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 …

EU retaliates against Trump's trade moves and hits beef, whiskey, motorcycles with targeted tariffs  —  The European Union on Wednesday announced retaliatory trade action with new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products, responding within hours to the Trump administration's increase …

Social Security, facing pressure from DOGE, weighs big cuts to phone service  —  Agency considers ending phone program that helps with claims processing and is used by millions of elderly and disabled Americans.  —  Just now  —  Under pressure from the U.S. DOGE Service team to root out alleged fraud …

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 …

Effort to deport Columbia student rests solely on Rubio determination  —  A government document that details the civil charges against Mahmoud Khalil does not include written evidence from immigration officers.  —  NEW YORK — A determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio is so far …

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 …

‘I feel utter anger’: From Canada to Europe, a movement to boycott US goods is spreading  —  Tesla sales are falling and apps and online groups are springing up to help consumers choose non-US items  —  The renowned German classical violinist Christian Tetzlaff was blunt in explaining …

Texas measles outbreak grows, while New York and California report new cases  —  Counties in California, New York and Maryland detected their first measles cases of the year.  The CDC has warned travelers to be vigilant as spring break begins.  —  Los Angeles County in California …

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 …

A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Lose  —  Especially when you're running a country  —  A note to subscribers: I've taken my weekend primer on Social Security out from behind the paywall, partly in response to popular demand but also because it's relevant to today's post.  —  This will, I hope, be a fairly short post.

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 …

The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring  —  A contractor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and many other U.S. government agencies has developed a tool that lets analysts more easily pull a target individual's publicly available data from a wide array of sites …

Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for probe into Tesla attacks  —  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and seven other GOP House members on Wednesday called for a “domestic terrorism” investigation into attacks against Tesla and Elon Musk.  —  Why it matters: #Teslatakedown protests have largely been peaceful …

Greenlanders say no to Trump as rare earths loom over coalition talks  —  Election throws up surprise result as independence from Denmark remains tough to define.  —  Greenland had a message for Donald Trump as islanders went to the polls this week: thanks, but no thanks.

House spending bill would lead to $1B in D.C. cuts.  Here's what that means.  —  The bill, also known as a continuing resolution, now moves to the Senate, where D.C. officials hope Democrats will help them defeat the measure.  —  The House stopgap funding bill passed Tuesday night …

Turns out DOGE can't beat FOIA by shouting NOT AN AGENCY  —  🚘 💨 🛣️ With corporate outlets obeying in advance, supporting independent political media is more important right now than ever.  Public Notice is possible thanks to paid subscribers.

University of Maine System's USDA funding ‘temporarily’ paused  —  ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine System (UMS) learned Monday that its funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been temporarily paused.  —  An email forwarded to the University of Maine that appears …

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.”

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 …

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 …

Introducing: The Musk Watch DOGE Tracker  —  New tool reveals Musk has overstated verified DOGE savings by at least 92%  —  Elon Musk claims that the U.S. DOGE Service (DOGE) — a small group of Musk associates embedded in virtually every department of the federal government — have already saved taxpayers over $100 billion.