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8:20 AM ET, February 13, 2025

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 Top Items: 
Ryan Grim / Drop Site News:
“Armored Tesla” forecast to win $400 million State Department contract after Trump's election, government document shows  —  The State Department's procurement forecast, revised as of late December 2024, lists Tesla as the recipient of the largest expected contract, with Marco Rubio's department planning …
RELATED:
Bobby Allyn / NPR:
Trump administration set to purchase $400 million worth of armored Teslas  —  The Trump administration is expected to purchase $400 million worth of armored Tesla vehicles, according to a new State Department document detailing procurement for fiscal year 2025.
Discussion: Raw Story and Business Insider
Chad De Guzman / Time:
Mention of Tesla Removed From $400 Million State Dept. Contract Amid Scrutiny of Musk  —  The State Department was planning to buy $400 million worth of “Armored Tesla” later this year, according to its 2025 procurement forecast, a document outlining projections of anticipated contracts, which was published in December.
Discussion: Crooks and Liars
Jack Ewing / New York Times:   State Dept. Plans $400 Million Purchase of Armored Tesla Cybertrucks
Washington Post:
Trump closes down federal worker buyout offer after judge lifts hold  —  The administration moved to close the buyout program Wednesday evening after a federal judge in Massachusetts rejected a call from several labor groups that sued to block the initiative
RELATED:
Axios:   Behind the Curtain: Masculine maximalism
Associated Press:
White House says it's the judges — not Trump — causing a ‘constitutional crisis’
Luis Ferré-Sadurní / New York Times:
New York Got $80 Million for Migrants.  The White House Took It Back.  —  The New York City comptroller's office, which first noticed the missing money, said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had unilaterally taken the funds from the city's accounts.
RELATED:
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
BREAKING: NIH admits funding freeze is illegal, will resume issuing grants
New York Times:
Some Migrants Sent by Trump to Guantánamo Are Being Held by Military Guards  —  The Times has obtained a list of 53 Venezuelan men the Trump administration has put in a wartime prison built to hold Al Qaeda suspects.  —  Dozens of Venezuelan migrants sent by the Trump administration …
RELATED:
Brittany Gibson / Axios:
Trump's mass deportation plan hits its own wall
Discussion: NBC News
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump and Musk Hunt for Corruption, Very Selectively  —  Spending that the White House does not like is being labeled fraudulent.  At the same time, President Trump is rolling back anticorruption efforts and ethical standards for himself and allies like Elon Musk.
Discussion: LewRockwell
RELATED:
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump and Musk can't seem to locate much evidence of fraud
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Elon Musk's X to pay about $10 million to settle Trump lawsuit over account suspension … Social media company X has agreed to pay about $10 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump, who has put X's billionaire owner Elon Musk in charge of a major government cost- and staff-cutting effort.
RELATED:
J.D. Wolf / MeidasTouch News:
Pro-Hitler Ad Runs on Elon Musk's X Amid His Growing Ties to Trump
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Hegseth's rough start: Pentagon chief faces protest at U.S. base abroad  —  The question isn't why the defense secretary faced pushback at U.S. European Command headquarters; the question is whether he'll see more protests soon.  —  Though it still seems hard to believe, a couple of weeks ago …
Rene Marsh / CNN:
Mass firings have begun at federal agencies  —  Mass firings have begun at federal agencies, with terminations of probationary employees underway at the Department of Education and the Small Business Administration, federal employees and union sources told CNN Wednesday.
Teddy Rosenbluth / New York Times:
Measles Outbreak Hits Town in Texas  —  As of Tuesday, 22 children and two adults had been infected, all of whom were unvaccinated, local officials said.  —  A worsening measles outbreak has taken root in Texas, sickening two dozen and hospitalizing nine on the western edge of the state …
Discussion: ABC News, Ars Technica, CBS News and UPI
Eliot Chen / The Wire China:
DOGE's Latest Target is Seen as a Gift to the CCP … The Treasury Department has frozen funding disbursements to the National Endowment for Democracy, a U.S.-government funded organization that promotes democracy around the world and is a longtime bugbear of the Chinese Communist Party.
RELATED:
Phelim Kine / Politico:
The National Endowment for Democracy was a GOP darling. Musk is changing that.
Reuters:
US sues New York state officials over immigration enforcement, attorney general says  —  The U.S. Justice Department has sued New York State officials over alleged failures to enforce federal immigration law, Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters on Wednesday.
Sadanand Dhume / Wall Street Journal:
If Indians and Pakistanis Can Relocate, Why Can't Gazans?  —  Population transfers aren't a Trump innovation.  There are plenty of examples from the 20th century.  —  President Trump's idea that the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and relocate two million Palestinians has elicited outrage and derision.
Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
Eric Adams Discussed Possible Republican Primary Run With G.O.P. Leader  —  The mayor discussed options to run for re-election in the Republican contest as recently as Monday.  Asked for comment, he said he was running as a Democrat.  —  Mayor Eric Adams of New York City has quietly explored running …
Noah Weiland / New York Times:
Trump Tests Legal Limits in Pushing out Federal Employees  —  President Trump and Elon Musk, who is leading the administration's downsizing efforts, are pushing for quick and widespread layoffs.  But the blitz has run into a complicated set of restrictions.
