Top Items:
The Atlantic:
The Government's Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified … Elon musk's unceasing attempts to access the data and information systems of the federal government range so widely, and are so unprecedented and unpredictable, that government computing experts believe the effort has spun out of control.
Discussion:
Foreign Affairs, Raw Story, Digby's Hullabaloo, Musk Watch, Roll Call, MeidasTouch News, NPR and Washington Post
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Washington Post:
Treasury installs ally of Musk's DOGE as head of payment system — The move follows the ousting of a career official who rebuffed attempts to use the payment system to stop federal spending. — The Treasury Department will make an ally of billionaire Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service the head …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Bloomberg, New Republic and New York Times
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— Sources tell WIRED that the ability of DOGE's Marko Elez to alter code controlling trillions in federal spending was rescinded days after US Treasury and White House officials said it didn't exist.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:
Rolling Stone, Gizmodo, Forbes, New Republic, PinkNews, Diplomatic,, Talking Points Memo, Techdirt, New York Post, The Post Millennial, CNBC, The Verge, Beyer, Daily Kos and CNN
Shelby Talcott / Semafor:
DOGE follows longtime Musk pattern — and turns attention to Social Security Administration
DOGE follows longtime Musk pattern — and turns attention to Social Security Administration
Discussion:
Axios, HuffPost, New York Times, Reuters, DNyuz, Politico, NBC News and ABC News, more at Techmeme »
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Vance tells Musk that DOGE staffer who resigned after posting racist tweets should be rehired … Vice President JD Vance on Friday called for the rehiring of a DOGE staffer who resigned from a sensitive Trump administration post over the exposure of tweets advocating for racism and eugenics.
Discussion:
Scripps News, NBC News, Fox News, OutsideTheBeltway, The Root, The Independent, Daily Kos, driftglass, KRDO, Axios, Mediaite and Gizmodo
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Isaac Schorr / Mediaite:
Elon Musk Demands Firing of ‘Disgusting and Cruel’ WSJ Reporter Who Uncovered DOGE Employee's Racist Tweets — Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), suggested that The Wall Street Journal reporter responsible for uncovering …
Discussion:
HuffPost, New York Times, Raw Story, Fortune, Deadline, Townhall, Truthout, The Independent, Forbes, Breitbart, Crooks and Liars, Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Time:
Inside Elon Musk's War on Washington — The standoff at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue was not much of a spectacle. … The agency's staff refused. No guns were drawn. No punches thrown. Nobody involved the police. But in these early days of the Trump Administration …
Discussion:
The Hill, Daily Mail, KRDO, Washington Post and Healthcare Dive
Ken Klippenstein:
Taking DOGE to Court Is a Doomed Strategy
Discussion:
emptywheel, Semafor, ABC News and The Register
Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
New Time cover features Musk behind Resolute Desk
Annie Porter / Slate:
I Work in the Office Carrying Out the Government Purge. Here's What I Want You to Know. — We're as freaked out and angry as everyone else. — I'm a career civil servant at the federal government's Office of Personnel Management, and I'm sorry. Normally, the only time anyone hears …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Steady and Raw Story
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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:
ProPublica, The National Interest, WUSA, Axios, ZeroHedge News, NJTODAY.NET and CBS News
Scott Pilutik / Slate:
Why Elon Musk's Buyout Offer “Reads Like a Scam” — Elon Musk's “Fork in the Road” email offering 2.3 million federal civil servants a “deferred resignation” through September set off a number of legal questions this country has never been forced to consider, and they're finally making their way to federal court.
Discussion:
New York Times, New Republic, WTOP News, CNN, CBS News, Breitbart, Associated Press, Bloomberg, WSVN-TV, The Gateway Pundit and Politico
Gordon Brown / The Guardian:
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.
Discussion:
New York Times
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NBC News:
How Elon Musk boosted false USAID conspiracy theories to shut down global aid
Discussion:
The Atlantic, New Republic, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Fox News, more at Mediagazer »
Samantha Power / New York Times:
I Ran U.S.A.I.D. Killing It Is a Win for Autocrats Everywhere.
I Ran U.S.A.I.D. Killing It Is a Win for Autocrats Everywhere.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Guardian, The 19th, Althouse, Washington Examiner, Politico and The Gateway Pundit
Juan Carlos Lara / KQED:
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 …
Discussion:
KRON4, The San Francisco Standard, DNyuz, New York Post, Techdirt and Newsbusters
Matthew Continetti / freebeacon.com:
Trump's Youth Revolution — Column: How America's oldest president became a Gen Z icon — News alert: Washington Post journalists are panicked that some DOGE employees previously worked at Elon Musk's private-sector companies and “are in their early 20s.” — The horror.
Discussion:
American Thinker
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Reese Gorman / NOTUS:
GOP Lawmakers Are Already Annoyed by Trump's Chaotic Governing Style
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, Raw Story, New Republic, ABC News and CBS News
German Lopez / New York Times:
A Constitutional Crisis? — We're covering an imbalance of power in the government.
A Constitutional Crisis? — We're covering an imbalance of power in the government.
Discussion:
Unfogged
Russell Contreras / Axios:
Exclusive: Jewish groups rebuke Trump on immigration, Musk moves … - The groups emphasize that legitimate policy debates and disagreements are fine — and note that there are disputes among the letter's signees — but say Trump's recent actions go far beyond that.
