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12:55 PM ET, February 4, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Wired:
A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System  —  The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is a sleepy part of the Treasury Department.  It's also where, sources say, a 25-year-old engineer tied to Elon Musk has admin privileges over the code that controls Social Security payments, tax returns, and more.
RELATED:
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 …
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 …
New York Times:
Elon Musk's Blitz Shakes U.S. Government as He Sweeps Through Agencies  —  The billionaire is creating major upheaval as his team sweeps through agencies, in what has been an extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual.  —  The billionaire is creating major upheaval …
Politico:
Bessent tells lawmakers Musk's DOGE does not control Treasury payments system  —  The remarks came during a two-hour gathering between the Treasury secretary and GOP members of the House Financial Services Committee.  —  Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent privately reassured Republican lawmakers Monday …
Notes on the Crises:
Day Five of the Trump-Musk Treasury Payments Crisis of 2025: Not “Read Only” access anymore  —  If you are a current or former career Bureau of the Fiscal Service Employee, especially if you're a legacy IT programmer with years of experience and especially if you are a COBOL programmer currently working …
Discussion: Raw Story
Paul Krugman:
What the Musk is Happening?  —  When writing posts for this newsletter, I like to have a clear focus and offer a tightly argued thesis, backed by data.  This, however, won't be that kind of post.  If I had to summarize the state of affairs right now, I would quote Charlie Brown: “Aaugh!”
Discussion: Raw Story
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
“Hitler actually had some good ideas”: Musk's covert coup is guided by internet trolls
Discussion: WTTG-TV and Digby's Hullabaloo
Charlie Warzel / The Atlantic:
The ‘Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly’ of the United States Government
Washington Post:
Elon Musk is a ‘special government employee.’ What does that mean?
Discussion: 6abc, USA Today and DNyuz
Dan Diamond / Washington Post:
RFK Jr. passes key HHS confirmation hurdle with Senate panel vote  —  President Donald Trump's pick to lead Health and Human Services faced tough questioning in hearings about vaccines, abortion and other major health-care issues.
RELATED:
Jill Lawrence / The Bulwark:   Terrible Nominees, Terrified Americans: Senators Could Actually Make a Difference This Month
New York Post:
RFK's hearings remove all doubt: He's not fit to lead a key federal health agency
Discussion: Raw Story and The Hill
NBC News:
Senate panel advances RFK Jr.'s nomination to be health secretary
RELATED:
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
We Did This to Ourselves  —  Four years ago today, the House of Representatives voted to remove …
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
Washington Post:
Federal layoffs ‘likely’ if too few employees choose to quit, memo says
Discussion: Federal News Network and DNyuz
RELATED:
Adam Goldman / New York Times:
‘Accidental’ F.B.I. Chief Builds a Following as Agency's Defender
Discussion: The Post Millennial
Benjamin Wittes / Default:
The Situation: What's Going on at the FBI?
Discussion: HotAir, The Daily Beast and DNyuz
Asha Rangappa / The Freedom Academy with Asha Rangappa:
A Battle for the Soul of the FBI
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 …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Trump preps order to dismantle Education Dept. as DOGE probes data
Jordan Valinsky / CNN:
Waffle House is placing a surcharge on every egg it sells  —  New York CNN —  The soaring price of eggs has forced Waffle House to add a temporary surcharge on customers' orders.  —  The Georgia-based chain is adding a 50-cent charge per egg because of the “nationwide rise in cost of eggs …
Associated Press:
China counters with tariffs on US products.  It will also investigate Google  —  China countered President Donald Trump's across-the-board tariffs on Chinese products with tariffs on select U.S. imports Tuesday, as well as announcing an antitrust investigation into Google and other trade measures.
RELATED:
New York Times:
China Strikes Back After Trump Imposes 10% Tariff on Goods
Washington Post:
China strikes back at Trump's tariffs with levies on U.S. imports
Nikki McCann Ramirez / Rolling Stone:
Trump Claims Victory Over Canada, Mexico After Getting ... Basically Nothing  —  The president made a show of temporarily postponing a regional trade war after Mexico and Canada promised him things they were already doing  —  Donald Trump has temporarily delayed the implementation of tariffs …
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Blinks on North American Tariffs
Garrett Shanley / The Independent Florida Alligator:
State audit finds overall unnecessary spending under former UF President Ben Sasse  —  Sasse's expenditures included more than $300,000 in private jet flights  —  A preliminary report from the Florida Auditor General found UF failed to prevent former President Ben Sasse from leveraging …
NOTUS:
Republican Senators Say They're Fine Handing Their Power to Elon Musk  —  Musk's actions may be unconstitutional but “nobody should bellyache about that,” Sen. Thom Tillis said.  — Copy  —  Tech billionaire Elon Musk is working to shut down government agencies and cancel congressionally approved funding …
Discussion: Grabien, HuffPost and Associated Press
CNN:
El Salvador offers to house violent US criminals and deportees of any nationality in unprecedented deal  —  El Salvador has agreed to house violent US criminals and receive deportees of any nationality, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday, in an unprecedented …
Anna Merlan / Mother Jones:
Elon Musk's Midnight Takeover  —  The world's richest man and his allies are “avoiding office hours at all costs” as they take a wrecking ball to the US government.  —  Much like a gremlin fed after midnight, Elon Musk is staying up late and causing mayhem.
Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:
Trump Is Testing Our Constitutional System.  It's Doing Fine.  —  The president's flurry of illegal actions have been stopped by the courts.  That's how it is supposed to work.  —  The Trump administration is subjecting the US constitutional system to a stress test.
Discussion: ABC News
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
‘F**k That’: Federal Workers Say They're Scared But ‘Digging In’ Amid Trump's Chaos  —  “Ironically for the Trumpies, bringing us back to the office will make us stronger morale-wise,” said one EPA employee as Trump vowed to purge civil servants.  —  LOADING
RELATED:
Adam Wren / Politico:
Sen. Todd Young will back Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence  —  Sen. Todd Young said Tuesday he will support Donald Trump's embattled nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, improving her chances of confirmation.  Facing a wave of political pressure …
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Affirmative action for white men  —  Since taking office on January 20, President Donald Trump has targeted so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programs, also known as DEI.  According to a January 21 executive order, “critical and influential institutions of American society …
Jenny Goldsberry / Washington Examiner:
Tom Homan to ‘seek prosecution’ against Phil Murphy if he is harboring illegal immigrant  —  Border czar Tom Homan will “look into” whether Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) is harboring an illegal immigrant as he claimed.  —  This threat comes after Murphy said at an event that someone in his …
RELATED:
New York Post:
Phil Murphy's rep now claims NJ guv is not sheltering migrant at his home — despite daring feds to ‘try to get her’
Philippe Naughton / The Daily Beast:
MAGA Senator Goes on Weird Rant About Sex and Omelets  —  “I could eat an omelet at every meal,” the senator said when defending Elon Musk's USAID shutdown.  “I like omelets better than sex.”  —  PARTNER UPDATE  —  Combat Aging With This Fatty-Acid-Powered Supplement  —  AGING?  FAT CHANCE
Lisa Friedman / New York Times:
E.P.A. Demotes Career Employees Overseeing Science, Enforcement and More  —  A spokeswoman for the agency said the change was “common practice.”  Others said it injects partisanship into jobs that have always been neutral.  —  The Environmental Protection Agency plans to demote career employees …
Discussion: New Republic
 
