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11:40 AM ET, February 7, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
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: New York Times
RELATED:
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.
Shelby Talcott / Semafor:
DOGE follows longtime Musk pattern — and turns attention to Social Security Administration  —  The News  —  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.
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] …
RELATED:
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
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.
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 …
NBC News:
FBI turns over names of agency staff who worked on Jan. 6 cases to Justice Department
Discussion: Raw Story and IJR
Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:   New Time cover features Musk behind Resolute Desk
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
RELATED:
Samantha Power / New York Times:
I Ran U.S.A.I.D. Killing It Is a Win for Autocrats Everywhere.  —  We are witnessing one of the worst and most costly foreign policy blunders in U.S. history.  Less than three weeks into Donald Trump's second term, he, Elon Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have halted the U.S. Agency …
New Republic:
Transcript: Trump's Angry USAID Rant Undercut by Surprise Rubio Video  —  The following is a lightly edited transcript of the February 7 episode of the Daily Blast podcast.  Listen to it here.  —  Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.
Mona Charen / The Bulwark:
Trump and Musk Take a Hammer to America's Reputation
Discussion: Raw Story
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.
RELATED:
Ella Nilsen / CNN:   Trump energy secretary allowed 23-year-old DOGE rep to access IT systems over objections from general counsel
German Lopez / New York Times:
A Constitutional Crisis?  —  We're covering an imbalance of power in the government.  —  In the United States, Congress, the president and the courts are supposed to keep an eye on one another — to stop any one branch of government from becoming too powerful.
Discussion: Unfogged
RELATED:
Matthew Continetti / freebeacon.com:
Trump's Youth Revolution
Discussion: American Thinker
Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Trump's Power Grab Defies G.O.P. Orthodoxy on Local Control
Discussion: Washington Post
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 …
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); …
RELATED:
Jarrell Dillard / Bloomberg:
Trump's Threatened Tariffs Fall Far Short of Paying for Tax Cuts
Discussion: DNyuz
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.
Discussion: Mediaite and Raw Story
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
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.
Bill Allison / Bloomberg:
Trump Fires Head of Federal Election Panel, But She Won't Leave  — Commissioner Ellen Weintraub says procedures weren't followed  — Weintraub, a frequent Trump antagonist, joined the FEC in 2002  —  The chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission posted a letter from President Donald …
RELATED:
Chris Cameron / New York Times:
Federal Election Commission Chair Says Trump Has Moved to Fire Her
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 …
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Mentions of trans kids scrubbed from national child safety clearinghouse website  —  Reports say the government ordered NCMEC to remove LGBTQ+ references or lose funding.  —  Reports say the government ordered NCMEC to remove LGBTQ+ references or lose funding.
Quinta Jurecic / Default:
Justice Dept. Releases Slate of Memos from Attorney General Bondi  —  Bondi signed 14 memos on topics ranging from internal personnel matters to potential investigations into current and former civil servants.  —  Meet The Authors … Following her swearing-in on Feb. 5 …
Discussion: The Daily Caller
Eric Berger / Ars Technica:
White House budget proposal could shatter the National Science Foundation … Sometime during the next several weeks, the directors of federal agencies will receive a draft version of President Trump's budget request for the coming fiscal year, which begins on October 1.
James Bikales / Politico:
Trump administration moves to suspend national EV charger rollout  —  The bid to freeze the money upends how the federal government delivers funding to states and may violate court orders issued this week.  —  The Trump administration on Thursday moved to halt a $5 billion initiative …
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 …
Ken Klippenstein:
Taking DOGE to Court Is a Doomed Strategy  —  The new Russiagate is here  —  The war against DOGE is shaping up to be the same as the frenzied and ultimately unsuccessful takedown of Donald Trump that we saw in Russiagate and the January 6 investigations.  —  The parallels are eerie …
Discussion: ABC News and The Register
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn't rule out run for governor or U.S. Senate  —  Your daily jolt of news and analysis from the AJC politics team … U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene could have dodged the question near the end of her segment at the live taping of the “Politically Georgia” podcast in Washington on Thursday.
Discussion: Fox News and The Hill
 
 
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 More Items: 
Jennifer Pahlka / New York Times:
This Is How Democrats Can Counter Elon Musk
Patrick Marley / Washington Post:
In setback for GOP, top Wisconsin court lets elections director keep job
Discussion: WPR and WTOP News
Gerald F. Seib / Wall Street Journal:
Will the Other Two Branches Dare to Push Back Against Trump?
Shoon Naing / Reuters:
Burmese refugee dies after discharge from shut US-funded clinic, says family
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Where's the Real Power Nexus? How Does the Opposition Get To It?
Discussion: Punchbowl News
Allie Feinberg / Knoxville News-Sentinel:
Blackburn vs. Hagerty? Tennessee's junior senator considers a run, and what that means
Discussion: The Downballot
 Earlier Items: 
Riley Rogerson / NOTUS:
‘The Clock Is Ticking’: Republicans Are Unexpectedly Careening Toward a Government Shutdown
Discussion: Raw Story
Jessica Riedl:
Yes, My Name has Changed...
The White House:
Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias
 

 
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Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
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Echo Wang / Reuters:
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