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1:20 PM ET, February 7, 2025

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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 …
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.
Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:   New Time cover features Musk behind Resolute Desk
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, Axios, ZeroHedge News and CBS News
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
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.
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 and New York Times
RELATED:
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—  Sources tell WIRED that the ability of DOGE's Marko Elez to alter code controlling trillions in federal spending was rescinded days after US Treasury and White House officials said it didn't exist.
Reese Gorman / NOTUS:
GOP Lawmakers Are Already Annoyed by Trump's Chaotic Governing Style  —  “Hard to defend controversial executive orders when there's no heads-up nor rationale,” one GOP lawmaker told NOTUS.  — Copy  —  After a turbulent few weeks to begin his presidency, Republicans in Congress …
RELATED:
Matthew Continetti / freebeacon.com:
Trump's Youth Revolution
Discussion: American Thinker
German Lopez / New York Times:
A Constitutional Crisis?  —  We're covering an imbalance of power in the government.
Discussion: Unfogged
Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Trump's Power Grab Defies G.O.P. Orthodoxy on Local Control
Discussion: Raw Story and Washington Post
Gerald F. Seib / Wall Street Journal:   Will the Other Two Branches Dare to Push Back Against Trump?
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.
RELATED:
Katherine Long / Wall Street Journal:
Exclusive | DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Racist Posts
RELATED:
New Republic:
Transcript: Trump's Angry USAID Rant Undercut by Surprise Rubio Video
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 …
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?) replacement the head of the National Archives.
Discussion: New York Times and DNyuz
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
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 …
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.
RELATED:
Joey Garrison / USA Today:
Trump tries to fire chair of Federal Election Commission.  Why she's refusing to leave.  —  WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump has moved to fire Ellen Weintraub, the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission, but she says her termination is invalid and is refusing to step down.
RELATED:
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: Democracy Docket
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); …
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: Raw Story and Mediaite
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.
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 …
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
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 …
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 …
Andrew Solender / Axios:
A fourth federal agency locks its doors to Democratic lawmakers … - The lawmakers were there to follow up on a letter they sent Carter demanding an “urgent meeting” on “plans to illegally dismantle or drastically reduce the Department.”  — “We then proceeded to enter the Department …
Discussion: NOTUS, New York Post, Reason and WGN-TV
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.
Discussion: CNN and Grabien
 
 
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 More Items: 
Rolling Stone:
Dem Overseeing ‘Digital Assets’ to Hold Luxury Retreat With Crypto Kingpin
Discussion: Gizmodo and New York Times
Politico:
Trump considering Blagojevich for ambassador to Serbia
Brian Barrett / Wired:
The US Government Is Not a Startup
Discussion: Townhall and Washington Post
Lexi Lonas Cochran / The Hill:
Members of Congress denied access to Department of Education
 Earlier Items: 
Amy Maxmen / KFF Health News:
Measles Outbreak Mounts Among Children in One of Texas' Least Vaccinated Counties
Discussion: WAGA-TV
Andrea Long Chu / New York Magazine:
Goodbye, Pamela Paul
Politico:
Trump continues federal purge, gutting cyber workers who combat disinformation
Quinta Jurecic / Default:
Justice Dept. Releases Slate of Memos from Attorney General Bondi
Discussion: emptywheel and The Daily Caller
Shoon Naing / Reuters:
Burmese refugee dies after discharge from shut US-funded clinic, says family
Eric Berger / Ars Technica:
White House budget proposal could shatter the National Science Foundation
 

 
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

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”

Liam Scott / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at the First Amendment Watch's SLAPP Back Initiative, a US SLAPP tracker; in 2024, 69 of 500 cases involved the media, of which 46 were dismissed

 
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