C.I.A. Sends White House an Unclassified Email With Names of Some Employees  —  The list of partial names was provided in an effort to comply with an executive order to trim the federal work force.  —  The C.I.A. sent the White House an unclassified email listing all employees hired …

Two Dem lawmakers barge into House speaker's office in backlash against Musk  —  Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) barged into House Speaker Mike Johnson's office unscheduled on Wednesday and challenged him about Elon Musk's team gaining access to a sensitive payment system at the Treasury Department.

There Is No Going Back  —  Even if anyone had elected Elon Musk to anything, the past week would still be one of the most serious examples of executive branch malfeasance in American history.  —  Musk has seized hold of critical levers of power and authority within the federal government …

White House Says Musk Will Police His Own Conflicts of Interest  —  The White House said Elon Musk, the billionaire leading President Donald Trump's government cost-cutting efforts, will determine if there are conflicts of interest between his work reviewing federal spending and his overlapping empire of six companies.

Trump's suggestion that US ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip is rejected by allies and adversaries alike  —  President Donald Trump's proposal that the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents was swiftly rejected and denounced on Wednesday by American allies and adversaries alike.

DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA  —  Employees working for the agency now known as DOGE have been ordered to stop using Slack while government lawyers attempt to transition the agency to one that is not subject …

Trump Brazenly Defies Laws in Escalating Executive Power Grab  —  In the radical opening weeks of his second term, President Trump has appeared to feel little constraint by any need to show respect for the rule of law.  —  In his first term, President Trump seemed to relish ripping through …

DOGE Aides Search Medicare Agency Payment Systems for Fraud  —  Elon Musk's allies have been on site at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services offices this week  —  Representatives of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency have been working at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services …

Judge issues nationwide injunction blocking Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship  —  The judge heard arguments from lawyers for five pregnant undocumented women.  —  President Donald Trump speaks to the press after signing an executive order to create a US sovereign wealth fund …

Elon Musk says DOGE will make ‘rapid safety upgrades’ to the air traffic control system following deadly plane crash  — Amid a blitz across the federal government, DOGE is set to take on the FAA next.  — Musk said that DOGE would “aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.”

This DOGE Engineer Has Access to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  —  Sources tell WIRED that NOAA employees were ordered to give an engineer from Elon Musk's DOGE task force access to all of the agency's Google sites by the end of business Wednesday.

Cows Have Been Infected With a Second Form of Bird Flu  —  A new version of the virus is widespread in wild birds but had not previously been detected in cows.  —  Dairy cows in Nevada have been infected with a new form of bird flu that is distinct from the version that has been spreading through herds …

Politico pays employees late; staffers believe Elon Musk's crackdown on government spending played a role  —  Politico has received at least $8.2 million from the US government  —  Politico staffers received their bi-weekly direct deposits late this week, irking staffers who believe Elon Musk's crackdown …

Trump-voting states have more to lose if Education Department dismantled … - States that voted for Trump last November, on average, use more federal funding in their education apportions than states that voted for former Vice President Harris.  — “That dependence is, in large part …

The House speaker defends Trump's Gaza plan, while other Republicans express doubts.  —  Amid global alarm, top administration officials sought to soften elements of President Trump's proposal to force Palestinians out of the territory and take it over.  Experts said the plan would violate international law.

Google Kills Diversity Hiring Targets  —  Search giant is eliminating goals to hire more minority employees and reviewing DEI programs, part of a pullback across Silicon Valley  —  Google is eliminating its goal of hiring more employees from historically underrepresented groups and reviewing some diversity …

Elon Musk's Enemy, USAID, Was Investigating Starlink's Contracts in Ukraine  —  The agency was in the midst of a probe into the billionaire's equipment at the time of Musk's assault. … Since coming into power, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has barraged USAID …

‘60 Minutes’ publicly releases transcripts of interview at heart of its dispute with Trump  —  CBS' “60 Minutes” posted online Wednesday the unedited transcripts of its October interview with Kamala Harris that sparked a lawsuit by Donald Trump, saying that they proved its broadcast was not “doctored or deceitful.”

L.A. Times Owner Has Financial Motivations for Boosting RFK Jr.  —  Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong's biotech firm is preparing three applications needing approval from the Food and Drug Administration.  —  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during a Senate HELP Committee hearing for his pending confirmation …

The Real Reason Musk Is Mad at Us  —  The anatomy of a conspiracy theory  —  ELON MUSK, OUR NEW UNELECTED OVERLORD, is mad at Bill Kristol.  Very, very mad.  And because this is the world we live in now, his hordes of online minions are mad, too.  —  Let me explain.

McConnell slips and falls outside Senate Chamber  —  Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) slipped and fell on the stairs leaving the Senate Chamber on Wednesday afternoon, prompting concerned aides to rush to help the 82-year-old lawmaker.  —  McConnell appeared to slip …

Thousands protest Trump administration policies in cities across the US  —  A movement to protest the early actions of President Donald Trump's administration took off Wednesday, as thousands of demonstrators gathered outside a federal courthouse in Philadelphia and at state capitols in Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin and Indiana.

Elon Musk's Takeover Is Causing Rifts in Donald Trump's Inner Circle  —  “He's getting too big for his britches,” says one Trump world source.  —  Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, publicly at least, are on good terms.  —  Yet when it comes to the staff in and around the new administration, it's a different story.