FEMA official ignores judge's latest order, demands freeze on grant funding  —  Federal workers are being swept into the fight between Donald Trump and federal courts, with four FEMA aides fired Tuesday for being “deep state activists.”  —  WASHINGTON — A senior official …

AP statement on Oval Office access  —  The Associated Press issued this statement on Tuesday from Executive Editor Julie Pace:  —  As a global news organization, The Associated Press informs billions of people around the world every day with factual, nonpartisan journalism.

Judge orders HHS, CDC and FDA to restore deleted webpages with health information  —  Washington — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration to restore webpages and data …

Senator Accuses F.B.I. Nominee of Covertly Directing Dismissals  —  A top Democrat demanded an investigation and suggested that the nominee, Kash Patel, may have lied under oath, citing what he described as multiple sources.  —  The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee …

Donald Trump Is Delusional  —  AMONG THE REALITY-BASED COMMUNITY—those of us who acknowledge Donald Trump's prodigious history of false statements—there's a longstanding debate.  Some think Trump knows better and is simply lying.  Others think he's sincerely delusional.

Elon Musk's Business Empire Scores Benefits Under Trump Shake-Up … Elon Musk controls six companies, including Tesla.  Mr. Musk's companies secured $13 billion in federal contracts over the past five years.Carly Zavala for The New York Times  —  President Trump has been in office less than a month …

Jordan's King Abdullah II signals openness to Trump's plan to move Palestinians out of Gaza  —  Trump called the offer a “beautiful gesture” and said he believed something could be worked out with Egypt, another ally that had bristled at the president's surprise plan.

DOGE teen ran image-sharing site linked to URLs referencing pedophilia and the KKK  —  Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), launched an image-sharing website in 2021 that featured custom “shitposting” web addresses that redirected to content hosted on his site.

Defense Secretary Hegseth booed and heckled by military families protesting against DEI push  —  Last week, Hegseth wrote a memo in which he banned transgender people from joining the military and restricted the use of some learning materials in Defense Department schools.

Russia Releases U.S. Prisoner After Talks With Trump Envoy  —  The Kremlin freed Marc Fogel, a teacher held for more than three years on drug charges, in a deal negotiated by Steve Witkoff, President Trump's Middle East envoy.  —  President Trump on Tuesday secured the release …

Pope rebukes Trump administration over migrant deportations, and appears to take direct aim at Vance  —  Pope Francis issued a major rebuke Tuesday to the Trump administration's mass deportation of migrants, warning that the forceful removal of people purely because of their illegal status deprives …

Apple Is Renaming Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Maps App  — Change to occur for US users and then roll out globally later  — Move follows Google; Microsoft and MapQuest haven't made shift  —  Apple Inc. is renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on its Maps app …

Trump's Plan Comes Into Focus: Make America Corrupt Again  —  The deal to spring Eric Adams caps a broad effort to functionally legalize bribery and covert foreign influence.  We're all going to pay for it  —  Give Eric Adams some credit: He put his back into this one.

Statement from the American Bar Association  —  Lawyers have a professional obligation not to be complicit in undermining democracy. … The ABA Supports the Rule of Law  —  It has been three weeks since Inauguration Day.  Most Americans recognize that newly elected leaders bring change.

LETTER OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO THE BISHOPS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA  —  I am writing today to address a few words to you in these delicate moments that you are living as Pastors of the People of God who walk together in the United States of America.

Carter introduces bill renaming Greenland  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. - Rep. Earl L.  “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) released the following statement today after introducing a bill authorizing President Trump to acquire Greenland and renaming it Red, White, and Blueland:  —  “America is back and will soon …

Google Calendar removes Black History Month, Pride and other cultural events  —  Company says listed holidays were not ‘sustainable’ for their model in latest move to roll back diversity efforts  —  Google's online and mobile calendars are no longer including references to Black History Month …

Appeals court rejects Trump administration bid to reinstate funding freeze  —  The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Justice Department's request to pause a judge's order while it challenges the order in court.  —  A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected the Trump administration's bid …

Musk Team Announces Millions in Cuts to Education Dept. Amid Legal Pushback  —  Elon Musk's cost-cutting team said that it had “terminated” 89 of the department's contracts, apparently targeting its research arm.  —  Elon Musk's cost-cutting effort announced a variety of cuts …

GSA staff facing massive cuts and fears of ‘nonstop’ surveillance  —  The General Services Administration, which manages federal real estate and contracts, plans to slash its budget in half and ramp up monitoring of remaining staff—a model that might soon be deployed across most of the rest of the federal government.

Springtime for Scammers  —  Financial predation now has friends in high places  —  Just over two years ago Wells Fargo agreed to pay $3.7 billion — $1.7 billion in penalties and $2 billion in damages — to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  As the New York Times report put it, the payments were

The Right to be Woke  —  Two programming notes for today: At 1 p.m. ET today, JVL will go live on the site with Jim Acosta in the first chat for our pop-up series, WTF 2.0.  Jim recently left CNN and has joined the ranks of independent media here on Substack.

Hegseth's visit to U.S. base in Germany met with student walkout  —  The civil disobedience by dozens of middle schoolers — and some adults — was aimed at the Trump administration's rollback of DEI initiatives.  —  February 11, 2025  —  Live updates: Trump signs executive order calling on agencies to work with Elon Musk-led group

Why the Attack On This Agency Is Trump/Muskism In a Nutshell  —  Thank you for reading The Cross Section, and if you find my work valuable and would like it to continue, consider becoming a paid subscriber.  This site has no paywall, so I depend on the generosity of readers to sustain the work I present here.

Trump won't block immigration arrests in houses of worship.  Now these 27 religious groups are suing  —  More than two-dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans — ranging from the Episcopal Church and the Union for Reform Judaism to the Mennonites and Unitarian Universalists …

ICE Wants to Know If You're Posting Negative Things About It Online  —  Amid anger and protest over the Trump administration's plan to deport millions of immigrants, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to monitor and locate “negative” social media discussion about the agency and its top officials …

DOGE cut off from student loan data, for now  —  The University of California Student Association filed a lawsuit Friday after it was reported that DOGE had access to federal student loan data.  —  The Education Department agreed Tuesday to block DOGE, a commission run by Elon Musk that Donald …

USAID IG fired day after report critical of impacts of Trump administration's dismantling of the agency  —  The inspector general of the US Agency for International Development was fired on Tuesday, a day after his office released a report critical of the Trump administration's efforts …

Vought Restores CFPB Procedure That Sustains Mortgage Markets  —  The situation reveals that sometimes, even arsonists need the building they're burning down to stay upright.  —  OMB Director Russell Vought appears before the Senate Budget Committee during a nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 22, 2025.

GOP leaders downplay Medicaid cuts as they seek $2T in savings  —  House Republican leaders on Tuesday downplayed the possibility of cuts to Medicaid benefits as they seek a reconciliation bill with up to $2 trillion in savings.  —  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise …