Musk's DOGE Teen Was Fired By Cybersecurity Firm for Leaking Company Secrets  —  Edward Coristine posted online that he had retained access to the firm's servers.  Now he has access to sensitive government information.  —  Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of Elon Musk's squad that's …

A US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’  —  An internal email reviewed by WIRED calls DOGE staff's access to federal payments systems “the single biggest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”

Judge to pause Trump administration effort to gut USAID's workforce by thousands  —  Two labor groups had sued the Trump administration after it said that thousands of USAID employees would be placed on administrative leave starting at 11:59 p.m. Friday.  —  A federal judge on Friday …

Kash Patel Took $25,000 From Russia-Linked Firm to Appear on an Anti-FBI TV Series  —  Last year, Kash Patel, the MAGA provocateur whom Donald Trump has nominated to head the FBI, received $25,000 from a Russia-linked production company to participate in a documentary in which he assailed the FBI and called for closing its headquarters.

Trump hints at tariffs on Japan during meeting with its prime minister  —  President Donald Trump hinted during a news conference that Japan could soon face U.S. tariffs if it doesn't take steps to buy more from the United States.  The comments come as Japan's new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba …

Former GOP Director Of FBI, CIA Urges Chuck Grassley To Stop Kash Patel's Nomination  —  “After all the hard work that you've done over your career, to allow it to be destroyed on your watch would not be a legacy I would want,” warned William Webster.  —  LOADING

Trump's FBI Pick Kash Patel Took Up to $5M in Stock from Chinese Ecommerce Giant Shein  —  Donald Trump's pick for FBI director told senators he has no plans to divest his shares, which his financial disclosure form says were received in exchange for consulting services.

FCC Investigates SF Radio Station for ICE Reporting, Sparking Press Freedom Fears  —  The Federal Communications Commission is investigating San Francisco-based KCBS for its coverage of immigration enforcement actions in San José last month, sparking concerns from press freedom advocates …

U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users' encrypted accounts  —  Secret order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world, which if implemented would undermine Apple's privacy pledge to its users.  —  Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create …

Goodbye, Pamela Paul … Goodbye, Pamela Paul!  You hardly knew us.  —  The controversial columnist is exiting the New York Times “Opinion” section this spring as part of a wave of job cuts.  In 2022, after a decade of editing the Book Review, Paul joined “Opinion,” where she quickly gained …

How to Win the USAID Fight  —  First up: Sarah and I argued about everything on the Secret pod today.  The show is here.  —  Second: An update on yesterday's story about the confusion surrounding Trump's (maybe?) firing the head of the National Archives.  There had been conflicting reports …

Dem Overseeing ‘Digital Assets’ to Hold Luxury Retreat With Crypto Kingpin  —  Ruben Gallego, Arizona's new senator, is set to hold a fundraising weekend with Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen and blogger Matt Yglesias  —  Freshman Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego was recently named …

The Elite Lawyers Working for Elon Musk's DOGE Include Former Supreme Court Clerks  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  As members of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency …

The US Government Is Not a Startup  —  Elon Musk is moving fast and breaking things that can't afford to be broken.  —  It feels like no one should have to say this, and yet we are in a situation where it needs to be said, very loudly and clearly, before it's too late to do anything about it: The United States is not a startup.

Be clear about what Trump and Musk's aid axe will do: people will face terror and starve, many will die  —  The decimation of USAid is already having a terrible effect in some of the poorest places on the planet.  It damages America: it will harm us all  —  An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or above could not have caused more carnage.

Trump makes an outrageous choice for his White House Faith Office  —  After Trump's 2020 loss, Paula White said “demonic confederacies” were trying to steal the election.  She'll now lead the new White House Faith Office.  —  Donald Trump's remarks at the latest National Prayer Breakfast went about as well as expected.

Pluralistic: “The Fagin figure leading Elon Musk's merry band of pubescent sovereignty pickpockets” (07 Feb 2025)  — “The Fagin figure leading Elon Musk's merry band of pubescent sovereignty pickpockets”: Maureen Tkacik on the monstrous corporate raider running DOGE.  — Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.

Trump orders freeze of aid to South Africa, citing country's land expropriation law  —  President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday formalizing his announcement earlier this week that he'll freeze assistance to South Africa for a law aiming to address some of the wrongs …

Exclusive: Trump Air Force nominee arranged satellite contract in manner that favored Musk's SpaceX, sources say  —  President Donald Trump's nominee as Air Force Secretary, currently a top official at the national spy satellite agency, arranged a multibillion-dollar contract solicitation …

What Elon Musk Wants  —  This is an edited transcript of an episode of “The Ezra Klein Show.”  You can listen to the conversation by following or subscribing to the show on the NYT Audio App, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

Scoop: Jeffries' centrists press him to let them vote for GOP bills … - The discussion, according to one House Democrat who was present, centered on giving centrist and swing-district Democrats “flexibility to take certain votes.” … - Said another member who was at the meeting …

Trump pauses de minimis repeal as packages pile up at US customs  —  U.S. President Donald Trump paused his administration's repeal of duty-free treatment of low-cost packages from China on Friday, giving the Commerce Department time to make the order workable, after the rapid change sparked chaos …

From COBOL to chaos: Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem … In trying to make sense of the wrecking ball that is Elon Musk and President Trump's DOGE, it may be helpful to think about the Evil Housekeeper Problem.  It's a principle of computer security roughly stating …

Judges curb Trump's sweeping executive actions  —  Federal judges are curbing President Trump's sweeping directives to reshape the government, issuing a flurry of rulings blocking his agenda from charging forward.  —  More than three dozen lawsuits have been filed challenging major …

Measles Outbreak Mounts Among Children in One of Texas' Least Vaccinated Counties  —  A measles outbreak is growing in a Texas county with dangerously low vaccination rates.  —  In late January, two school-age children from Gaines County were hospitalized with measles.

Senate Republicans release budget blueprint ahead of Wednesday markup  —  Senate Republicans will hold a committee vote next week on a budget blueprint that will unlock their two-bill strategy for enacting the heart of President Donald Trump's domestic policy agenda.

Hakeem Jeffries met privately with Silicon Valley donors in bid to ‘mend fences.’  —  The meeting comes as the tech world has lurched rightward in the second Donald Trump era.  —  Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries quietly met with more than 150 Silicon Valley-based donors last week in California …

Black Hawk's advanced security system not on at time of Potomac plane crash: Ted Cruz  —  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Thursday that the Army Black Hawk helicopter involved in last month's midair collision with an American Airlines flight didn't have an advanced tracking system enabled.

‘Treated like criminals’: Shackling of Indians aboard 40-hour migrant flight sparks new outrage against Trump  —  New Delhi CNN —  US officials kept around 100 deported Indian migrants in shackles for their 40-hour flight home, including during bathroom breaks, in the latest incident …

‘Just causing havoc’: Transportation Department suspends EV charger program  —  Billions of dollars set to flow to fast EV chargers along highways is at risk.  —  States trying to build a network of EV chargers are reeling after the Trump administration abruptly ordered a halt to a $5 billion program …