Top Items:
Qasim Nauman / New York Times:
Justice Dept. to Drop Discrimination Case Against Elon Musk's SpaceX — The Justice Department had sued SpaceX in 2023, accusing the company of violating federal law by refusing to hire refugees and people granted asylum in the United States. — The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday …
Discussion:
Axios, RedState, New York Post and Bloomberg
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Miranda Nazzaro / The Hill:
DOJ dropping immigration case against Musk's SpaceX
DOJ dropping immigration case against Musk's SpaceX
Discussion:
Fox Business
Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:
Trump expected to take control of USPS, fire postal board, officials say — The move threatens to upend trillions of dollars in ecommerce business and the 250-year-old Postal Service.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Independent, Daily Mail, Raw Story, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money and prima donna …
ProPublica:
DOGE's Millions: As Musk and Trump Gut Government, Their Ax-Cutting Agency Gets Cash Infusion — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — While Elon Musk and his underlings demand budget cuts …
Discussion:
Defense One, Twitchy, New Republic, E&E News, ClearanceJobs, Washington Times and Reuters
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Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
The private GOP panic over the slash-and-burn DOGE firings
Discussion:
IJR, No More Mister Nice Blog, USA Today, Raw Story and Washington Examiner
Joan Walsh / The Nation:
Trump's Firing Frenzy Is Hitting the GOP Where It Hurts
Trump's Firing Frenzy Is Hitting the GOP Where It Hurts
Discussion:
ClearanceJobs, Scripps News and ABC News
Zack Stanton / Politico:
Playbook: DOGE bites Republicans
Playbook: DOGE bites Republicans
Discussion:
IJR, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, Fox News, The Hill and Washington Post
Douglas Murray / New York Post:
Mr. President: Putin is THE dictator and 10 Ukraine-Russia war truths we ignore at our peril — This has been a dizzying and disorienting week in international diplomacy. One with wild implications for Ukraine, the future of America's standing in the world and President Trump's legacy.
Discussion:
Politico, New Republic and New Jersey Online
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Timothy Snyder / Thinking about:
“Recoup the costs” — The sadism of American policy to war-torn Ukraine
“Recoup the costs” — The sadism of American policy to war-torn Ukraine
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal and UPI
Marc Caputo / Axios:
Zelensky's five moves that set off Trump
Zelensky's five moves that set off Trump
Discussion:
American Greatness, The National Interest, Breitbart, Fox News, Daily Mail, The Kyiv Independent, The Daily Wire, Florida Politics, NBC News and RTÉ
Hanna Arhirova / Associated Press:
Trump's attempts to denigrate Zelenskyy have led to a surge in Ukrainian unity
Trump's attempts to denigrate Zelenskyy have led to a surge in Ukrainian unity
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, Raw Story, RTÉ, PolitiFact, The Kyiv Independent, Politico, HuffPost, BBC, Washington Examiner, UPI, Reuters, WHDH-TV, Daily Mail, The Hill and Diplomatic,
Sarah Jeong / The Verge:
I cannot describe how strange Elon Musk's CPAC appearance was — So here's a literal transcript, instead. … Elon Musk spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday, giving a strange and often inarticulate on-stage interview to Newsmax presenter Rob Schmitt.
Discussion:
NBC News, Politico, USA Today, The Hill, New York Post, The Independent, Raw Story, Daily Mail, al.com and The Daily Wire
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New Republic:
Bad News for Trump as Brutal New Polls Show Him and Elon Musk Sinking — Three new national polls—from CNN, Gallup, and The Washington Post—show that President Donald Trump's job approval is decidedly underwater. Importantly, the polls also show majorities rejecting Trump's authoritarian governance.
