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.

Not Hyperbole Anymore: Musk Is In Charge of the US Government  —  These are wild times at TPM because they're wild times in the American government.  It's hard to keep up with everything happening from one moment to the next.  I had not had a chance to look at the new DOGE executive order President signed …

Trump fires USAID inspector general one day after blistering report  —  Paul K. Martin, appointed by President Joe Biden, was dismissed a day after issuing a report assessing the Trump administration implemented its aid freeze and stop-work order.  —  February 11, 2025

Scoop: Dems “pissed” at liberal groups MoveOn, Indivisible … - “People are pissed,” a senior House Democrat who was at the meeting said of lawmakers' reaction to the calls.  — The Democrat said Jeffries himself is “very frustrated” at the groups, who are trying to stir up a more confrontational opposition to Trump.

Dozens of CFPB Workers Fired in After-Hours Blitz  —  Some affected employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were notified with an email that addressed them as [EmployeeFirstName][EmployeeLastName], [Job Title], [Division].  —  Dozens of Consumer Finance Protection Bureau employees …

Project 2025 Is Gutting Medical Funding That Helped Russell Vought's Own Kid  —  The National Institutes of Health, the federal government's leading medical research agency, came under attack by Project 2025 well before its architect, Russell Vought, was confirmed to Donald Trump's second-term cabinet …

Trump Softens Tone on Inflation After Pledging to Lower Prices  —  President Trump pledged to lower costs on “Day 1” as a candidate.  His administration now acknowledges it will take more time.  —  President Trump promised voters that, if elected, he would enact policies that would bring prices down on “Day 1” in office.

Top FEMA Official Is Fired Over Payments for N.Y.C. Migrant Shelters  —  The Trump administration fired the Federal Emergency Management Agency's chief financial officer and three others after Elon Musk misleadingly claimed the agency had used disaster-relief funds for migrant services.

2/12/25 ☀️ AM:  —  The dueling budget chairs: How Arrington and Graham are playing their hands  —  Thune takes a victory lap on Trump nominees  —  MTG prepares for fight in first DOGE hearing  —  The Vault: The bank lobby is being awfully quiet about CFPB

Jan. 6 video evidence has ‘disappeared’ from public access, media coalition says  —  Attorneys for a group of news organizations, including NPR, said in a legal filing on Tuesday that evidence used at the sentencing of a rioter charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol had “disappeared” from an online government platform.

Treasury officials: Musk ally ‘mistakenly’ had power to alter payments system  —  The incident prompted an internal forensic investigation that remains ongoing.  —  Treasury Department officials said Tuesday that the agency last week “mistakenly” and “briefly” gave a member of Elon Musk's team …

Voters Were Right About the Economy.  The Data Was Wrong.  —  Here's why unemployment is higher, wages are lower and growth less robust than government statistics suggest.  —  Before the presidential election, many Democrats were puzzled by the seeming disconnect between “economic reality” …

This obscure law is one reason Trump's agenda keeps losing in court  —  Lawsuits challenging Trump policies raise big constitutional questions, but they also rely on a law that requires the government to follow the correct procedures when changing course.  —  WASHINGTON — Lawyers challenging …

It's a Good Thing Democrats Didn't Pack the Courts  —  Without an independent judiciary, the Constitution would be no match for Donald Trump's authoritarian impulses.  —  As disturbing as the first three weeks of the second Donald Trump administration have been, we can take solace …

The Staffers Helping Elon Musk Dismantle and Downsize the U.S. Government, One Agency at a Time  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  The Trump administration is not even a month old …

Cutting Cancer Research  —  Sometimes, it gets personal.  —  My daughter is finishing up a master's degree.  Her work is completely over my head, but it involves the intersection of nutrition, agriculture, and climate change. … In other words, she's doing important work, real work that could help make many lives better.

Please Don't Use Nancy Mace's So-Called Victim Hotline, Advocates Say  —  On the House floor Monday night—in a speech that was jarring, graphic, and nearly an hour long—Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) made disturbing allegations of sexual abuse against four men from her home state, one of whom is her ex-fiancé.

Danish MEP slams ‘absurd’ proposal to rename Greenland ‘Red, White and Blueland’  —  Member of Congress said the U.S. will “proudly welcome” Greenlanders to “join the freest nation to ever exist.”  —  A Danish MEP denounced a proposal by an American lawmaker to rename Greenland “Red …

American Detainee Marc Fogel Arrives in U.S. Following Release From Russian Custody  —  Arrested in 2021, the schoolteacher was serving a 14-year prison sentence  —  American Marc Fogel arrived in the U.S. on Tuesday night after his release from Russia, where he was arrested in 2021 on marijuana charges …

Trump to nominate Sean Cairncross as national cyber director  —  Cairncross is a former top official at the RNC and previously led a federal foreign aid agency during the first Trump administration.  —  President Donald Trump intends to nominate former administration official …

Federal Agency Fires Staff, Calls It an Error, Fires Them Again  — Small Business Administration workers receive series of emails  — Firings align with Musk's effort to reduce federal workforce  —  President Donald Trump's Small Business Administration told probationary staff members …

Why the COVID Deniers Won  —  Lessons from the pandemic and its aftermath  —  Five years ago, the coronavirus pandemic struck a bitterly divided society.  —  Americans first diverged over how dangerous the disease was: just a flu (as President Donald Trump repeatedly insisted) or something much deadlier.

Kremlin says unidentified Russian freed in US in exchange for Moscow's release of Marc Fogel  —  The Kremlin said Wednesday that a Russian citizen was freed in the United States in exchange for Moscow's release of American Marc Fogel, but refused to identify him until he arrives in Russia.

Musk's ‘Doge’ guts nearly $1bn in US education department's research office  —  Cuts in effect wipe out Institute of Education Sciences, one of the country's largest funders of education research  —  Elon Musk and the Trump administration's so-called “department of government efficiency” …