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.
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ProPublica:
Elon Musk's Demolition Crew — On President Donald Trump's authority alone, Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has been unleashed on federal agencies. Employees from Musk's companies and those of his allies, as well as young staffers he's recruited, are wresting authority from career workers and commandeering computer systems.
Discussion:
Reuters, Rolling Stone, Raw Story, USA Today, Just Security, NJTODAY.NET and American Thinker
Wired:
The US Treasury Claimed DOGE Technologist Didn't Have ‘Write Access’ When He Actually Did — Sources tell WIRED that the ability of DOGE's Marko Elez to alter code controlling trillions in federal spending was rescinded days after US Treasury and White House officials said it didn't exist.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The Post Millennial, New Republic and Beyer
Shelby Talcott / Semafor:
DOGE follows longtime Musk pattern — and turns attention to Social Security Administration — 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.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Politico and DNyuz
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, Computerworld, Reuters, Nextgov/FCW, FedScoop and Federal News Network
CNN:
Musk associates sought to use critical Treasury payment system to shut down USAID spending, emails show
Axios:
Scoop: Trump orders key government agency to cancel all media contracts … - The discovery, made through a U.S. government spending database that has long been publicly available, triggered erroneous theories on X about the Biden administration “funding” anti-Trump media.
Discussion:
Fox News, RedState, ZeroHedge News, IJR, Mediaite, The Post Millennial and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »
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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:
PolitiFact, ZeroHedge News, Twitchy, DNyuz, The Hill and Dark Maga Returns, 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
Discussion:
CBS News, The Guardian, Fox News, DNyuz, New York Post, Townhall, Daily Mail, Breitbart, The Post Millennial, Daily Kos, Blaze Media, MeidasTouch News, KRDO, Digby's Hullabaloo, Mediaite, The Dispatch, Raw Story, The Independent, Louder With Crowder, Althouse, Crooks and Liars, ZeroHedge News, Status, The Daily Caller, One America News Network, HotAir, Shore News Network, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit, RedState and Axios
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, TechCrunch, CBS News, Breitbart, Forbes, Mediaite, GovExec.com, The Verge, DNyuz, Business Insider and Eschaton
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Melissa Quinn / CBS News:
Deadline for Trump's federal worker buyout proposal temporarily blocked by judge
Discussion:
Federal News Network, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, Fortune, FedSmith.com, USA Today, UPI, Associated Press, Raw Story, Daily Caller News Foundation, FedScoop, The Guardian, Business Insider, KRDO, Blaze Media, DNyuz, The Gateway Pundit, ZeroHedge News, The National Pulse, Bloomberg, documenting my thoughts …, Scripps News and Semafor
Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Musk aims to hobble federal workers ahead of ‘buyout’ deadline
Musk aims to hobble federal workers ahead of ‘buyout’ deadline
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNBC, CNN, Forbes, Federal News Network, Blue Virginia, Townhall, Daily Kos, FedSmith.com, Associated Press, New Republic and Washingtonian
Stephen Groves / Associated Press:
Senate confirms Project 2025 architect Russell Vought to lead powerful White House budget office — The Senate confirmed Russell Vought as White House budget director on Thursday night, putting an official who has planned the zealous expansion of President Donald Trump's power …
Discussion:
NOTUS, Washington Examiner, USA Today, The Guardian, Forbes, Senate Democratic Leadership, New York Post, New York Times, FedScoop, The Daily Wire, The Federalist, IJR, The 19th, Tennessee Star, The Post Millennial, Bangor Daily News, Truthout, Fox News, New Republic, Raw Story, Kentucky Lantern, HuffPost and CNN
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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.
Discussion:
The Daily Dot and Mediaite
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Kate Knibbs / Wired:
USAID Workforce Slashed From 10,000 to Under 300 as Elon Musk's DOGE Decimates Agency
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Reuters, NBC News, Washington Post, Business Insider, Raw Story, NPR and Associated Press
Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:
Sotomayor hits presidential immunity decision in first public comments since new Trump admin — Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday doubled down on her opposition to the presidential immunity decision last summer and expressed concern about public confidence in the high court.