Discussion: Washington Post
David Bixenspan / Public Notice:
Linda McMahon is much worse than you think  —  💭 🤔 💥 With corporate outlets obeying in advance, supporting independent political media is more important right now than ever.  Public Notice is possible thanks to paid subscribers.  If you aren't one already …
Discussion: NBC News and Associated Press
Abby Vesoulis / Mother Jones:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Two-Word Plan to Save the CFPB From Elon Musk  —  “Banks hated this agency from the first time I ever talked about it.”  —  Following the 2008 global financial crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was established by Congress to reign …
Politico:
‘The rules of the game have changed’: Europe fears an unreliable US ally  —  European defense leaders are preparing for a tense gathering with the Trump team.  —  MUNICH — European allies are bracing this week for the answer to a question they've been dreading to ask: Can they really count on the United States?
Zoe Tillman / Bloomberg:
Trump Removal of Whistleblower Agency Head Blocked by Judge  — Judge held Trump's firing of Hampton Dellinger likely unlawful  — Other independent agency officials are suing over removals  —  A federal judge in Washington blocked for now President Donald Trump from removing the head …
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit
Megan Brenan / Gallup:
More Democrats Favor Party Moderation Than in Past  —  Plurality of Republicans favor status quo for their party; fewer say it should be more conservative  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the wake of the 2024 election and Donald Trump's inauguration for a second term as president …
Discussion: Semafor
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell:
McConnell Comments on Gabbard Nomination  —  Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, issued the following statement today on the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to serve as Director of National Intelligence:
The Moscow Times:
Trump-Putin Meeting Should Be Organized ‘Promptly,’ Kremlin Says  —  The Kremlin said Thursday that a face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin should be arranged “promptly,” coming a day after the two leaders held a phone call.
Dan Froomkin / Heads Up News:
What you can do to fight the Trump agenda  —  “What can I do?”  —  That's the question a lot of you are asking.  —  I've spent the last week exploring that question.  And the overarching answer, based on my research, is that you should reach out and make connections with others …
Jonathan Lambert / NPR:
Sen. Ted Cruz's list of “woke” science includes self-driving cars, solar eclipses  —  There is nothing like being in the path of totality during a total solar eclipse.  —  “For just a few minutes, it feels like the whole world stands still and yet everything changes,” says Corinne Brevik …
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
“Largest data breach in US history”: Three more lawsuits try to stop DOGE … The US DOGE Service's access to the private data of ordinary Americans and federal employees is being challenged in several lawsuits filed this week.  —  Three new complaints seek court orders that would stop …
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Trump executive order leads to $100 energy bill hike for hundreds in Alabama  —  Donald Trump promised that, as president, he would drastically lower Americans' energy bills.  “[W]e're going to make it a much — a much different place,” Trump said during a November 14 speech at Mar-a-Lago.
Discussion: Roll Call
Politico:
Johnson's budget dare  —  Presented by IN TODAY'S EDITION:  — Johnson dares conservatives to oppose budget plan  — Senate votes on RFK Jr.  — House GOP leaders talking CR  —  BUT FIRST: CONGRESS X POLITICO IN MUNICH — Tune in Friday and Saturday for POLITICO programming live from the Munich Security Conference.
Discussion: Semafor and E&E News
Sergio Hernández / ProPublica:
ProPublica Updates Supreme Connections Database With Previously Missing Disclosures  —  We've added more information about the Supreme Court justices' finances, including newly uncovered filings from Clarence Thomas from the 1990s and Samuel Alito's latest disclosure.
Oliver Darcy / Status:
A Runaway Carr  —  Pressed by Status over text message, FCC boss Brendan Carr defended his actions—including his decision not to go after Rupert Murdoch's Fox. … Carr had already revived petitions filed by pro-MAGA forces against ABC, NBC, and CBS.  He had also announced a string …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Ken Bensinger / New York Times:
How Elon Musk and the Right Are Trying to Recast Reporting as ‘Doxxing’
Justin Ling / Wired:
Revenge of the Covid Conspiracy Theorists
The Guardian:
Musk's ‘efficiency’ agency site adds data from controversial rightwing thinktank
 Earlier Items: 
David Bauder / Associated Press:
White House says it has the right to punish AP reporters over Gulf naming dispute
Michael Woolf / RNS:
Ronald Reagan failed to end the sanctuary movement. Here's why Trump will too.
Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Bernie Sanders launches high-profile offensive against ‘the oligarchy’
The Hill:
Dems to Musk: ‘Hands off’ Medicare, Medicaid
Discussion: Politico
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Donald Trump is Now the Mayor of New York
Discussion: The City and New York Times
Leah Feiger / Wired:
The GSA Plans to Sell Hundreds of Its Federal Government Buildings
Discussion: American Prospect
Washington Post:
New Kennedy Center board elects Trump as chair. Rutter departs as president.
New York Times:
Republicans Love Trump's Spending Cuts. Just Not in Their States.
Discussion: NBC News, Raw Story and Reuters
 

 
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

Oliver Darcy / Status:
Sources: David Ellison's interference in WBD's failed summer talks to extend HBO Max's South Park licensing deal left David Zaslav distrustful of Ellison

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”

 
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