Discussion:
New Jersey Online, Al Jazeera, Chicago Sun Times, Digby's Hullabaloo and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Adriana Gomez Licon / Associated Press:
Musk waves a chainsaw and charms conservatives talking up Trump's cost-cutting efforts
Musk waves a chainsaw and charms conservatives talking up Trump's cost-cutting efforts
Discussion:
New Republic, New York Daily News, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Daily Kos, New Jersey Online, Twitchy, The Daily Wire, RedState, El País, Fox News, Metro.co.uk, New York Post, One America News Network, Reuters, UPI, TMZ.com, The Hill, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit, Associated Press, The Independent, PBS NewsHour and Al Jazeera
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount Is Starting to Fight Back Against Trump in ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit — The CBS News owner's legal strategy has revolved around arguments challenging the President's insistence that it should stay in federal court in Texas, in addition to raising the specter of discovery and arbitration.
Discussion:
Deadline, HuffPost and Law & Crime
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NBC News:
Georgia Republican faces town hall backlash over DOGE's ‘chainsaw approach’ to government cuts — Rep. Rich McCormick, who represents a safe GOP district, came under harsh criticism that focused on the Trump administration's moves to slash federal jobs and budgets.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Newsweek, New Republic, Digby's Hullabaloo, Raw Story and The Fucking News
Matthew Chapman / Raw Story:
‘Stand up for us!’ Republican shouted down as he defends DOGE cuts at town hall
‘Stand up for us!’ Republican shouted down as he defends DOGE cuts at town hall
Discussion:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, CBS News and Musk Watch
Punchbowl News:
2/21/25 ☀️ AM: … There are two ways to look at this: This resolution is a bit out of step with the Trump administration. Trump publicly said Wednesday that he likes the much broader House GOP resolution better and hopes Hill Republicans rally around that.
Discussion:
Politico, New York Times, Washington Times, Conservative Partnership …, NBC News, Roll Call and The Hill
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Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
Senate G.O.P. Passes Budget Resolution, and Punts on Tough Questions
New York Times:
The House Wants to Pass Trump's Agenda in One Big Bill. Here's What's in It.
The House Wants to Pass Trump's Agenda in One Big Bill. Here's What's in It.
Discussion:
Scripps News, Washington Examiner, The National Pulse, NBC News, Fox News, CBS News, Tangle and The Hill
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
February 20, 2025 — On Monday, James Marriott of The Times, published in London …
Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
Why Gen Z men love Trump's reign of destruction — Trump's appeal to the demographic might not have to do with his policies. — Many Americans are disturbed by President Donald Trump's trampling of the Constitution and nuking of the federal government. But one group seems to love what Trump is doing: young men.
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Reuters:
Trump adviser says he expects Zelenskiy to sign minerals agreement
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Hill, El País, Daily Mail, The Guardian, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, The Daily Wire, Washington Examiner, New York Post and Taipei Times
Justine McDaniel / Washington Post:
Trump again raises idea of running for an unconstitutional third term
Trump again raises idea of running for an unconstitutional third term
Discussion:
CBS News, Kevin Drum, Raw Story, The Hill and Grabien
NBC10 Philadelphia:
Hundreds of Philly IRS workers laid off on Thursday, union says — Around 400 Philadelphia IRS workers are expected to be laid off on Thursday, Feb. 20, union leader Alex Jay Berman confirmed — Hundreds of Philadelphia IRS employees were laid off on Thursday as part of the Trump administration's efforts …
Discussion:
New Jersey Online, Raw Story, NewsNation, Twitchy, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Denver Post, Bloomberg, Forbes, FOX8 WGHP, Axios, Fox News, Business Insider, IJR, Politico and GovExec.com
Rolling Stone:
Trump and Elon's ‘Pointless Bloodbath’ at the FAA Is Even Worse Than You Think — The Trump administration fired several FAA lawyers tasked with helping keep reckless and drunk pilots out of the skies — and officials are baffled — Late last week, just as Presidents' Day weekend was starting …
Samantha Hendrickson / The Columbus Dispatch:
Ohio GOP Rep. Balderson says Trump's executive orders ‘getting out of control’ — Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson described President Donald Trump's flurry of executive orders as “getting out of control” at a Westerville Area Chamber business luncheon Thursday, saying that only Congress can do certain things.