Discussion:
Sun-Sentinel
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David Smith / The Guardian:
‘In a real sense, US democracy has died’: how Trump is emulating Hungary's Orbán
‘In a real sense, US democracy has died’: how Trump is emulating Hungary's Orbán
Discussion:
WTOP News
Joseph Menn / Washington Post:
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 …
Discussion:
The Verge, Bloomberg, The Register, Gizmodo, Computerworld, Instapundit, Digital Trends, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch and BGR, more at Techmeme »
Zack Budryk / The Hill:
Transportation Department suspends $5 billion EV charger program — The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) on Thursday announced the suspension of a Biden-era electric vehicle (EV) charging network, the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration to gut its predecessors' energy and environmental moves.
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James Bikales / Politico:
Trump administration moves to suspend national EV charger rollout
Trump administration moves to suspend national EV charger rollout
Discussion:
The Guardian, Wired, The Verge, Washington Examiner, ZeroHedge News, Washington State Standard, Electrek and Fox Business
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
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 …
Discussion:
DNyuz
Michael Sainato / The Guardian:
‘Constitutional emergency’: senior US Democrat demands inquiry into Musk's government blitz — Exclusive: Bobby Scott sounds alarm over ‘void of oversight’ as Doge accesses sensitive data within US agencies — Elon Musk's blitz through the US federal government has triggered a …
Discussion:
Nextgov/FCW and Democracy Docket
Rolling Stone:
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 …
Discussion:
Gizmodo and New York Times
Public Notice:
The “cognitively irresponsible” presidency — “It's a giveaway that a leader is an authoritarian,” Jen Mercieca tells us. — ∙ Paid … 🗣️ 🎤 🤯 — The volume of BS that Donald Trump blasts into the public sphere on a daily basis is flabbergasting.
CBS News:
Trump considering allowing sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel — President Trump is considering allowing Japan's Nippon Steel to complete its $14.1 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, according to multiple sources. — Approval of the transaction isn't definite, and Mr. Trump has not made a final decision, sources say.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CNBC, UPI, Kyodo News+, Fox Business and The Japan Times
Reuters:
Exclusive: Zelenskiy says 'Let's do a deal', offering Trump mineral partnership, seeking security — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pored over a once-classified map of vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals during an interview with Reuters on Friday …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera
Ezra Klein / New York Times:
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.
Politico:
Trump considering Blagojevich for ambassador to Serbia — The former governor of Illinois, whose corruption conviction sentence Trump commuted, chaired a group called Serbians for Trump in the 2024 election. — President Donald Trump is considering nominating former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Derrick Bryson Taylor / New York Times:
Ye Takes Back Apology and Calls Himself a Nazi in Social Media Rant — The rapper praised Hitler and took back an apology he made in 2023 for his past antisemitic remarks. — Ye, the rapper and designer formerly known as Kanye West, took back the apology he made in 2023 …
Discussion:
Billboard, One America News Network, Variety, PinkNews, Rolling Stone, The Forward and Just Jared
Peter Zimonjic / CBC News:
Trudeau tells business leaders at economic summit Trump's 51st state threat ‘is a real thing’ — PM meeting business leaders, unions to discuss fortifying Canada's trade in face of Trump's tariff threat — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told business leaders at the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, New York Times and Exposing the role …
Makena Kelly / Wired:
DOGE Builds ‘Firewall’ Between Musk's Team and Legacy USDS Workers — “As far as I can tell, they're hiding,” one USDS employee said about the DOGE team. — The Department of Government Efficiency has built a “firewall” separating Elon Musk's team from the 200 or so legacy workers employed …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, The Verge and Washington Examiner
CNN:
‘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 …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, CBS News, New York Times and DNyuz
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:
Trump Tax Priorities Total $5 to $11 Trillion — In a closed-door meeting with House Leadership today President Trump reportedly outlined his tax priorities. According to press reports, they included extending the expiring pieces of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA); …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, Fortune, Econbrowser, Axios and Breitbart
John Parkinson / ABC News:
Democrats demand investigation into Musk's alleged ‘conflicts’ over billions in fed contracts — SpaceX and its subsidiary Starlink have received over $3.3B in federal dollars. — Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk arrives to the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda …
Discussion:
Mediaite, IJR, The Contrarian, SpaceNews, CNBC, Washington Examiner, E&E News, HuffPost and Fortune
Adrian Carrasquillo / The Bulwark:
Trump's Deportation Dragnet Widens and Puerto Ricans Are Getting Caught in It — WHEN THE NEW ADMINISTRATION set up shop, White House border czar Tom Homan acknowledged that collateral arrests would be part of the coming immigration raids. Yes, the administration was going to focus …
Lauren Villagran / USA Today:
ACLU demands access to Guantanamo immigrant detention center — The ACLU on Friday demanded attorneys be granted access to immigrants shipped to Guantanamo, saying the law forbids the government from using the prison as “a legal black hole.” — The Trump administration has transferred …
Politico:
Trump administration agrees not to publicly identify FBI agents on Jan. 6 cases without advance warning — The two-day notice would give FBI employees a chance to go back to court and stop the disclosure. — The Trump administration has agreed to keep private a list of FBI employees …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CNN, CBS News, Washington Examiner, Reuters, KRDO, Tampa Free Press, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, DNyuz and Raw Story
Robert Downen / The Texas Tribune:
Houston man pardoned by Trump arrested on child sex charge — Andrew Taake received a six-year sentence for assaulting officers on Jan. 6. He was arrested Thursday on an outstanding charge of soliciting a minor. — A Houston man who was recently pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role …
Discussion:
USA Today, Raw Story, Houston Public Media, Mediaite, New York Post and The Hill
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.
