Top Items:
NBC News:
House Speaker Mike Johnson's chief of staff arrested on DUI charge after Trump speech — Hayden Haynes is a longtime top aide to Mike Johnson, both in the speaker's office and his personal office. — WASHINGTON — Hayden Haynes, the chief of staff to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill, Fox News, USA Today, Politico, New York Post, UPI, Raw Story, Associated Press, The Independent, The National Pulse, CBS News, Roll Call and IJR
Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:
GOP must cut Medicaid or Medicare to achieve budget goals, CBO finds — The nonpartisan bookkeeper said there's no other way to cut $1.5 trillion from the budget over the next decade. — Just now — Republicans in Congress cannot reach their goal of cutting at least $1.5 trillion …
Discussion:
The 19th
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Washington Post:
Musk promises better communication between Republican lawmakers, DOGE — “With all due respect to Mr. Musk, he doesn't have a vote up here,” one lawmaker said. — Billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk stepped up his congressional outreach on Wednesday, taking questions from Republican lawmakers …
Discussion:
Fox News
Bloomberg:
Republican Senators Warn Musk DOGE Cuts at Risk Without Congress — Republican senators told Elon Musk Wednesday that billionaire needs congressional approval for controversial spending cuts or they risk being overturned in court. — Elon Musk huddled privately with Republican senators Wednesday …
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
GOP senators to Musk: DOGE actions will require their votes
GOP senators to Musk: DOGE actions will require their votes
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Examiner, NBC News, Politico, Axios and Washington Times
Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:
Republicans need to cut Medicaid to hit budget savings target, CBO finds
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court rejects Trump administration's bid to avoid paying USAID contractors — The Trump administration's efforts to effectively dismantle the foreign aid agency led contractors to file suit claiming they are owed money. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday endorsed …
Discussion:
CBS News, NPR, Human Events, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, The Post Millennial, Axios and IJR
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John Fritze / CNN:
Supreme Court rejects Trump's request to keep billions in foreign aid frozen — A divided Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration's request to keep billions of dollars in foreign aid approved by Congress frozen. — However, the court did not immediately say when the money must …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, ABC News, New York Times, The Hill, New Republic, Fox News, Townhall, Raw Story, Mediaite, Washington Times, Daily Kos, The National Pulse and UPI
Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
Supreme Court reinstates order for the Trump administration to un-freeze foreign aid
Discussion:
New York Times, GovExec.com, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, Law Dork, Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit, Esquire, SCOTUSblog, WBEZ Chicago, New Jersey Online, Associated Press, The Daily Signal, Roll Call, Breitbart, WUSA, Vanity Fair, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, The Mahablog and New Republic
Steve Vladeck / One First:
129. Untangling the Foreign Aid Ruling
129. Untangling the Foreign Aid Ruling
Discussion:
Reason, The Atlantic, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times and Business Insider
Stephen Groves / Associated Press:
Trump administration plans to cut 80,000 employees from Veterans Affairs, according to internal memo — The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning an “aggressive” reorganization that includes cutting 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care for retired military members …
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Examiner, Scripps News, Salon, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, New York Magazine, CBS News, Daily Kos, Bloomberg, One America News Network, Senator Patty Murray, Townhall, WNYW-TV, Roll Call, New Republic, The Hill, Baltimore Sun, Democrats, IJR, MeidasTouch News, Forbes and Raw Story
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Rebecca Kheel / Military.com:
83,000 VA Employees Slated to Be Fired This Year by Musk's DOGE, Memo Says
83,000 VA Employees Slated to Be Fired This Year by Musk's DOGE, Memo Says
Discussion:
GovExec.com, The Guardian and USA Today
Savyata Mishra / Reuters:
Jack Daniel's maker says Canada pulling U.S. alcohol off store shelves is ‘worse than a tariff’ — /business/business/business// businessJack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman Corp.'s CEO Lawson Whiting said on Wednesday Canadian provinces taking American liquor off store shelves was “worse than a tariff” …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Brian Platt / Bloomberg:
Canada Won't Scrap Tariffs Unless All US Levies Are Lifted, Official Says
Discussion:
Reuters, CNBC, New York Times, New Republic, Canadian Press, Fortune, The Hill, Associated Press, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, Global News, Fox Business, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Mail, The Week and CNN
Ken Bredemeier / Voice of America:
Trump delays 25% tariff on vehicle imports from Mexico, Canada
Trump delays 25% tariff on vehicle imports from Mexico, Canada
Discussion:
Fox Business
Savyata Mishra / Reuters:
Jack Daniel's maker says Canada pulling US alcohol off shelves ‘worse than tariff’
Jack Daniel's maker says Canada pulling US alcohol off shelves ‘worse than tariff’
Discussion:
The Independent and Oregonian
Miles Klee / Rolling Stone:
Trump Decried Millions Spent ‘Making Mice Transgender.’ It Was Cancer and Asthma Research — The president's State of the Union address included a line designed to go viral in the right-wing misinformation machine … The chief executive of the United States told the country …
Discussion:
The White House, Twitchy and Breitbart
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Barak Ravid / Axios:
Exclusive: U.S. holding secret talks with Hamas … - While the Trump administration consulted with Israel about the possibility of engaging with Hamas, Israel learned about aspects of the talks through other channels, one source said. — The sources spoke with Axios on the condition …
Discussion:
Reuters, NBC News, HotAir, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, The Daily Caller, BBC, Forbes, Associated Press, NPR, Townhall, New York Times, The Guardian, israelhayom.com, The Forward, WTOP News and The Daily Wire
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Anna Merlan / Mother Jones:
This Pentagon Press Secretary Has a Long History of Bigoted and Xenophobic Posts — “Be unapologetically right-wing. It will pay off.” — On Donald Trump's first day in office, the Department of Defense announced a spate of hires, including 26-year-old Kingsley Wilson, who will serve as the Pentagon's deputy press secretary.
Discussion:
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
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Doug Palmer / Politico:
Trump pauses Canada, Mexico auto tariffs — “We spoke with the big three auto dealers,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through [the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.” — President Donald Trump has decided …
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CBS News:
Poll on Trump's 2025 joint address to Congress finds large majority of viewers approve — A large majority of speech watchers approved of what they heard from President Trump's joint address to Congress Tuesday night. — The viewership was heavily Republican — historically a president's party draws more of their own partisans.
Discussion:
CNN, Scripps News, New Yorker, Roll Call, Los Angeles Times, TVLine, Deadline, Ace of Spades HQ, PoliticusUSA, New York Post, One America News Network, The Hill, The American Conservative, Townhall, The Post Millennial, Breitbart, The Daily Wire, Bloomberg, The Independent, Blaze Media, Daily Mail, Twitchy, New York Daily News, HotAir, Human Events, Megyn Kelly, RedState, Washington Examiner, New Republic and Louder With Crowder
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Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
The American Century is Over — President in Name Only Donald Trump delivered remarks …
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Trump's Golden Age of Bunk
Trump's Golden Age of Bunk
Discussion:
The Colorado Sun and New York Times
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Suspends Costly Deportation Flights Using Military Aircraft — Trump administration had used C-17s to fly migrants abroad and to Guantanamo Bay — The Trump administration has stopped using military aircraft to fly migrants who entered the U.S. illegally to Guantanamo Bay or other countries, defense officials said.
Discussion:
NBC News
Joyce Vance / Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
Let's Be Honest About The State Of The Union — It wasn't necessary to watch all of Trump's speech last night to understand where we are as a country. The state of our union, as I noted Sunday night, is compromised. And that comes as no surprise to any of us.
