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 …

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 …

Trump's clash with the courts escalates  —  A flurry of orders from federal district judges has slowed Donald Trump's most controversial initiatives — prompting talk of outright defiance.  —  Unfreeze spending.  Un-fire appointees.  Un-delete websites.  Un-gut research grants.

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 …

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 …

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 …

This Trump policy didn't work in his first term.  He's trying again.  —  Donald Trump announced Monday that the US will impose a 25 percent tariff on all imports of steel and aluminum.  —  The president has a habit of declaring radical changes to trade policy, only to swiftly walk them back.

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.

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.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are not tiptoeing toward autocracy  —  We cannot afford to wait any longer.  The immediate clear and present danger to the fabric of our democracy, the headlong rush to a police state, cannot be ignored.  And unprecedented times demand unprecedented approaches …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

Smith suggests deficit hawks endangering Trump's tax agenda  —  House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said Republicans' budget plan has to grant more room for President Donald Trump's tax policies, putting him at odds with House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) and other hardliners.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

Obama Best Liked Among Living Presidents; Biden, Least  —  Obama, Bush, Clinton are viewed more positively than negatively  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Of the five living men who have served as U.S. president, Barack Obama receives the highest favorable rating (59%) and Joe Biden the lowest (39%).

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.

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 …

Trump's biggest corruption yet  —  Connect the dots.  —  Last week, Trump's social media corporation — Trump Media and Technology Group, in which Trump personally owns a majority of shares — announced plans to sell financial products, including a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), aimed at what Trump calls the “patriotic economy.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene mum on Musk ahead of first DOGE hearing  —  Fresh from a White House meeting with Elon Musk, conservative provocateur Marjorie Taylor Greene is preparing to launch her Congressional subcommittee to complement the tech giant's Department of Government Efficiency …

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.

Trump administration submits regulations to weaken federal worker protections  —  “It is well documented that many career federal employees use their positions to advance their personal political or policy preferences instead of implementing the elected President's agenda,” the draft text states.