FDA cancels meeting to select flu strains for next season's shots  —  The canceled meeting comes just days after a CDC vaccine advisory committee meeting was abruptly postponed.  —  A Food and Drug Administration vaccine advisory committee meeting scheduled for March to select the strains …

Justice Department tells judges it can't comply with court-ordered deadline to release frozen aid funding  —  In court filings, the DOJ contends it will take “weeks” to free the funding that a federal judge ordered to be released almost two weeks ago.  —  The Trump administration …

Jeff Bezos is muzzling the Washington Post's opinion section.  That's a death knell  —  'I couldn't be more sad and disgusted,' says former top editor Martin Baron  —  Owners and publishers of news organizations often exert their will on opinion sections.  It would be naive to think otherwise.

Top Social Security deputies leave amid rumored staff cuts  —  Most of the Social Security Administration's regional commissioners have decided to retire at the end of this week, following mysterious meetings with agency leaders about plans to slash its workforce.

In Trump's Washington, a Moscow-Like Chill Takes Hold  —  A new administration's efforts to pressure the news media, punish political opponents and tame the nation's tycoons evoke the early days of President Vladimir V. Putin's reign in Russia.  —  She asked too many questions that the president didn't like.

Musk claims DOGE ‘restored’ Ebola prevention effort.  Officials disagree.  —  USAID's initiatives to fight Ebola and other diseases have been gutted, current and former agency officials said  —  Elon Musk on Wednesday acknowledged that the U.S. DOGE Service “accidentally canceled” …

VA pauses billions in cuts lauded by Musk as lawmakers and veterans decry loss of critical care  —  The Department of Veterans Affairs has temporarily suspended billions of dollars in planned contract cuts following concerns that the move would hurt critical veterans' health services …

RFK Jr. Has Horrific Response to Measles Death  —  An unvaccinated child in west Texas died of measles on Wednesday, marking the first time that someone has died from the viral illness in the U.S. in a decade.  —  So far, 18 people have been hospitalized for the disease around Lubbock …

Johnson rules out steepest Medicaid cut options  —  Speaker Mike Johnson has ruled out some of the biggest potential cuts to Medicaid for Republicans' party-line package to enact President Donald Trump's agenda.  The House has targeted at least $880 billion in savings from the Energy and Commerce Committee …

Trump Administration Escalates Layoffs of Federal Workers  —  Federal officials circulated a memo asking agency leaders to plan even more job reductions after thousands of federal workers were fired in recent weeks.  —  The Trump administration moved forward on Wednesday with plans …

WHCA head: Public ‘can no longer trust’ pool reports under White House control  —  The head of the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) says the public can no longer trust pool reports now that the reporters included in the small group will be controlled by President Trump's team.

British PM Starmer to meet Trump at White House  —  British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday to address the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and bilateral trade ties, amid the U.S. leader's tariff threats on Europe and demands …

Implementing the President's “Department of Government Efficiency” Cost Efficiency Initiative  —  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.  Purpose.  This order commences a transformation …

Democrats Need to Clean House  —  The problem with the party goes way beyond the $10 words.  —  At the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics last week, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was nearly apoplectic about the diversity spectacles at the recent Democratic National …

Chief Justice John Roberts pauses order for Trump admin to pay $2 billion in foreign aid by midnight  —  Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday paused a court-imposed midnight deadline that would have required the Trump administration to spend $2 billion in frozen foreign aid …

Gene Hackman, Hollywood's Consummate Everyman, Dies at 95  —  The winner of two Oscars, he was hailed for his nuanced performances in films like “The French Connection,” “Unforgiven” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”  —  Gene Hackman, who never fit the mold of a Hollywood movie star …

Dozens of DOGE ‘receipts’ saved no money and killed contracts meant to boost efficiency  —  Many of the receipts published by Elon Musk's DOGE aren't receipts at all — they're negotiated deals with vetted vendors who might do future government work.  —  Take a quick look at the Department …

DOGE Staffers at HUD Are From an AI Real Estate Firm and a Mobile Home Operator  —  Elon Musk's men at HUD come from the real estate sector.  They have access to vast stores of personal and financial data—and control over who can access which HUD systems.  —  On February 10 …

Trump Team Weighs Pulling Funds for Moderna Bird Flu Vaccine  — Government moves to review funding for mRNA vaccines  — Biden administration had awarded contract in its final days  —  US health officials are reevaluating a $590 million contract for bird flu shots …

Live Updates: Trump Administration Cuts Nearly 10,000 Foreign Aid Programs  —  Where Things Stand  — Steep cuts to foreign aid: Lawyers for the Trump administration said that the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department were losing nearly 10,000 contracts and grants …

Musk's Empire Is Reaping $2 Million Per Day From Trump  —  This is a web version of The Lever's daily email newsletter.  —  Today's Lever story (click here to read): It's Nevada vs. Delaware in a new battle to court corporate supervillains with get-out-of-jail-free cards.

Trump asks Apple to end diversity policies after shareholders vote in favor  —  U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Apple AAPL.O to scrap its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, a day after the iPhone maker's shareholders voted overwhelmingly to keep them in the face of growing pushback from conservative groups.

US government spending has not slowed under Trump so far, data shows  —  The U.S. government spent more during President Donald Trump's first month in office than it did during the same period a year ago, in a sign his cost-slashing effort has yet to reduce the nation's heavy fiscal obligations, a Reuters analysis of federal data shows.