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11:20 AM ET, February 19, 2025

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 Top Items: 
RELATED:
Andre Tartar / Bloomberg:
DOGE Says It's Saved $55 Billion; Data Show Much Less  — Cost-cutting effort itemizes about $8.6 billion in savings  — Data includes error that inflates value of DOGE savings so far  —  The federal cost-cutting effort dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency says it has saved $55 billion …
Nick Bednar / Default:
Did DOGE Take Credit for Spending Cuts Related to President Carter's Death?  —  Inaccuracies on DOGE's website raise questions about DOGE's activities and transparency.  —  Meet The Authors … Following the 2024 election, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy announced that the Department …
Discussion: Daily Mail
CNN:
Zelensky says Trump lives in ‘disinformation space’  —  Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Donald Trump of repeating disinformation, a day after the US president falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia.  —  Zelensky's outspoken comments were part of what is shaping …
RELATED:
Troy Matthews / MeidasTouch News:
Trump Says Ukraine ‘Should Have Never Started’ War With Russia  —  Zelensky responded by saying Trump was in a “disinformation space”  —  Donald Trump blamed Ukraine for being invaded by Russia in a rambling speech on Tuesday, in which he attacked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky …
Associated Press:
Ukraine's Zelenskyy says Trump is living in a Russian-made ‘disinformation space’
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
The Cruelty Isn't the Point. It's the Pleasure.
Discussion: Daily Kos and al.com
Liz Goodwin / Washington Post:
After ceding power of the purse, GOP lawmakers beg Trump team for funds  —  Republican senators are asking Cabinet secretaries and other Trump officials to let money flow back into their states.  —  Republican senators find themselves in an unusual position these days …
Discussion: Vox, Axios, New York Magazine and E&E News
RELATED:
Fox News:
'I didn't know that': Musk surprises Trump with revelation about his 2024 endorsement
Allan Smith / NBC News:
USDA says it accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is trying to rehire them  —  In a statement, an Agriculture Department spokesperson told NBC News that officials are “working to swiftly rectify the situation.”  —  The United States Department of Agriculture on Tuesday acknowledged that …
The White House:
Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:  —  Section 1.  Policy and Purpose.  The Constitution vests all executive power in the President and charges him with faithfully executing the laws.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Trump order challenges independence of FCC, FTC and financial regulators
Discussion: RedState and Reason
Jack Nicas / New York Times:
Trump Media Group Sues Brazilian Judge Weighing Arrest of Jair Bolsonaro  —  The lawsuit came hours after the justice received an indictment of Brazil's former president, who is an ally of President Trump.  —  President Trump's media company sued a Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Wednesday …
Discussion: Axios, Reuters and Louder With Crowder
RELATED:
Jack Nicas / New York Times:
Brazil Charges Bolsonaro With Attempting a Coup
Jason Lange / Reuters:
Trump's approval rating slips as Americans worry about the economy  —  U.S. President Donald Trump's approval rating has ticked slightly lower in recent days as more Americans worried about the direction of the U.S. economy as the new leader threatens a host of countries with tariffs, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Despite DOGE, Trump's agenda calls for adding trillions of dollars to U.S debt  —  Budget experts say Trump's tax and spending priorities would increase red ink, even as he boasts of balancing the budget.  “I don't think their rhetoric matches reality,” says one.
Discussion: Roll Call
RELATED:
Politico:
Trump backs House budget plan, calls on Senate to stand down
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Democrats aim to maximize GOP pain in passing Trump agenda
Discussion: Politico, Raw Story and Fox News
Dave Zirin / The Nation:
Why Democrats Won't Throw a Real Punch  —  Faced with existential threats from the right, the Democratic leadership remains timid; faced with demands for justice from the left, it goes on the attack.  —  Bluesky  —  Pocket  —  A relative of mine—an older gent with a penchant for salty language …
Sam Stein / The Bulwark:
The DOGE Brain Drain Has Begun  —  THREE DAYS AFTER the National Institutes of Health abruptly announced it would place a strict, low cap on the money it sends to universities and research institutions for the administrative costs of scientific research, the University of Iowa made an abrupt announcement of its own.
RELATED:
Popular Information:
As measles outbreak rages in Texas, RFK Jr. pushes anti-vaccine message  —  The largest measles outbreak Texas has seen in over 30 years is sweeping through the western part of the state.  According to information released yesterday by the Texas Department of State Health Services, 58 cases have been confirmed throughout five counties.
RELATED:
Amanda Seitz / Associated Press:
Kennedy says panel will examine childhood vaccine schedule after promising not to change it
Discussion: ABC News and UPI
Ryan Cooper / American Prospect:
Musk and Trump Are Causing the Dumbest Imperial Collapse in History  —  Empires have fallen before.  But it's never been this purely idiotic.  —  Demonstrators march holding posters during a rally to protest President Trump's politics, on Presidents Day, February 17, 2025, in Los Angeles.