 
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 More Items: 
Cloud:
RELEASE: Cloud and Schmitt Introduce Bill to Codify into Law Trump's Agenda Ending DEI in Federal Government
Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:
Senate panel advances RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary on party-line vote
Matthew Haughey / A Whole Lotta Nothing:
A guide to using Signal for government workers
Hugo Lowell / The Guardian:
Trump personally ordered firings of special counsel prosecutors
Discussion: Raw Story
The Hill:
Trump's impending massacre of the federal workforce will destroy his second term
 Earlier Items: 
Peter M. Shane / Washington Monthly:
To Save Democracy, Start Filing Cases
Politico:
Trump's plan to kill offshore wind is paying off
Christian Paz / Vox:
How Democratic Gen Z activists lost the Gen Z vote
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
A Coup Is In Progress In America
NBC News:
USAID personnel told to stay away from headquarters after Elon Musk's shutdown comments
 

 
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Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Netflix agrees to acquire WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash-and-stock deal, including debt, to close after WBD splits in two in Q3 2026

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
The EU fines X €120M for breaching online content rules, the first fine under the DSA, citing issues like its deceptive blue checkmarks, after a two-year probe

New York Times:
The New York Times sues Perplexity, claiming the AI startup violated its copyrights and kept using its content despite repeated demands over the past 18 months
 
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