Top Items:
Katherine Long / Wall Street Journal:
Exclusive | DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Racist Posts — A staffer for Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency whose access to U.S. Treasury payment systems was approved by a federal judge on Thursday has links to a deleted social-media account that advocated for racism and eugenics.
Discussion:
Forbes, The Independent, Techdirt and Notes on the Crises
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Washington Post:
Musk's DOGE agents access sensitive personnel data, alarming security officials — The highly restricted data includes personally identifiable information for millions of federal employees maintained by the Office of Personnel Management.
Discussion:
Business Insider, The Guardian, Raw Story and Reuters
Joey McFadden / The Daily Beast:
Musk's DOGE Youngins Are Terrorizing Senior Gov Staffers
CNN:
Musk associates sought to use critical Treasury payment system to shut down USAID spending, emails show — Four days after Donald Trump's inauguration, Elon Musk's top lieutenants at the Treasury Department asked its acting secretary, a career civil servant, to immediately shut off …
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New York Times:
Treasury Sought to Freeze Foreign Aid Payments, Emails Show — Trump administration appointees and allies of Elon Musk wanted to use the Treasury's sensitive payment system to block payments. — In the days after President Trump took office, as Elon Musk's team began pressing for access …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg and Fox Business
Lucas Ropek / Gizmodo:
America's Unions Sue DOGE, Launch the ‘Department of People Who Work for a Living’
Discussion:
Truthout, Washington Post, America's Unions, Daily Kos, E&E News, Axios, Business Insider and New York Times
Melissa Quinn / CBS News:
Deadline for Trump's federal worker buyout proposal temporarily blocked by judge — Washington — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Office of Personnel Management's deadline for federal employees to accept the Trump administration's “deferred resignation” offer.
Discussion:
Federal News Network, Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Politico, USA Today, Fortune, Raw Story, UPI, Daily Caller News Foundation, NBC News, FedScoop, The Daily Wire, Blaze Media, Associated Press, FedSmith.com, The Guardian, KRDO, ZeroHedge News, DNyuz, The Gateway Pundit, abc7NY, The National Pulse, Semafor and Scripps News
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Zach Montague / New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: Judge Delays Program Offering Federal Workers Incentives to Quit — Where Things Stand — Judge delays resignation plan: A federal judge in Massachusetts has stopped, at least temporarily, the Trump administration's effort to get federal employees …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Business Insider, GovExec.com, CBS News, The Verge and Eschaton
Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Musk aims to hobble federal workers ahead of ‘buyout’ deadline — Countless staffers in the government are now grappling with what to do. — Elon Musk has declared war on the bureaucracy. And as a Thursday deadline nears for federal employees to take a “buyout,” he is looking to demoralize and wear down his enemy.
Discussion:
CNBC, CNN, Daily Kos, Forbes, Federal News Network, Washington Post, New Republic, Blue Virginia, Townhall, FedSmith.com, The Guardian, Washingtonian and DNyuz
Jenna McLaughlin / NPR:
CISA staffers offered deferred resignations, extending broader cybersecurity fears
CISA staffers offered deferred resignations, extending broader cybersecurity fears
Discussion:
Federal News Network and Healthcare Dive, more at Techmeme »
Daily Kos:
Trump taps televangelist kook to run new White House ‘faith’ office — Christian nationalism is in full swing after Donald Trump's Thursday announcement of a task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias,” as well as a new White House Faith Office led by right-...
Discussion:
Reuters, Blaze Media and Washington Post
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Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Trump announces task force to ‘eradicate anti-Christian bias’
Trump announces task force to ‘eradicate anti-Christian bias’
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Al Jazeera, Washington Examiner, Daily Kos, UPI, Fox News, Raw Story, The Independent, The Daily Signal, NewsNation and CBS News
The Guardian:
Aspiring autocrats like Trump are always more dangerous the second time in office
Discussion:
ABC7
Washington Post:
Trump moves to shutter environmental offices across the government
Trump moves to shutter environmental offices across the government
Discussion:
Reuters, Wall Street Journal, The Hill and Common Dreams
Francesca Chambers / USA Today:
Trump to sign executive order forming DOJ-led task force to root out ‘anti-Christian bias’
Trump to sign executive order forming DOJ-led task force to root out ‘anti-Christian bias’
Discussion:
Associated Press, Mother Jones, American Greatness, The Independent, The Forward and Fox News
Politico:
Note to Our Readers — POLITICO has been the subject of debate on X this week. Some of it has been misinformed, and some of it has been flat-out false. Let's set the record straight. — POLITICO has been the subject of debate on X this week. Some of it has been misinformed, and some of it has been flat-out false.
