AOC Rips “Tyrannical and Un-American” Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil  —  Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned ICE's detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, calling it a “tyrannical” move.  —  “Violating rule of law, actually,” AOC wrote on Monday, responding to an assertion from Katie Miller …

Justice Dept. Official Says She Was Fired After Opposing Restoring Mel Gibson's Gun Rights  —  Elizabeth G. Oyer, the former pardon attorney, said that she was not told why she was dismissed, but that as events unfolded she feared they might lead to her firing.

Trump Promised Americans Booming Wealth.  Now He's Changing His Tune.  —  President Trump's sweeping promises are running headlong into the reality of governing.  —  As a presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump promised an economic “boom like no other.”  —  But eight weeks into his presidency …

Ex-Philippine Leader Duterte Arrested in Drug War Case  —  The Philippines said former President Rodrigo Duterte is under police custody after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant following an investigation into his deadly drug war.  —  Duterte was arrested by police …

Musk Melts Down as Tesla Stock Price Plunges  —  The electric vehicle company has become a toxic brand as its CEO wreaks havoc in Washington … But mixed in were a number of posts about Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer that still counts him as CEO despite his seemingly full …

USDA cancels $1B in local food purchasing for schools, food banks  —  States have been notified that they will not receive 2025 funding for schools to buy food from nearby farms.  —  The Agriculture Department has axed two programs that gave schools and food banks money to buy food …

Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories  —  In a recent interview, the health secretary also suggested that the measles vaccine had harmed children in West Texas, center of an outbreak.  —  In a sweeping interview, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. …

Over texts and ‘eyeball to eyeball,’ Republicans succeed in persuading Musk.  But Democrats hit dead ends  —  When a multi-million federal grant program for dairy businesses was shut down earlier this month in line with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency push to downsize the government …

Ukraine Targets Moscow With Large-Scale Drone Attack  —  The mayor of the Russian capital called the attack the war's largest against the city.  It appeared to be a reminder of Ukraine's power to strike as its president proposes an air truce.  —  Russian officials said Ukraine attacked Moscow …

Health Update  —  With a heavy heart, I have to tell you that after a long battle with cancer my husband Kevin Drum passed away on Friday, March 7, 2025.  —  No public memorial services are planned.  —  In lieu of flowers, please donate to the charity or political cause of your choice.

At SXSW, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber pokes fun at Mark Zuckerberg with Latin phrase T-shirt  —  When Bluesky CEO Jay Graber walked on stage at SXSW 2025 for her keynote discussion, she wore a large black T-shirt with her hair pulled back into a bun.  At first glance, it might appear …

Judge orders urgent release of DOGE records, citing ‘unprecedented’ power and ‘unusual secrecy’  —  It's the first significant ruling in a growing legal push to pierce DOGE's secretive veil, a decision that undercuts Musk's repeated insistence about the operation's transparency.

Musk says DOGE is in almost every federal agency and plans to double staff  —  The tech billionaire also indicated he wasn't leaving government soon as he faces growing pushback to his chainsaw-style budget cutting.  —  Trump adviser and tech billionaire Elon Musk said Monday that he plans …

Firm Targeted by Trump Over Clinton Campaign Work Hires Top Litigators  —  President Trump stripped Perkins Coie of access to federal buildings and personnel, citing its work for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign.  The firm hired Williams & Connolly, which is skilled in fighting the government, to represent it.

A top ‘Washington Post’ columnist resigns, accusing publisher of killing piece  —  A top political columnist for The Washington Post resigned Monday, accusing Post Chief Executive and Publisher Will Lewis of killing her column that criticized owner Jeff Bezos' drive to overhaul the opinion pages to focus on his libertarian priorities.

Billionaires at Trump's Swearing-In Have Since Lost $210 Billion … As Donald Trump took the oath of office on Jan. 20, he was flanked by some of the world's wealthiest people.  The billionaires present that day — including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg — had never been richer …

Pentagon abruptly ends all funding for social science research  —  More than 90 studies on threats such as climate change, extremism, and disinformation are halted  —  The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is ending all of its funding for social science research, stopping 91 ongoing studies related …

Texas bill would make identifying as transgender a felony punishable by jail  —  The bill, while unlikely to pass, highlights the increasing extremism of legislation targeting trans people, especially in Texas, in recent years.  —  A Texas state bill could charge transgender people with …

X down: Twitter not working amid major outage  —  Musk speculated that cyberattack could be work of hostile nation, as X rival Bluesky also experienced a modest outage  —  Your support helps us to tell the story  —  From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing.

Trump Goes on Truth Social Spree as Stock Market Freefalls  —  While investors watched in horror as the stock market plunged on Monday as a result of President Donald Trump's sprawling trade wars, he was busy reposting praise for his administration on Truth Social.The president posted …

Elon Musk calls Sen. Mark Kelly a ‘traitor’ over his social media posts in support of Ukraine  —  Kelly, a former Navy combat pilot, responded to the tech billionaire's remark by saying “he's not a serious guy” and should “go back to building rockets.”  —  Elon Musk and Sen. Mark Kelly sparred …