Discussion: Raw Story
Fatima Hussein / Associated Press:
Tens of millions of dead people aren't getting Social Security checks, despite Trump and Musk claims  —  The Trump administration is falsely claiming that tens of millions of dead people over 100 years old are receiving Social Security payments.  Over the past few days …
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Vance's Munich Disgrace  —  In April 1928, Joseph Goebbels, later the Third Reich's chief propagandist, wrote a newspaper essay addressing the question of why the National Socialists, despite being an “anti-parliamentarian party,” would nonetheless compete in that May's parliamentary elections.
RELATED:
CBC News:
Trudeau announces $3.9B high-speed rail between Quebec City and Toronto  —  300km/hour trains to stop in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, Trois-Rivières and Quebec City  —  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday revealed his government's $3.9 billion …
Discussion: CityNews Toronto
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
RFK 's plan to make America healthy again?  Round up people with mental health conditions in camps  —  Robert F. Kennedy wants to replace standard psychological care with unpaid labor on “wellness farms”  —  Robert F. Kennedy's “make America healthy again” motto is meant to convey …
Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:
Trump's Kennedy Center Cancels Pride Concert That Would Have Featured Gay Men's Chorus of Washington  —  The Kennedy Center canceled a concert planned for May 21 that was to feature the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, DC, performing alongside the National Symphony Orchestra.
Discussion: WUSA and Wall Street Journal
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
Postmaster general to step down, asks for replacement  —  Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a former prominent Trump fundraiser who was appointed during the president's first term, announced Tuesday he would be stepping down.  —  In a release, the U.S. Postal Service said DeJoy had notified …
RELATED:
Esther Fung / Wall Street Journal:
Postmaster General DeJoy Says He Plans to Step Down
Discussion: Washington Post and Townhall
Liz Dye / Public Notice:
Unelected billionaire breaks laws to “restore” democracy  —  🗽 🗳️ 🦅 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.
Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
Showing Up & Walking Out  —  Two Ways to Make your Point  —  The Musk-Trump regime thrives on confusion, chaos, and capitulation.  In the case of the moribund House and Senate Republicans, it has worked.  Self-proclaimed hawks like Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) …
Discussion: New York Times
Adrian Carrasquillo / The Bulwark:
When DHS Sends Your Son to Gitmo  —  The mother of a young Venezuelan man sent to Guantánamo discusses her son's case.  It heralds an unsettling new phase in Trump's deportation policy.  —  SO MUCH OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S mass deportation policy hinges on the word “criminals.”
Discussion: Washington Examiner and The Hill
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Judge halts firing of intel agency personnel involved with DEI  —  The order may amount to only a temporary reprieve.  —  A federal judge has temporarily blocked the CIA and the Office of Director of National Intelligence from firing 11 people whose jobs were eliminated to comply …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Gregory S. Schneider / Washington Post:
Youngkin promises help for federal workers but defends Trump job cuts
Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech / The Hill:
Louisiana, New York battle over abortion laws: What comes next
Jennifer Sey / Washington Examiner:
Woke is dead. Nike didn't get the memo
Discussion: Fox News
Margaret Coker / ProPublica:
Georgia Touts Its Medicaid Experiment as a Success. The Numbers Tell a Different Story.
Discussion: prima donna …
Politico:
Elon Musk looks beyond Washington toward Wisconsin
 Earlier Items: 
Jack Blanchard / Politico:
Playbook: Comedy night on Fox
S.V. Date / HuffPost:
Donald Trump Has Already Spent $10.7 Million Of Taxpayer Money Playing Golf
Discussion: Daily Kos and Digby's Hullabaloo
Wall Street Journal:
Inside Trump's Million-Dollar Dinners With Healthcare Executives
David Bauder / Associated Press:
Trump says AP will be curtailed at the White House until it changes its style to Gulf of America
Jasper Ward / Reuters:
Trump says he has instructed DOJ to terminate all remaining Biden-era US attorneys
Taylor Odisho / Latin Times:
11-Year-Old Texas Girl Bullied Over Family's Immigration Status Takes Her Own Life
Discussion: Mediaite
Ethan Marcotte / Ethan Marcotte's website:
Moving on from 18F.  —  note: This post gets into the last few weeks of American politics.
 

 
From Techmeme:

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
The EU fines X €120M for breaching online content rules, the first fine under the DSA, citing issues including the deceptive design of its blue checkmarks

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Netflix agrees to buy WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash and stock deal; the transaction is expected to close after Q3 2026

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple says general counsel Kate Adams and policy chief Lisa Jackson will retire, and Jennifer Newstead, Meta's former chief legal officer, will replace Adams

 
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