Trump puts new limits on Elon Musk  —  The president convened his secretaries, with Musk, to clarify power.  —  President Donald Trump convened his Cabinet in person on Thursday to deliver a message: You're in charge of your departments, not Elon Musk.  —  According to two administration officials …

Treasury Secretary Bessent says the American dream is not about ‘access to cheap goods’ … Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday offered a full-throated defense of the White House's position on tariffs, insisting that trade policy has to be about more than just getting low-priced items from other countries.

DOGE is driving Social Security cuts and will make mistakes, acting head says privately  —  The Social Security Administration's acting commissioner said members of Elon Musk's cost-cutting team are outsiders who are unfamiliar with the nuances of the agency's programs.  —  Just now

Scoop: Dems privately confront Trump speech disruptors  —  House Democratic leadership is privately confronting members who disrupted President Trump's speech to Congress, Axios has learned.  —  Why it matters: Many progressives defied House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' (D-N.Y.) request to avoid making themselves the story.

Exclusive: Trump plans to revoke legal status of Ukrainians who fled to US, sources say  —  U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is planning to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia, a senior Trump official and three sources familiar …

As Trump pivots to Russia, allies weigh sharing less intel with U.S.  —  Members of the so-called Five Eyes spy alliance, as well as Israeli and Saudi officials, fear the identities of foreign assets could inadvertently be shared with Moscow.  —  Some U.S. allies are considering scaling …

DOGE targets child support database full of income data  —  Associates of Elon Musk's group provoked yet another clash with career civil servants over sensitive government records  —  Just now  —  Representatives of the U.S. DOGE Service have sought access to a powerful database of nearly …

Gavin Newsom breaks with Democrats on trans athletes in sports  —  The Democratic California governor made the stunning remarks in his debut podcast with conservative guest Charlie Kirk.  —  California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a pioneer for LGBTQ+ rights who decades ago upset leaders in his own party …

Trump wants to dismantle the Education Department.  Here's what it does  —  President Donald Trump has said he wants his new education chief, Linda McMahon, to “put herself out of a job” and close the Education Department.  McMahon was confirmed by the Senate on Monday …

Marshals Escort DOGE Team Into African Aid Agency  —  A day earlier, U.S. African Development Foundation workers had refused entry to Department of Government Efficiency workers and the State Department official in charge of foreign aid.  —  Federal marshals on Thursday escorted officials …

‘People Are Going Silent’: Fearing Retribution, Trump Critics Muzzle Themselves … More than six weeks into the second Trump administration, there is a chill spreading over political debate in Washington and beyond.By Kenny Holston/The New York Times  —  The silence grows louder every day.

A Sensitive Complex Housing a CIA Facility Was on GSA's List of US Properties for Sale  —  Plans to redevelop a Northern Virginia warehouse site have long been complicated by the area's worst-kept secret—the presence of a CIA facility.  The GSA put the site up for sale anyway.

MAGA world turns against Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett  —  The Trump-appointed justice has shifted the court to the right, but she has angered some in MAGA world by voting against some Trump priorities.  —  WASHINGTON — MAGA activists have turned against one of President Donald …

Second death reported in growing measles outbreak  —  The death of a New Mexico adult comes eight days after a 6-year-old child succumbed to the disease in Texas last week.  —  just now  —  An unvaccinated New Mexico adult who tested positive for measles has died, the second death …

Layoff announcements soar to the highest since 2020 as DOGE slashes federal staff … President Donald Trump's efforts to pare down the federal government workforce left a mark in the labor market in February, with announced job cuts at their highest level in nearly five years …

Trump considering major NATO policy shift  —  The president has discussed possibly favoring members of the alliance that spend a set percentage of their GDP on defense, sources told NBC News.  —  WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is considering a major change to the U.S.' participation …

FEMA's top lawyer placed on leave after less than one week in role  —  The Handbasket is 100% subscriber-funded.  If you want to support independent media during these dark times for democracy, become a paid subscriber today.  —  Video  —  Joshua Stanton had served as Acting Chief Counsel …

Trump Promises To Abuse Take It Down Act For Censorship, Just As We Warned  —  During his address to Congress this week, Donald Trump endorsed the Take It Down Act while openly declaring his plans to abuse it: “And I'm going to use that bill for myself too, if you don't mind, because nobody gets treated worse than I do online, nobody.”

Why Elon Musk and Ben Shapiro want Trump to pardon George Floyd's murderer  —  The video depicting Floyd's murder hasn't changed in five years.  But the Republican Party has.  —  Shortly after the video of George Floyd's death went viral in May 2020, a popular conservative pundit released …

Trump may have already planted the seeds of his political collapse  —  Over the last six weeks, President Trump has been spending political capital like a drunk at a casino who insists he's got “a system.”  If history is any predictor, his second term trajectory may already be set — right off a cliff, pedal to the floor.

Elon Musk and Texas governor celebrate firing of worker over pronouns in email signature  —  Billionaire Trump ally and Greg Abbot tweet about Frank Zamora, who was let go after refusing to remove pronouns  —  The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, and, later, Elon Musk showed support on Wednesday …

He Gave a Name to What Many Christians Feel … Aaron Renn's “negative world” framework has inspired conferences, sermons, and essays.  —  In the two years since Aaron Renn moved to Carmel, Ind., he has become a kind of unofficial booster for the unusual suburb of Indianapolis.