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications
Stephanie Nolen / New York Times:
Dozens of Clinical Trials Have Been Frozen in Response to Trump's USAID Order — The stop-work order on U.S.A.I.D.-funded research has left thousands of people with experimental drugs and devices in their bodies, with no access to monitoring or care. — Asanda Zondi received a startling phone call …
Discussion:
The Hill, Raw Story and The Diplomat
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, HotAir, Associated Press, The 19th, CBS News, CNN, NBC News, DNyuz, Fox News, NewsNation, New York Daily News, Axios, Daily Mail, RedState, al.com, FIT IS A FEMINIST ISSUE, Truthout, Breitbart, Defector, The Post Millennial, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, WTOP News, Louisiana Illuminator, IJR, Louder With Crowder, Metro.co.uk, MPR News, USA Today, PinkNews, The Guardian and Washington Square News
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, Raw Story, Foreign Policy, Grabien and Blaze Media
Andrew Prokop / Vox:
All the ways Elon Musk is breaking the law, explained by a law professor — Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is moving fast and breaking the law — lots of laws. — The scope of Trump and Musk's sweeping effort to purge the federal workforce and slash government spending …
Discussion:
Rolling Stone and Reuters
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Patrick Reis / Vox:
A setback for Elon Musk's plan to gut the federal workforce
A setback for Elon Musk's plan to gut the federal workforce
Discussion:
ABC News, NPR, Reuters, NewsNation, Politico, The Independent, USA Today, Fox News, KRDO, The Daily Wire and MPR News
Ella Nilsen / CNN:
Trump energy secretary allowed 23-year-old DOGE rep to access IT systems over objections from general counsel — A representative from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was granted access to the Energy Department's IT system on Wednesday by Energy Secretary Chris Wright …
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:
Raw Story and Baltimore Sun
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:
Daily Mail, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Forbes, Raw Story, Gizmodo and Axios, more at Techmeme »
Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:
Do Democrats Have a Plan? — Senator Brian Schatz on how the Party should be responding to Donald Trump's breakneck assault on the government. — Three weeks into office, President Trump has issued a slew of controversial executive orders, fired officials across government agencies …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Semafor, New York Magazine and HotAir
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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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.
Matt Dixon / NBC News:
Casey DeSantis considers running for Florida governor amid push from top donors — The wife of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has long been rumored as a potential 2026 candidate, but the prospect is inching closer to reality. — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Republican donors at a gathering last week …
Discussion:
Boston Herald and New York Post
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:
The Hill, New York Times, Minnesota Reformer, Law & Crime, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg and Chicago Sun Times
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:
National Review, ABC News, Reuters, Blaze Media and Washington Post
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.
Discussion:
Associated Press
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:
404 Media, The Bulwark, Fox News and Washington Examiner
New York Times:
C.D.C. Posts, Then Deletes, Data on Bird Flu Spread Between Cats and People — The data, which appeared fleetingly online on Wednesday, confirmed transmission in two households. Scientists called on the agency to release the full report. — Cats that became infected with bird flu might …
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:
CBS News, Washington Examiner and DNyuz
Jessica Riedl:
Yes, My Name has Changed... ...but my focus on center-right economic policy will continue — Hi everyone, well, this is awkward. I have always been comfortable presenting my economic research in meetings, speeches, national TV interviews, and Congressional testimony.
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.
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.
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
‘For Immediate Compliance’: FEMA Workers Responding to Wildfires Ordered to Say ‘Alien’ Instead of ‘Immigrant’ — While responding to the most damaging wildfires in the history of California, FEMA employees received an order “for immediate compliance” this week that states they must immediately change …
Discussion:
The Guardian, CBS News, Politico, Washington Examiner and San Diego Union-Tribune

