Top Items:
Washington Post:
Trump administration tells agencies they can ignore Musk order on email reply — The Office of Personnel Management told HR officials that employees wouldn't be let go for not replying to an email asking what they did last week. — The Trump administration has told federal agency leaders …
Discussion:
New Republic, Bloomberg, The Information, Daily Mail, CBS News, The Hill, Raw Story, PoliticusUSA, FOX 32 Chicago and Fox News
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NBC News:
Federal workers and agencies push back against Elon Musk's email ultimatum — The revelation comes as federal workers face a midnight deadline to respond. — WASHINGTON — Responses to the Elon Musk-directed email to government employees about what work they'd accomplished over the past week …
Discussion:
Fox News, Bloomberg Law, Law Dork, Breitbart, Pharyngula, WUSA, The Guardian, NPR, The Hill, The Verge, USA Today, CBS News, Washington Times, emptywheel, CNBC, Raw Story and FEDweek, more at Techmeme »
Alan Feuer / New York Times:
Judge Questions Constitutionality of Musk's Cost-Cutting Operation
Discussion:
Raw Story and Scripps News
James Liddell / The Independent:
Elon Musk makes an admission about the productivity email his group sent to federal workers
Elon Musk makes an admission about the productivity email his group sent to federal workers
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, The Independent, New Republic, HuffPost, Daily Kos, Politico, WNYW-TV, The Post Millennial, Bloomberg and RedState
Allan Smith / NBC News:
HHS warns employees that responses to Elon Musk's email may ‘be read by malign foreign actors’
HHS warns employees that responses to Elon Musk's email may ‘be read by malign foreign actors’
Discussion:
Fox News, Axios, CNN, Politico, New York Post, Raw Story, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Daily Mail, BBC, Reuters, CBS News, E&E News, Business Insider, Mother Jones, Gizmodo, Techdirt, The Daily Wire, New Republic and NPR
New York Times:
Trump Administration Highlights: Personnel Officials Say Musk's Directive Is ‘Voluntary’ — Where Things Stand — Musk's ultimatum: Federal personnel officials walked back Elon Musk's demand that government workers justify their jobs in an email or face termination, saying that his request had been “voluntary.”
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Business Insider, Washington Post, Daily Kos, New York Times, Crikey, ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, Voice of America, Reuters and The Week
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Rolling Stone:
Elon's Email Demand Is Being Met With ‘Very Rude’ Flood of Spam — After Musk told federal employees to list five accomplishments or be fired, internet users are encouraging people to flood the email with spam — President Donald Trump has let tech billionaire Elon Musk run rampant through …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Hill, TechCrunch, The Daily Wire, Fox News, New Republic, Mediaite, Scripps News, Slate, Business Insider and Townhall
Abbie VanSickle / New York Times:
Government Watchdog Moves to Protect Probationary Federal Workers — Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel, recommended pausing the mass firings of some probationary federal employees. — A government watchdog lawyer whose dismissal by President Trump has been stalled …
Discussion:
USA Today
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Eric Katz / GovExec.com:
Oversight agency finds Trump's federal worker firings unlawful, asks for some employees to be reinstated — An independent federal oversight agency has deemed at least some of President Trump's mass firings of probationary period employees unlawful, creating a pathway for those employees to regain their jobs.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, The Hill, FEDweek and American Greatness
osc.gov:
Special Counsel Dellinger Statement on Request that MSPB Stay Terminations of Probationary Employees
Special Counsel Dellinger Statement on Request that MSPB Stay Terminations of Probationary Employees
Discussion:
Axios, NPR, Politico, Federal News Network, WUSA and The Gateway Pundit
Paul Blumenthal / HuffPost:
Government Oversight Agency Rules Elon Musk's Mass Firings Are Illegal
Politico:
Government funding deal ‘very close’ as negotiations hinge on Trump power struggle — The fight over curbing President Donald Trump's ability to freeze cash is now the make-or-break dispute as leading lawmakers close in on a deal to avert a government shutdown next month.