Discussion:
HotAir, The Hill, ZeroHedge News and Dark Maga Returns, more at Mediagazer »
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Axios:
Scoop: Trump orders key government agency to cancel all media contracts
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Post Millennial, Fox News, ZeroHedge News, IJR and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »
Liam Reilly / CNN:
White House says it will cancel $8 million in Politico subscriptions after a false right-wing conspiracy theory spreads
White House says it will cancel $8 million in Politico subscriptions after a false right-wing conspiracy theory spreads
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, KRDO, DNyuz, Daily Kos, The Dispatch, The Guardian, Blaze Media, The Post Millennial, Mediaite, New York Times, Daily Mail, MeidasTouch News, Raw Story, Fox News, The Independent, Louder With Crowder, Althouse, Status, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, One America News Network, HotAir, Shore News Network, Twitchy, New Republic, The Gateway Pundit, RedState and Axios, more at Mediagazer »
David Gutman / The Seattle Times:
Judge in Seattle accuses Trump of trying to change the Constitution — A federal judge in Seattle has once again blocked the Trump administration's attempt to rescind birthright citizenship — the guarantee embedded in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that every person born in the U.S. is an American citizen.
Discussion:
Fox News, New York Times, Associated Press, Law & Crime, The Gateway Pundit, Minnesota Reformer and Bloomberg
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Garrett Haake / NBC News:
Trump to sign an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court
Discussion:
Bloomberg, USA Today, The Gateway Pundit, Reuters, Raw Story, Jewish Insider, IJR, NewsNation, New York Post, The Guardian and freebeacon.com
Zach Schonfeld / The Hill:
Judge rails against Trump in blocking birthright executive order for second time
Judge rails against Trump in blocking birthright executive order for second time
Discussion:
BBC, Townhall, NewsNation and SCOTUSblog
ABC News:
Rubio acting director of the National Archives — In addition to being the Secretary of State and the acting director of USAID, Marco Rubio is also the acting archivist of the United States, according to a high-level official. — Per the official, Rubio has been the acting archivist since shortly …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner
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Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
National Archives Workers Unsure If Marco Rubio Has Secretly Been Their Boss for Weeks
National Archives Workers Unsure If Marco Rubio Has Secretly Been Their Boss for Weeks
Discussion:
The Bulwark and Fox News, more at Mediagazer »
Washington Post:
Elon Musk's DOGE is feeding sensitive federal data into AI to target cuts — At the Department of Education, the tech billionaire's team has turned to artificial intelligence to hunt for potential spending cuts — part of a broader plan to deploy the technology across the federal government.
Discussion:
Forbes, Gizmodo, Raw Story and Axios, more at Techmeme »
Wired:
DOGE Teen Owns ‘Tesla.Sexy LLC’ and Worked at Startup That Has Hired Convicted Hackers — Experts question whether Edward Coristine, a DOGE staffer who has gone by “Big Balls” online, would pass the background check typically required for access to sensitive US government systems.
Sigal Samuel / Vox:
JD Vance accidentally directed us to a crucial moral question — Theology isn't usually part of the job description for America's vice president, but that's not stopping JD Vance from giving it a try just a couple of weeks into his new position. — In a Fox News segment on immigration …
Discussion:
Associated Press and Anglican Ink © 2025
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Daniel Wu / Washington Post:
Gutting USAID threatens billions of dollars for U.S. farms, businesses — U.S. businesses that sold goods and services to USAID are in limbo, including American farms dealing in rice, wheat and soybeans purchased as food aid.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Foreign Policy, Raw Story and Blaze Media
Juliet Macur / New York Times:
N.C.A.A., Following Trump's Order, Excludes Transgender Athletes From Women's Sports — The decision, effective immediately, came a day after President Trump signed an order barring transgender girls and women from playing in women's sports at federally funded educational institutions.
