Top Items:
Salvador Rizzo / Washington Post:
Judge blocks Trump administration's mass firings of federal workers — A federal judge ruled that the terminations at several agencies, including the Department of Defense, were likely illegal. — SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Office of Personnel Management …
Discussion:
Politico, GovExec.com, USA Today, Daily Caller News Foundation, Townhall, Axios, The Independent and Forbes
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Inside DOGE's Clash With the Federal Workforce — With a surprise incursion in the first minutes of the Trump presidency, Elon Musk's programmers seized control of a key personnel agency; ‘rogue bureaucrats’ fight back — WASHINGTON, D.C.-At 12:01 p.m. on Jan. 20, as Donald Trump …
New York Times:
How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy — The operation was driven with a frenetic focus by the billionaire, who channeled his resentment of regulatory oversight into a drastic overhaul of government agencies. — On the last Friday of September 2023 …
Discussion:
Christian Science Monitor, spiked and The Daily Caller
Eric Katz / GovExec.com:
Judge orders Trump administration to rescind directives on probationary employee firings
Discussion:
Business Insider, New York Times, Associated Press, USA Today, Washington Examiner, Defense One and Federal News Network
Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Judge halts mass firings of federal workers at some agencies
Judge halts mass firings of federal workers at some agencies
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit and Fox News
New York Times:
How Trump's Cabinet Scrambled to Respond to Musk's DOGE Email
How Trump's Cabinet Scrambled to Respond to Musk's DOGE Email
Discussion:
Musk Watch and Vanity Fair
Washington Post:
Federal workers could get a second email Saturday. It might require a response.
Federal workers could get a second email Saturday. It might require a response.
Discussion:
Business Insider
Jake Lahut / Wired:
Elon Musk's Takeover Is Being Aided by a Trumpworld Power Couple
Elon Musk's Takeover Is Being Aided by a Trumpworld Power Couple
Discussion:
Raw Story
Janie Har / Associated Press:
US judge in San Francisco will hear request by unions to halt mass firings of probationary workers
US judge in San Francisco will hear request by unions to halt mass firings of probationary workers
Discussion:
RedState and Associated Press
Gary Grumbach / NBC News:
Judge orders Trump admin to rescind memo directing mass firing of federal workers
Judge orders Trump admin to rescind memo directing mass firing of federal workers
Discussion:
NPR, Mediaite, UPI and Blaze Media
Rebecca Crosby / Popular Information:
BREAKING: SEC halts fraud prosecution of Chinese national who sent Trump millions — In December, Popular Information reported that Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun purchased $30 million in crypto tokens from World Liberty Financial (WLF), a new venture backed by President Donald Trump and his family.
Discussion:
Bloomberg and CoinDesk, more at Techmeme »
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Allison Morrow / CNN:
A crypto mogul who invested millions into Trump coins is getting a reprieve on civil fraud charges — A version of this story appeared in CNN Business' Nightcap newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. — New York CNN — A businessman who pumped $75 million …
Liz Goodwin / Washington Post:
Behind the scenes, GOP senators challenge legality of Trump's aid cuts — Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who lauded the USAID cuts, quietly joined Democrats in expressing alarm. — Just now — A handful of Republican senators have joined their Democratic colleagues in expressing alarm …
Discussion:
Wired, Hartford Courant, Reuters, Raw Story and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Punchbowl News:
2/28/25 ☀️ AM: — New Democratic ads, plus a big CPC PAC-DCCC fundraiser
Discussion:
The Hill, Breitbart and Blaze Media
Axios:
Democrats grasp to avoid government shutdown
Democrats grasp to avoid government shutdown
Discussion:
Politico, Raw Story, Punchbowl News, Talking Points Memo, Washington Examiner, E&E News, Good Politics/Bad Politics and Scripps News
CNN:
NOAA fires about 800 employees, with more possible Friday — The Trump administration has its government-shrinking sights set on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where around 800 employees have been tapped for termination, according to two sources close to the agency.
Discussion:
Washington Post, OPB, UPI, USA Today, NPR and Washington Examiner
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The Guardian:
‘Cruel and thoughtless’: Trump fires hundreds at US climate agency Noaa — Employees informed by email that their jobs would be cut off at end of day in move a worker called ‘wrong all around’ — Don't let a billionaire's algorithm control what you read. Download our free app to get trusted reporting.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Axios and Scripps News
Zack Budryk / The Hill:
NOAA begins firing hundreds of staffers
NOAA begins firing hundreds of staffers
Discussion:
Denver Post, U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman and E&E News
Washington Post:
FBI investigating Trump EPA claims of fraud in $20B Biden grant fund — While career prosecutors in two U.S. attorney offices and a U.S. judge balked at a court-ordered freeze, Citibank has locked down billions without explanation. — Just now — FBI agents this week questioned …
Discussion:
Reason
Stephanie Nolen / New York Times:
U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World — Here are some of the 5,800 contracts the Trump administration formally canceled this week in a wave of terse emails. — Starting Wednesday afternoon, a wave of emails went out from the State Department …
Discussion:
The Guardian and Politico
Pamela Herd / Can We Still Govern?:
Trump's Assault on Social Security — Social Security is our biggest and most successful safety net program. The annual $1.6 trillion in benefits constitutes 40% of the federal spending and 40% of older adults' income. It lifts more people out of poverty than any other government program.
