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9:50 AM ET, March 12, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:
Trump and Musk are building a new spoils system  —  A basic democratic norm is that laws are implemented as they are written.  Another norm is that the implementation of the law be even-handed, applied equally to all groups.  The idea that some groups would become less eligible for public support …
Discussion: Washington Post and Politico
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Senate shutdown showdown  —  Just now … Good morning, Early Birds.  The headquarters and field offices of the Department of Education are closed today.  Send tips to [email protected].  Thanks for waking up with us.  —  In today's edition ... Trump gears up to be deeply involved in midterms ... but first ...
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Democrats appear ready to back down in government shutdown fight  —  Senate Democrats say the six-month government funding resolution that passed the House Tuesday is a “horrible” bill, but there's growing sentiment within the Senate Democratic conference that it would be too risky …
Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
Republicans Quietly Move to Relinquish Power to Undo Trump's Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China
Discussion: NOTUS and The Hill
David Dayen / American Prospect:
Senate Democrats' Choice: Block the Republican Spending Bill or Dissolve Congress
Kelsey Ables / Washington Post:   GOP lawmaker misgenders Democratic Rep. McBride, derailing House hearing
Wall Street Journal:
How Do You Like the Trade War Now?  —  Trump is furious that Canada won't take his tariffs lying down.  —  President Trump wanted a trade war with the world, and Americans are getting it, good and hard.  Stock prices continued to decline on Tuesday amid the latest Canada-U.S. tariff tit-for-tat.
RELATED:
Elisabeth Buchwald / CNN:
Trump imposes sweeping 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported into the US  —  President Donald Trump imposed a sweeping 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imported into the United States on Wednesday, a move that threatens to drive up prices on a broad range of consumer and industrial goods for Americans.
CBS News:
Lutnick says Trump's policies are “worth it” even if they lead to recession  —  Washington — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended President Trump's economic policies Tuesday, saying they are “worth it” even if they lead to a recession.  —  “These policies are the most important thing America …
Wall Street Journal:
Trump's Economic Messaging Is Spooking Some of His Own Advisers  —  The president's team has received a flood of calls from business executives concerned about the mixed messaging on tariffs  —  WASHINGTON—President Trump's stop-and-start trade policy and uneven economic messaging have rattled …
Discussion: Washington Post and The Hill
Wall Street Journal:
EU Hits Back as U.S. Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Take Effect  —  The 25% global levy imposed by the Trump administration comes after the U.S. and Canada backed off additional measures  —  The Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, after the U.S …
Associated Press:
EU retaliates against Trump's trade moves and hits beef, whiskey, motorcycles with targeted tariffs
Michael Luciano / Mediaite:
Hannity Edits Trump Spokesperson's Response To Omit Stunningly Erroneous Claims, Insists She Dominated Reporter
New York Times:
Education Department Fires 1,300 Workers, Gutting Its Staff  —  The layoffs mean that the department will now have a work force of about half the size it did when President Trump took office.  —  The Education Department announced on Tuesday that it was firing more than 1,300 workers …
RELATED:
U.S. Department of Education:
U.S. Department of Education Initiates Reduction in Force  —  As part of the Department of Education's final mission, the Department today initiated a reduction in force (RIF) impacting nearly 50% of the Department's workforce.  Impacted Department staff will be placed on administrative leave beginning Friday, March 21st.
Associated Press:
Education Department cuts half its staff as Trump vows to wind the agency down
Inside Higher Ed:
Education Department to Lay Off Half of Staff
Discussion: GovExec.com, The Guardian and NOTUS
CNN:
Trump official tasked with defending DOGE cuts posted fashion influencer videos from her office  —  As the Office of Personnel Management oversaw the layoffs of thousands of federal workers and pressed others to justify their positions, the agency's chief spokesperson repeatedly used her office …
Discussion: New York Times and Raw Story
Wall Street Journal:
Johns Hopkins Plans Staff Layoffs After $800 Million Grant Cuts  —  Local and international health research efforts are already winding down as the university braces for even more potential cuts  —  The Trump administration has terminated $800 million in grants to Johns Hopkins University …
Wall Street Journal:
Trump, Perkins Coie and John Adams  —  The President breaks a bedrock legal principle by targeting the law firm for representing clients he doesn't like.  —  Tap For Sound  —  As he campaigned for a second term, Donald Trump often said his retribution against opponents would be “success.”
