Top Items:
Tara Copp / Associated Press:
Trump begins firings of FAA air traffic control staff just weeks after fatal DC plane crash — The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal mid-air collision …
Discussion:
USA Today, Axios, The Hill, Daily Kos, Econbrowser, Eschaton and Pharyngula
RELATED:
Pete Muntean / CNN:
Hundreds of FAA probationary workers fired by Trump administration, union says — The Trump administration has started firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration probationary employees who maintain critical air traffic control infrastructure, according to their union.
Discussion:
MeidasTouch News, New York Post, TechCrunch, New Republic and Forbes
Paul Krugman:
Our Government Is Experiencing a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly — Musk is moving fast and breaking important things — Last month SpaceX carried out a test launch of its in-development Starship rocket. Liftoff was achieved, but as the company later announced, “Starship experienced …
NBC News:
Hundreds of FAA employees let go as Trump's mass layoffs continue — The firing of nearly 300 Federal Aviation Administration employees comes just weeks after a mid-air collision in Washington, D.C., killed all people on board. — The Trump administration fired hundreds of employees …
Discussion:
passnational.org and WUSA
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
FAA firings begin weeks after deadly crash near DC
FAA firings begin weeks after deadly crash near DC
Discussion:
Politico and Washington Examiner
Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:
Musk's DOGE seeks access to personal taxpayer data, raising alarm at IRS — The unusual request would put sensitive data about millions of American taxpayers in the hands of Trump political appointees. — Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service is seeking access to a heavily-guarded Internal Revenue Service system …
Discussion:
USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, CNN, CNBC, The Guardian, CBS News, The Bulwark, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Blaze Media, New Republic, Raw Story, Axios, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Nextgov/FCW and Mother Jones
RELATED:
Politico:
‘Five alarm warning’: Possible DOGE access to private taxpayer data sparks outcry — The Elon Musk-run effort wants to study a system that includes tax returns, Social Security numbers and other information. — Democrats and tax experts are sounding alarms about a plan by Elon Musk's DOGE team …
Discussion:
Staten Island Advance and Raw Story
MSNBC:
We confronted Speaker Johnson over DOGE. His response is cause for concern.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Washington Examiner
Carole Cadwalladr / The Power:
US Coup Gains Speed
NBC News:
DOGE-affiliated employee has accessed IRS system with sensitive taxpayer information
DOGE-affiliated employee has accessed IRS system with sensitive taxpayer information
Discussion:
Bloomberg and The Japan Times
Eliza Collins / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Voters Splinter Over His Rapid Shake-Up of Washington — Some core supporters love his no-holds-barred approach, but several swing voters are taken aback at his early moves
RELATED:
New York Times:
4 Top Officials Expected to Resign Over Adams's Cooperation with Trump — Four deputy mayors to Eric Adams are planning to leave in coming days after Eric Adams embraced President Trump's immigration crackdown. — Four top New York City officials are expected to resign in the coming days …
Discussion:
CNN, New York Daily News, New York Post and Politico
Gideon Rachman / Financial Times:
Vance's real warning to Europe — Europeans need to reduce their dangerous dependence on an adversarial America — When JD Vance took the stage at the Munich Security Conference last week, he issued a stern warning. The US vice-president told the assembled politicians and diplomats …
Discussion:
Asia Times
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Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
Rubio spars with Brennan over Vance's Munich speech — Secretary of State Marco Rubio sparred with CBS host Margaret Brennan over Vice President Vance's speech in Munich. — Rubio joined Brennan on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, where he was asked what Vance accomplished by meeting with a leader …
Discussion:
Twitchy, The Federalist, Crooks and Liars, Racket News, CBS News, Mediaite, Townhall, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, The Daily Wire, Raw Story, Chicago Boyz, The Gateway Pundit, HuffPost, Breitbart, Blaze Media, The Daily Caller, New York Post, Fox News, Newsbusters, The Post Millennial, Washington Examiner and RedState
Financial Times:
Trump administration pressures Romania to lift restrictions on Tate brothers — Tristan and Andrew Tate have been charged with sexual misconduct, organised crime and money laundering — The Trump administration has pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Matt Binder / disruptionist:
Elon Musk's X blocks links to Signal, the encrypted messaging service — Signal has been a primary method of communication for federal workers looking to blow the whistle on DOGE. — Elon Musk's social media platform, X, is currently banning links to “Signal.me,” a URL used by the encrypted messaging service Signal.
Discussion:
The Verge, Ars Technica, Forbes and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:
X is blocking links to Signal, a secure messaging platform used by federal workers — Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) is blocking links to Signal.me, a URL shortener used by the private messaging app Signal that allows users to send out a link that's used to contact them directly through the service.
Peter Stone / The Guardian:
‘This is a coup’: Trump and Musk's purge is cutting more than costs, say experts — In slashing staff and disabling entire agencies the administration is lacerating the structures of US democracy — Donald Trump and Elon Musk's radical drive to slash billions of dollars in annual federal spending …
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Pranshu Verma / Washington Post:
Elon Musk ridiculed a blind person on X. Then a mob went to work. — Musk's unparalleled online reach on X has given him a powerful tool to attack individuals who criticize DOGE. — Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette works at the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group focused on reducing bureaucratic waste.
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Washington Post backs out of ‘Fire Elon Musk’ ad order — The Washington Post this week backed out of a “Fire Elon Musk” advertising order that was to run as a wrap on some of its Tuesday editions, according to the advocacy group Common Cause. — The group said it signed a $115,000 agreement …
Discussion:
New Republic and The Independent, more at Mediagazer »
Popular Information:
In botched DEI purge, OSHA trashes workplace safety guidelines — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ordered the digital and physical destruction of 18 publications on workplace safety practices, according to an internal February 7 email obtained by Popular Information.
Nahal Toosi / Politico:
The Marco Rubio Guide to Survival is Not Working Well — The secretary of State is taking positions that were once anathema and sounding very Trumpy online. — It is becoming increasingly clear that Marco Rubio is secretary of State in name only. — Since taking over Foggy Bottom …
Discussion:
OutsideTheBeltway
NBC News:
CDC ‘disease detectors’ among hundreds fired as Trump administration ramps up agency cuts — Administration officials last week informed CDC leaders of plans to cut up to 10% of its workforce as it targeted federal probationary employees. — The Trump administration on Saturday terminated hundreds …
Discussion:
Forbes, The Independent and Daily Mail
RELATED:
Jill Colvin / Associated Press:
Mike Pence emerges as one of the few Republicans willing to challenge Trump 2.0 — His group spent nearly $1 million on ads opposing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump's pick to lead the nation's health agencies. He's delivering speeches urging the president to stand with longstanding foreign allies …
Liza Featherstone / New Republic:
Musk and Trump Are Cutting Popular Programs. That's Deliberate. — One particularly sadistic aspect of Elon Musk's and Donald Trump's rampage through our government is that they're cutting programs that are popular. To some observers, that might seem like bad politics, in line with the juvenile …
Wall Street Journal:
Jan. 6 Rioters Argue Pardons Apply to Charges Including Murder Plot, Child Porn — Defendants argue that Trump pardons should absolve them of additional crimes, some discovered during investigations of the Capitol riot
Discussion:
The Hill, Associated Press, OutsideTheBeltway, Staten Island Advance, Raw Story and Washington Post
Thomas Chatterton Williams / The Atlantic:
How the Woke Right Replaced the Woke Left — The hypocrisy of Trump's language wars — One of the defining features of the social-justice orthodoxy that swept through American culture between roughly the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012 to Hamas's assault on Israel in 2023 was the policing of language.