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Shania Shelton / CNN:
GOP congressman faces criticism and several boos at Georgia town hall
GOP congressman faces criticism and several boos at Georgia town hall
Discussion:
Alaska Public Media
CNN:
Elon Musk's private security detail gets deputized by US Marshals Service — The US Marshals Service has deputized members of Elon Musk's private security detail, giving them certain rights and protections of federal law enforcement agents, three law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told CNN.
Discussion:
UPI, Scripting News and CBS News
Sam Stein / The Bulwark:
He Took Musk's Resignation Offer. He Was Fired Anyway. — A TOP-RANKING REGIONAL FEMA OFFICIAL who took Elon Musk's resignation deal was fired thirteen days later by the Trump administration, raising questions about the integrity of the program that the White House put together to off-ramp tens of thousands of federal employees.
Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:
AOC shows how to fight back and stand strong — 🗣️ 🫶 🪧 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.
Discussion:
The Daily Signal and Gothamist
William Vaillancourt / The Daily Beast:
Steve Bannon Mimics Elon Musk's VERY Controversial Salute — Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon whipped up Friday's Conservative Political Action Conference crowd by talking about the possibility of the President Donald Trump staying in office for a third term in 2028 …
Discussion:
USA Today, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, The Independent and HuffPost
Associated Press:
Singer of Canadian anthem at 4 Nations Face-Off changes lyric to protest Trump's 51st state remarks — The anthem singer who performed the Canadian anthem prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game Thursday night changed a lyric in “O Canada” as a response to U.S. President Donald …
Discussion:
The Hill, Breitbart, WAGA-TV, Mediaite, WHDH-TV, FOX8 WGHP, Daily Mail, Associated Press, Townhall, Rolling Stone, New York Post, KHOU-TV, CityNews Toronto and Deadline
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Rhianna Schmunk / CBC News:
Chantal Kreviazuk changes O Canada lyrics at hockey game against U.S. to protest Trump
Chantal Kreviazuk changes O Canada lyrics at hockey game against U.S. to protest Trump
Discussion:
Axios, New York Post, Townhall, Fox News, Associated Press, New York Times, Mediaite, Washington Times, The Independent, Daily Mail and USA Today
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Justice Department broadens Trump's Jan. 6 clemency as it moves to drop gun cases — In court papers, DOJ revealed a newly expansive interpretation of the president's Jan. 6 pardons. — The Justice Department now says that President Donald Trump's clemency for Jan. 6 rioters covers unrelated crimes …
Discussion:
NBC News, New York Times, The Hill, Blaze Media, Raw Story, MPR News, The Independent and CBS News
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Inside DOGE's Dumbest Cut Yet — Andrew had meant to spend yesterday soaking in the sights and sounds at CPAC, but found himself tied up reporting our lead story below. So he missed Vice President JD Vance's culture-war ruminations, Steve Bannon's calls for a third Trump term in 2028 …
Zeynep Tufekci / New York Times:
Here Are the Digital Clues to What Musk Is Really Up To — Watching Elon Musk and his band of young acolytes slash their way through the federal government, many observers have struggled to understand how such a small group could do so much damage in so little time.
Joyce Vance / Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
Kash Patel, Confirmed — The Senate bent the knee again, confirming Kash Patel for a 10-year term as director of the FBI. The 51-49 vote was mostly along party lines, with Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining the Democrats this afternoon.
Discussion:
CBS News, CNN, New York Times and Talking Points Memo
Brianna Keilar / CNN:
Military families rocked by Trump's federal government cuts — The Trump administration's swift, sweeping cuts to the federal workforce is set to derail the livelihoods of potentially thousands of military families. — The turmoil within the military community caused by the recent firings …
Ian Duncan / Washington Post:
DOGE employee cuts fall heavily on agency that regulates Musk's Tesla — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is losing about 10 percent of its workforce through firings and buyout offers, according to people briefed on the cuts. — A small government team regulating the sort …
Discussion:
Futurism, TechCrunch and Quartz, more at Techmeme »
CNN:
Pentagon hits pause on plan to carry out mass firings of civilian employees, officials say — The Defense Department has temporarily paused a plan to carry out mass firings of civilian probationary employees until Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon's Office of General Counsel …
Discussion:
Forbes and Daily Caller News Foundation