RELATED:
Annie Karni / New York Times:
Stefanik's Confirmation Is on Ice as Republicans Guard Their Scant Majority — The congresswoman from New York is in line to be confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. But first, her colleagues need her vote to pass their embattled budget plan.
Discussion:
The Hill, Axios, Good Politics/Bad Politics, The Independent, Blaze Media, Politico, Washington Times, The Daily Caller and CBS News
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
RED ALERT: Now Is the Moment, Folks
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Trump's New Deputy F.B.I. Director Has It Out for the ‘Scumbag Commie Libs’ — When a New York jury found Donald Trump guilty on 34 felony counts last year, the conservative podcaster Dan Bongino made a veiled threat on social media. “The irony about this for the scumbag commie libs …
Discussion:
USA Today, CNN, ABC News, The Hill, Axios, Washington Examiner, Daily Mail, The Guardian, Zeteo, Associated Press, NBC News, Washington Times and BBC
RELATED:
NBC News:
FBI agents express shock and dismay over naming of right-wing podcaster to No. 2 post
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and The Hill
David Gilbert / Wired:
How Dan Bongino Went From Infowars to FBI Deputy Director
How Dan Bongino Went From Infowars to FBI Deputy Director
Discussion:
Mediaite, Ace of Spades HQ, Media Matters for America, The Forward, One America News Network, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, NPR, Daily Kos, American Greatness, Twitchy, Shore News Network, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Louder With Crowder, Metro.co.uk, Breitbart, WNYW-TV, Daily Mail, The National Pulse, RedState, The Post Millennial and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »
Washington Post:
It's crunch time for Mike Johnson and the GOP's ‘big, beautiful bill’ — The House speaker is set to put a budget resolution up for a floor vote on Tuesday but is facing a potential revolt from swing-district Republicans. — Republicans' push to enact President Donald Trump's tax …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Examiner, Associated Press and NOTUS
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Jonathan Shorman / Kansas City Star:
Rep. Mark Alford tells fired KC federal workers ‘God has a plan’ at hostile town hall — Ariel Mollhagen couldn't hear what U.S. Rep. Mark Alford was saying but she didn't really need to. The crowd's reaction told the story. — During an extraordinarily heated town hall on Monday …
Discussion:
The Independent, Mediaite and Raw Story
Josh Christenson / New York Post:
Hackers play AI video of Trump kissing Elon Musk's feet on cafeteria screens at HUD headquarters: ‘LONG LIVE THE REAL KING’ — Cyberpunks breached a television at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Monday morning, broadcasting a stomach-turning AI video of President Trump caressing …
Discussion:
NBC News, Zeteo, Breitbart, HuffPost, RedState, The Daily Caller, Mirror US, The Independent, Washington Examiner and MeidasTouch News
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Brett Samuels / The Hill:
AI video of Trump kissing Musk's feet plays on TVs in HUD building
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Wired, Rolling Stone, Metro.co.uk, Twitchy, New Republic, Mediaite, The National Pulse, Daily Kos, The Register, Gizmodo, Business Insider, New York Magazine, TMZ.com, New York Times, Raw Story, Daily Mail, 404 Media, Crooks and Liars, Washington Post and The Gateway Pundit
Matt Bai / Washington Post:
The blinding contempt of the DOGE bros
The blinding contempt of the DOGE bros
Discussion:
Business Insider, Twitchy and FOX 32 Chicago
Politico:
Trump allies circulate mass deportation plan calling for ‘processing camps’ and a private citizen ‘army’ — The group, led by Blackwater veteran Erik Prince, has close Trump ties. — A group of prominent military contractors, including former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince …
Discussion:
Mediaite
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Jack Blanchard / Politico:
Playbook: Prayers for Mike Johnson
Playbook: Prayers for Mike Johnson
Discussion:
Punchbowl News and The Hill
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
U.S. votes against U.N. resolution condemning Russia for Ukraine war — BREAKING NEWS: U.S. sides with Russia to vote against a U.N. resolution condemning Moscow for the Ukraine — Washington's dramatic shift on the conflict marks a major break with its European allies and coincides …
Discussion:
Axios, The Bulwark, Breitbart, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Atlantic Council, USA Today, The Hill, Semafor, OutsideTheBeltway, Associated Press, NPR, Politico, CBS News, Lawyers, Guns & Money and NBC News
RELATED:
Katherine Eban / Vanity Fair:
America's Food Safety Is Now in the Hands of Don Jr.'s Hunting Buddy — As federal health agencies are gutted with abandon, a Florida attorney with a history of hunting with the president's son has been put in charge of food safety at the FDA, overseeing the nation's food supply, infant formula, and more.
