in mind that I may have overlooked something, and there can always be defenses.
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
‘Things Are Going to Get Intense:’ How a Musk Ally Plans to Push AI on the Government  —  Thomas Shedd, a Musk-associate and now head of the General Services Administration's Technology Transformation Services (TTS), told government tech workers in a meeting this week that the administration plans …
Discussion: Raw Story and Politico
New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: Committee Votes to Advance Tulsi Gabbard's Bid for Intelligence Post  —  Where Things Stand  — Nominees: The Senate Intelligence Committee voted on Tuesday to advance to nomination of one of President Trump's most contentious nominees, Tulsi Gabbard, as his director of national intelligence.
Greg Allen / NPR:
‘Beyond betrayal.’ Venezuelans in Florida are angry at Trump immigration policy  —  MIAMI — Venezuelan migrants in South Florida say they feel betrayed by a Trump administration decision to end legal protections for hundreds of thousands of people who fled dictatorships and sought refuge in the U.S.
Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Negotiations stall ahead of shutdown deadline as Democrats slam Trump for subverting spending laws  —  Democrats are eying the March 14 deadline to push back on Trump's recent unilateral actions, saying he needs to follow the law on government funding.  —  WASHINGTON — Government funding negotiations …
Discussion: New York Times
Corbin Hiar / Politico:
Science funding agency threatened with mass layoffs  —  National Science Foundation staff heard the plans at a meeting Tuesday.  —  One of the United States' leading funders of science and engineering research is planning to lay off between a quarter and a half of its staff in the next two months …
Stephen Neukam / Axios:
Scoop: Senate Dems plot USAID revenge on Trump … - Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Axios on Tuesday that he's willing to place holds on Trump nominees on the Senate Judiciary Committee.  — Blumenthal said the caucus is proceeding as if there is a blanket hold on Trump nominations.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Rebecca Beitsch / The Hill:
Senate confirms Pam Bondi to lead Justice Department
Wall Street Journal:
How Trump Gutted America's $40 Billion Aid Agency in Two Weeks
Melissa Quinn / CBS News:
Pam Bondi confirmed as attorney general in 54-46 vote
The Tico Times:
El Salvador Abandons Bitcoin as Legal Tender After Failed Experiment
 Earlier Items: 
The Bulwark:
Anne Applebaum: Outside the Rule of Law
Associated Press:
Trump will attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans. He'll be the first sitting president to go
Associated Press:
About 10 killed at adult education center in what officials say is Sweden's worst mass shooting
Michael Silver / New York Times:
NFL to remove ‘End Racism’ messaging in end zone ahead of Super Bowl: Sources
Alan Feuer / New York Times:
Proud Boys Lose Control of Their Name to a Black Church They Vandalized