Discussion:
NCAA.org, Associated Press, NBC News, Axios, RedState, al.com, New York Post, The Post Millennial, Breitbart, Washington Post, FIT IS A FEMINIST ISSUE, Truthout, Defector, Washington Examiner, Fox News, WTOP News, Louisiana Illuminator, IJR, Louder With Crowder, Metro.co.uk, MPR News, USA Today, PinkNews, Washington Square News and The Gateway Pundit
Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
A.G. Pam Bondi says Trump sets DOJ policy, all DOJ lawyers are “his lawyers” — Shortly after being sworn into office on Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi went from the Oval Office to the Justice Department to do President Donald Trump's bidding. — Immediately issuing a series of orders …
Discussion:
abc7NY, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Post, Townhall, Daily Kos, The Post Millennial, Twitchy, Hollywood Life, DNyuz and Washington Post
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Wall Street Journal:
White House Preparing Order to Cut Thousands of Federal Health Workers — The executive order could come as soon as next week, if the Trump administration goes ahead with plans — The White House is working on an executive order to fire thousands of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services workers …
Discussion:
Baltimore Sun
The Guardian:
DoJ sues Chicago claiming city impedes Trump's immigration policies — Justice department also sues state of Illinois, seeking a court order sweeping aside sanctuary laws — The US Department of Justice (DoJ) sued the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago on Thursday …
Discussion:
GovExec.com, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Scripps News, CBS News, Chicago Tribune, Axios, San Diego Union-Tribune and NPR
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New York Post:
Trump administration sues Chicago, state of Illinois over sanctuary laws — and vows more lawsuits to come
Trump administration sues Chicago, state of Illinois over sanctuary laws — and vows more lawsuits to come
Discussion:
Washington Post, NOTUS, Politico, Associated Press, freebeacon.com, ABC7, New York Times, The Post Millennial, Blaze Media, Breitbart, Fox News, KRDO, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Wire
Andrew Goudsward / Reuters:
Trump administration disbands task force targeting Russian oligarchs — The U.S. Justice Department under President Donald Trump is disbanding an effort started after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine to enforce sanctions and target oligarchs close to the Kremlin.
Dara Kerr / The Guardian:
US immigration is gaming Google to create a mirage of mass deportations — Thousands of press releases about decade-old enforcement actions topped search results, all updated with a timestamp from after Trump's inauguration — News of mass immigration arrests has swept across the US over the past couple of weeks.
Jose Pagliery / NOTUS:
Trump's DOJ Is Struggling to Commit to Keeping FBI Agents' Names Private — The agents fear political retaliation not only from the Trump administration — but also from the pardoned Jan. 6 rioters. — Copy — Justice Department lawyers in court on Thursday would not make a simple promise …
Discussion:
New Republic, Reuters, UPI, NPR, Law & Crime and New York Post
Dan Froomkin / Press Watch:
‘Trump Brazenly Defies Laws’ is not an A17 story — Donald Trump has repeatedly and flagrantly broken the law since reassuming the presidency. But the national media - whose mission is ostensibly to hold the powerful accountable - is treating it like the new normal.
Discussion:
New York Times
Noam Scheiber / New York Times:
Trump's Attacks on DEI Get Approval From Some in the Left Wing — Many Democrats and activists are rallying to defend diversity programs, but others say they distract from deeper efforts to address inequality. — A few days after President Trump issued an order urging the private sector to end …
Discussion:
HotAir
Niraj Chokshi / New York Times:
Airline Pilots in the DC Plane Crash Acted as Expected, Experts Say — The pilots of the American Airlines regional jet in the Washington airport collision acted as expected, aviation safety experts and other pilots said. — Just after 8:43 p.m. on Jan. 29, an air traffic controller …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and DNyuz
Alec MacGillis / ProPublica:
Memory-Holing Jan. 6: What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish? — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — On Jan. 10, the U.S. Department of Justice released a 123-page report …
Discussion:
Washington Post and NJTODAY.NET
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Trump administration demands lists of low-performing federal workers … - CNBC Councils — CNBC on Peacock — Join the CNBC Panel — Supply Chain Values — Select Shopping — Ad Choices — News Tips — Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you.
Timothy W. Ryback / The Atlantic:
The Oligarchs Who Came to Regret Supporting Hitler — They helped him in pursuit of profit. Many ended up in concentration camps. — he was among the richest men in the world. He made his first fortune in heavy industry. He made his second as a media mogul.
Rohan Goswami / Semafor:
Trump team considers housing detained migrants in container offices — The Scoop — The Trump administration is in talks with a private shipping-container company to provide temporary space to house and process thousands of migrants slated for deportation, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Quartz, Just Security, NCJA, New York Times, Fox News and Military.com