Ryan J. Foley / Associated Press:
Nearly 40% of contracts canceled by Musk's DOGE are expected to produce no savings — Nearly 40% of the federal contracts that President Donald Trump's administration claims to have canceled as part of its signature cost-cutting program aren't expected to save the government any money, the administration's own data shows.
Discussion:
The Independent, Digby's Hullabaloo and Poynter
Robert Unanue:
Goya Foods CEO, Bob Unanue, Announces Next Chapter — 50-Year Food Industry Veteran Releases Statement After Being Left in “Limbo” by the Company's Board — Today, Robert “Bob” Unanue, with over 20 years as President & CEO of Goya Foods, is releasing a statement about his status …
Zach Everson / Forbes:
CEO Devin Nunes Made $47 Million While Truth Social Parent Company Reported $401 Million In Losses In 2024 — Devin Nunes earned $47 million in total compensation as CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group last year, although he won't be able to get his hands on all of it until March 2027 …
Kaye Thornbrugh / Coeur d'Alene Press:
Coeur d'Alene prosecutors dismiss citation against woman dragged from town hall, city revokes security company's business license — COEUR d'ALENE — City prosecutors will dismiss a misdemeanor battery citation issued to the Post Falls woman who plainclothes private security guards dragged …
Discussion:
New Republic and KGW-TV
Seb Starcevic / Politico:
EU offers its own ‘win-win’ minerals deal to Ukraine — “The added value Europe offers is that we will never demand a deal that's not mutually beneficial,” top official Stéphane Séjourné says. — The European Union offered its own agreement on “critical materials” …
Discussion:
E&E News, Euromaidan Press, Agence France-Presse, The Kyiv Independent and Semafor
Berkeley Lovelace Jr / NBC News:
FDA rehires staff to its medical devices division after mass layoffs — Around 180 FDA medical device workers were laid off this month by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. — The Trump administration is reinstating some employees in the Food and Drug Administration's medical devices division …
Discussion:
Forbes, Associated Press and STAT
RELATED:
Christina Jewett / New York Times:
F.D.A. Reinstates Fired Medical Device, Food and Legal Staffers
Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:
VA axes another 1,400 employees — The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday fired another 1,400 employees amid outcry over a lack of transparency from the agency after 1,000 workers were axed earlier this month. — The VA said the individuals dismissed were “non-mission critical” …
Discussion:
Fox News, Syracuse Post-Standard and Coeur d'Alene Press
Popular Information:
How to buy your way out of a federal lawsuit — On June 6, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed charges against Coinbase, a crypto trading platform, alleging that the company was operating as an unregistered securities broker. The failure to register, according to the SEC …
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
“Slavery produced a genuine affection between the races”: Hegseth's church foretold “DEI” firings — Defense secretary's contempt for Black military leaders has roots in his religion's defense of white supremacy — Donald Trump's administration is barely bothering to pretend that the firings …
Madison Pauly / Mother Jones:
LGBTQ Federal Workers Brace for a McCarthyist Purge — “They're not asking people, ‘Are you gay? Are you lesbian?’ They're asking, ‘Who is participating in DEI?’” — When Michael first started working in the Department of the Interior over a decade ago, he hid the fact that he was gay from his co-workers.
Dan Pfeiffer / The Message Box:
How to Make the GOP Pay a Price for DOGE — Trump made a huge mistake by putting Musk in charge of implementing deeply unpopular policy — I have seen this movie before, beat for beat. — In August of 2010, in the middle of the effort to pass the Affordable Care Act, Congress went home for a month-long recess.

