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9:00 PM ET, February 6, 2025

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 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.
RELATED:
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.
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, DNyuz and NBC News
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—  Sources tell WIRED that the ability of DOGE's Marko Elez to alter code controlling trillions in federal spending was rescinded days after US Treasury and White House officials said it didn't exist.
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 …
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.
Lucas Ropek / Gizmodo:
America's Unions Sue DOGE, Launch the ‘Department of People Who Work for a Living’
RELATED:
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.
Christian Paz / Vox:
What a wild conspiracy theory about Politico tells us about how Trump governs
Liam Reilly / CNN:
White House says it will cancel $8 million in Politico subscriptions after a false right-wing conspiracy theory spreads
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 …
RELATED:
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.
Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Musk aims to hobble federal workers ahead of ‘buyout’ deadline
NBC News:
Senate Republicans confirm Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought as White House budget director  —  Although Democrats have been divided on various Trump nominees, they have unified in their opposition to Vought.  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate voted along party lines Thursday to confirm Russell Vought …
RELATED:
Daily Kos:
Trump taps televangelist kook to run new White House ‘faith’ office
Discussion: ABC News, Reuters and Blaze Media
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: Mediaite
RELATED:
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.
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.
RELATED:
NCAA.org:
NCAA President Charlie Baker issues statement regarding Trump administration executive order
Garrett Haake / NBC News:
Trump to sign an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court  —  The order will include financial sanctions and visa restrictions against ICC officials found to have assisted in ICC investigations of U.S. citizens or allies.  —  WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday …
RELATED:
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 and Raw Story
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.
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
RELATED:
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
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 …
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 …
RELATED:
Associated Press:   What is ‘ordo amoris?’ Vice President JD Vance invokes this medieval Catholic concept
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 …
Discussion: Forbes and DNyuz
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.
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
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 …
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
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
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.
Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
Man pardoned in Jan. 6 case arrested on 2016 solicitation charge  —  Texas authorities arrested a Jan. 6 rioter recently pardoned by President Trump on Thursday for online solicitation of a minor.  —  The Harris County District Attorney's office said it took Andrew Taake into custody Thursday morning …
Discussion: Mediaite and Raw Story
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.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Bradley Hope / Whale Hunting:
Breaking: Christmas Comes Early for Kleptocrats - DOJ Shutters Anti-Corruption Units
Discussion: Rolling Stone and The Hill
Caroline O'Donovan / Washington Post:
Whole Foods says Trump's actions make union win moot
Discussion: WHYY
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
But Her Emails Redux: Team Trump Makes CIA Send List Of All Recently Hired Employees Over Unclassified Email
Discussion: Bloomberg, CNN and HuffPost
New York Post:
Trump administration sues Chicago, state of Illinois over sanctuary laws — and vows more lawsuits to come
 Earlier Items: 
Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech / The Hill:
Maternal death rates fall as disparities widen: CDC
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Trump administration demands lists of low-performing federal workers
Discussion: NBC News
Sam Stein / The Bulwark:
Trump and Musk Are Strangling the Government
Dan Froomkin / Press Watch:
‘Trump Brazenly Defies Laws’ is not an A17 story
Alec MacGillis / ProPublica:
Memory-Holing Jan. 6: What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish?
Discussion: Washington Post and NJTODAY.NET
 

 
From Mediagazer:

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

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

Alexandra Steigrad / New York Post:
Sources: Forbes has cut ties with dozens of contributing writers; one exec said Forbes needs to ensure the contributor model is “financially sound”
 
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