RELATED:
Ruth Marcus / New Yorker:
Why I Left the Washington Post  —  Owner Jeff Bezos wants to transform the Opinions section of the paper, where I worked for forty years.  After the publisher killed my column disagreeing with that move—it appears here in full—I decided to quit.  —  I walked into the Washington Post building …
Discussion: Associated Press and Twitchy
Lisa Friedman / New York Times:
E.P.A. Plans to Close All Environmental Justice Offices  —  An internal memo directs the closure of offices designed to ease the heavy pollution faced by poor and minority communities.  —  The Trump administration intends to eliminate Environmental Protection Agency offices responsible …
Discussion: Scripps News and Breitbart
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The Mahmoud Khalil arrest is also what cronyism looks like  —  The administration's explanations are a cover: Trump is using his power to shield allies and punish opponents.  —  Just now  —  What is Mahmoud Khalil alleged to have done?  —  The Trump administration has yet to offer a particularly satisfying answer to that question.
RELATED:
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Inflation rate hits 2.8% in February, less than expected  —  WATCH NOW  —  Prices for goods and services moved up less than expected in February, providing some relief as consumers and businesses worry about the looming impact tariffs might have on inflation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
RELATED:
Jonathan Martin / Politico:
Rahm Emanuel Is Gearing Up to Run for President  —  The former Chicago mayor is already on the hustings, finding new ways to attack Trumpism from the center.  —  Rahm Wants to Run.  —  Yes, that Rahm.  And, yes, for that office — the presidency.  —  “I've only been back two months …
Ariel Edwards-Levy / CNN:
New CNN poll: Americans are negative on Trump's handling of economy  —  Americans are not impressed with President Donald Trump's stewardship of the economy, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, putting him underwater on the nation's top issue even as he sees ratings among the best …
Discussion: The Hill and Emerson Polling
NBC News:
Justice Department office that prosecutes public corruption slashed in size, sources say  —  Only a fraction of the Public Integrity Section's employees — roughly a half dozen — will remain in an office that, until recently, had dozens of employees.  —  The Trump Administration is slashing …
RELATED:
Reuters:
Trump administration eyes cuts to Justice Department public corruption unit, people familiar say
Discussion: Associated Press
Jamie Raskin for Congress:
DOGE Privacy Act Requests  —  U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin is encouraging all U.S. citizens to join him this week in filing formal demands for access to their personal data obtained by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk.  —  The U.S. District Court for the District …
Max Marin / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
DOGE cancels Philly apartment lease for Secret Service agents guarding Biden's daughter  —  The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency sparked disagreement with the U.S. Secret Service after DOGE said it canceled a lease for a Philadelphia apartment that the agency used …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Paul Krugman:
A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Lose
Discussion: Breitbart and Mediaite
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
March 11, 2025  —  The stock market continued to fall today.  The Dow Jones Industrial …
David Frum / The Atlantic:
Don't Trust the Trumpsplainers  —  The opioid dispensers' efforts to sell some MAGA …
ProPublica:
Two Transgender Girls, Six Federal Agencies. How Trump Is Trying to Pressure Maine Into Obedience.
Discussion: Washington Blade
Holman W. Jenkins, Jr / Wall Street Journal:
Is Trump Throwing It Away?
New York Times:
In Trump's Shadow, Greenland Votes for a New Government
 Earlier Items: 
Marc Caputo / Axios:
Scoop: Trump Jr. backs Donalds for Fla. governor in MAGA squeeze play
Discussion: The Floridian and Florida Politics
Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
Where Are Trump and Musk Taking Us?
Peter Beaumont / The Guardian:
‘I feel utter anger’: From Canada to Europe, a movement to boycott US goods is spreading
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
A Great Unraveling Is Underway
Discussion: Raw Story
Spencer S. Hsu / Washington Post:
D.C. U.S. attorney targets Ukraine whistleblower Rep. Vindman
Politico:
USAID official tells remaining staffers: Shred and burn all your documents
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Netflix agrees to acquire WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash-and-stock deal, set to close after WBD splits into two companies in Q3 2026

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
The Chicago Tribune sues Perplexity for copyright infringement, alleging Perplexity's platforms lift Tribune content verbatim and divert traffic from the paper

Will Sommer / @willsommer:
The Blaze retracts its article accusing a former Capitol Police officer of being the January 6 pipe bomber after the FBI arrested a different person

 
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