Discussion:
Newsweek, Talking Points Memo, Fox Business and Forbes
RELATED:
Fatima Hussein / Associated Press:
Social Security Administration could cut up to 50% of its workforce
Social Security Administration could cut up to 50% of its workforce
Discussion:
The Hill, Democrats, American Prospect and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries
CDC Newsroom:
CDC Statement on Measles Outbreak — RELEASE — CDC Media Relations — (404) 639-3286 — [email protected] — CDC continues to be in close communication with Texas health authorities about the measles outbreak in West Texas, following the death of a child. HHS sends its deepest condolences to the family.
RELATED:
Sarah Rumpf / Mediaite:
Young Republicans Group Invites Accused Sex Trafficker Brothers to Speak: ‘As Free Speech Absolutists...’ — The Tampa Bay Young Republicans tweeted an invitation to Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan to come speak to their group, drawing swift criticism for the outreach to the men currently facing charges …
Discussion:
Florida Politics
RELATED:
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Andrew Tate, Accused Sex Trafficker, Is Trump's Kind of Guy
Andrew Tate, Accused Sex Trafficker, Is Trump's Kind of Guy
Discussion:
The Dispatch, The Intercept, The Floridian, NBC News, Washington Post, The Independent, The Daily Wire, Townhall, Fox News, HuffPost, USA Today, Mediaite, NPR, The 19th, Digby's Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Axios, The Daily Caller, Rolling Stone, CBS News, Bloomberg, Associated Press, New York Daily News, New Republic, The Gateway Pundit, WAGA-TV, CityNews Toronto, New York Post and Sky News
David Smith / The Guardian:
Trump tried to extort Zelenskyy and was impeached - now he may succeed — The Ukrainian president is expected at the White House on Friday to sign a multimillion-dollar minerals deal with echoes of a notorious 2019 phone call — Alexander Vindman remembers the phone call - and what he did next.
Discussion:
Raw Story
RELATED:
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Republicans fear their big budget win is a 2026 time bomb … - One Republican moderate, speaking on the condition of anonymity to give candid thoughts about political concerns surrounding their party's marquee legislation, told Axios: “It could be trouble.”
Discussion:
New York Times, Raw Story, IJR, The Hill, Public Notice and HuffPost
RELATED:
William Vaillancourt / The Daily Beast:
Musk Makes Big Mistake While Trying to Smear CNN Legal Analyst Norm Eisen — CARELESS — The billionaire DOGE chief found a woman with the same last name as a lawyer he hates. Cue the conspiracy.
U.S. Department of Education:
U.S. Department of Education Launches “End DEI” Portal — WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Department of Education launched EndDEI.Ed.Gov, a public portal for parents, students, teachers, and the broader community to submit reports of discrimination based on race or sex in publicly-funded K-12 schools.
RELATED:
US Department of Justice:
Attorney General Pamela Bondi Releases First Phase of Declassified Epstein Files — Today, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), declassified and publicly released files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his sexual exploitation …
Discussion:
New York Post, New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News, Townhall, IJR, The Hollywood Reporter, NewsNation, The Daily Caller, Israpundit, One America News Network, Page Six, Rolling Stone, UPI, The Hill, Washington Examiner, RedState, FOX 32 Chicago, The Daily Signal, New Republic, Bloomberg, Raw Story, The Federalist, The Post Millennial, Daily Mail, Associated Press, The Maine Wire, Human Events, Florida Politics, Scripps News, The Gateway Pundit, The National Pulse and Hollywood Life
Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
Former defense chiefs denounce Trump's ‘reckless’ Pentagon firings — The five former leaders urged Congress to hold the president accountable for what they called his unjustified removal of the Joint Chiefs chairman and other top military officers. — Five former defense secretaries …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Reuters, Raw Story and Political Wire
Politico:
Judge orders Trump administration officials to give sworn testimony on DOGE — The Justice Department fought the effort to put staffers involved in the controversial cost-slashing effort under oath. — A federal judge has ordered Trump administration officials involved in Elon Musk's …
Discussion:
NBC News, The Hill, Scripps News, New York Times, Reuters, Business Insider, Raw Story, Bloomberg and Fox News
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / New Republic:
MAGA Loses It as DOGE Staffer Identities Revealed — The New York Times identified several dozen employees working for the Department of Government Efficiency, but conservatives were surprisingly unhappy about the transparency. — “The so-called New York Times outs 45 people working for DOGE …
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and New York Times
Angela Yang / NBC News:
Some people online are planning an ‘economic blackout’ Friday. What does that mean? — Shoppers say they're targeting major companies to protest what they describe as corporate corruption. — An effort to encourage U.S. consumers to participate in a day of protest by not spending money Friday …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Washington Post, New Republic, El País, HotAir, NPR, TheGrio, Louder With Crowder, New Jersey Online, masslive.com and Chicago Sun Times
Washington Post:
Harsh findings on Trump's aid freeze kept secret by USAID watchdog — Two reports showing dire impacts on Africa and Gaza have not been released in fear of Trump's wrath, official says — The watchdog for the U.S. Agency for International Development has yet to release two critical reports …