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Megan Lebowitz / NBC News:
Lawyer submits ‘new evidence’ in case against DOGE, using Trump's own words
Lawyer submits ‘new evidence’ in case against DOGE, using Trump's own words
Discussion:
Business Insider, The Daily Caller, UPI, New Jersey Online, The Hill and The Daily Wire
Zach Everson / Forbes:
Trading Volume In This Nasdaq-Listed Firm Soared Before Don Jr. And Eric Trump Were Announced As Board Members—'Suspicious,' Experts Say — Trading in Dominari Holdings Inc. soared ahead of the February announcement that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump had taken stakes in the company …
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Trump administration ordered to reinstate thousands of fired USDA workers — The decision is a blow to the Trump administration's effort to drastically and quickly shrink the federal bureaucracy. — Thousands of fired workers at the Department of Agriculture must get their jobs back for at least …
Discussion:
NPR, NBC News, CNN, GovExec.com, USA Today, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Axios, Federal News Network, The Independent, osc.gov, WUSA and Reuters
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Jonathan Chait / The Atlantic:
The Simple Explanation for Why Trump Turned Against Ukraine — Donald Trump's highly public schism with Volodymyr Zelensky has yielded the kind of doublethink that is common in personality cults. Those believers who approve of the policy hail the great leader's strategic genius.
Discussion:
Politico and Digby's Hullabaloo
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NBC News:
Elon Musk suggests the U.S. should privatize the Postal Service and Amtrak — During a remote appearance at a technology conference in San Francisco, Musk told attendees the U.S. should privatize “as much as possible.” — Trump adviser and tech mogul Elon Musk suggested Wednesday …
Discussion:
Business Insider
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
Why Trump Thanked John Roberts — The conservative justices are frequently accomplices to Trump's assault on democracy. — The exchange was so awkward, it should have been followed by the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song. While President Donald Trump was shaking hands down the aisle …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Ace of Spades HQ, CNN, Mother Jones and The Daily Wire
Wired:
Here's a Map of the For-Sale Government Properties the GSA Pulled From Its Website — The General Services Administration plans to sell hundreds of government buildings, including FBI headquarters. Use our interactive tools to see where they are—and the congressional districts they're in.
Financial Times:
US cuts off intelligence sharing with Ukraine — Fresh blow to embattled government in Kyiv as Trump administration shifts on conflict — The US has cut off intelligence-sharing with Kyiv in a move that could seriously hamper the Ukrainian military's ability to target Russian forces, according to officials familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, CNN, New York Times, Reuters, Washington Post, Scripps News, NBC News, Axios, Daily Mail, Associated Press, Metro.co.uk, Euromaidan Press, TechCrunch, The Post Millennial, UPI, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, MeidasTouch News, The Independent, The Kyiv Independent, Bloomberg, Semafor and One America News Network
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump's Rage Over “Low” Deportations Suddenly Gets More Unnerving — For weeks now, President Donald Trump's propagandists have relentlessly glorified his mass-deportations, even posting images of defeated-looking migrants getting frog-marched onto shiny military planes.
Reuters:
Exclusive: Judges face rise in threats as Musk blasts them over rulings — U.S. Marshals have warned federal judges of unusually high threat levels as tech billionaire Elon Musk and other Trump administration allies ramp up efforts to discredit judges who stand in the way of White House efforts …
Mike Stobbe / Associated Press:
CDC invites back about 180 fired employees, including some who help fight outbreaks — The nation's top public health agency is inviting about 180 employees back to work, about two weeks after laying them off. Emails went out Tuesday to some Centers for Disease Control and Prevention probationary employees …
Washington Post:
Trump officials to reopen Texas detention center for migrant families — Four years after the Biden administration stopped detaining migrant children, a private prison contractor says it has reached an agreement with ICE to reopen the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.
Discussion:
USA Today
Nathaniel Meyersohn / CNN:
A 40-day Target boycott starts today. It couldn't come at a worse time for the company — New York CNN — Target is facing a 40-day consumer boycott starting Wednesday over the company's shift away from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fox Business, Advocate, The Hill, New York Post, PR Daily, TheGrio and CBS News


