Top Items:
Reuters:
Exclusive: White House uses USAID funds for budget director Vought's security, documents show — The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's budget chief …
Discussion:
Wonkette, Mother Jones, The Moderate Voice, Raw Story and New Republic
Wall Street Journal:
A Pilot Fired Over Kristi Noem's Missing Blanket and the Constant Chaos Inside DHS — Secretary, with close adviser Corey Lewandowski, faces fire for confrontational immigration crackdown and self-promotional style; White House to wind down Minnesota operations — Kristi Noem knew she needed a reset.
Discussion:
Democracy Docket, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, The Parnas Perspective, Raw Story, New York Post, NewsNation, So What, The Dispatch, Balloon Juice, LGBTQ Nation, IJR, New York Magazine, New Republic, Washington Times, The Independent, Wonkette, Reason, The New World, New Jersey Online, Eschaton and Mediaite
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Congress Jets Off as D.H.S. Shuts Down — Despite a deadlock over funding for the agency, lawmakers left town and left Democratic and White House negotiators to try to work out a deal in their absence. — When a disruptive government shutdown nears, the Capitol is usually occupied …
Discussion:
The Hill, Salon, Townhall, New York Sun, CBS News, FOX 10 Phoenix, Joe.My.God., Politico, Axios, MS NOW, NewsNation, NOTUS, Roll Call, Tampa Free Press, Scripps News and NewsMax.com
RELATED:
Meg Kinnard / Associated Press:
What to know about the Homeland Security shutdown starting this weekend — Another shutdown for parts of the federal government is expected this weekend as lawmakers debate new restrictions on President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agenda. — Funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to expire Saturday.
Discussion:
Washington Post, CBS News, The Guardian, New York Times, Fox News, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Axios, KTVZ-TV and NewsNation
ProPublica:
What Meetings Among Trump Lawyers Reveal About the FBI's Seizure of Election Records in Georgia — The Missouri prosecutor overseeing an investigation into the 2020 vote in Fulton County, Georgia, has taken part in meetings since last fall with lawyers tasked by President Donald Trump to reinvestigate his loss to Joe Biden.
Discussion:
New York Magazine and Law and Chaos
RELATED:
Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
The Fulton County raid is part of Trump's total war on voting
Discussion:
The Conversation, Truthout and Washington Post
Andy Craig / The UnPopulist:
Worry, Don't Panic, Over Trump's Efforts to Subvert the Elections
Worry, Don't Panic, Over Trump's Efforts to Subvert the Elections
Discussion:
Democratic Erosion and New York Times
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
HHS shaking up top personnel to push Trump, MAHA priorities ahead of midterms — Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday announced a reshuffling of top staffers in his department as the Trump administration looks to shore up health wins that can boost GOP success in the upcoming midterms.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion turning warehouses into detention centers — Documents released Thursday offer the most complete picture to date of the Trump administration's controversial and costly plan to overhaul immigrant detention using industrial buildings.
Discussion:
NOTUS, The Guardian, Joe.My.God., MS NOW, Spotlight PA, Slate and Mother Jones
RELATED:
Brittany Gibson / Axios:
ICE reveals $38B plan for immigrant mega-jails
ICE reveals $38B plan for immigrant mega-jails
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Project Salt Box, WBUR and Oregonian
New York Times:
Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses — In an internal memo last year, Meta said the political tumult in the United States would distract critics from the feature's release. — Five years ago, Facebook shut down the facial recognition system for tagging people …
Discussion:
NextDraft, TechCrunch, The Information and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Colby Smith / New York Times:
U.S. Inflation Eased at Start of the Year — Inflation in the United States eased at the start of 2026, providing a reprieve to the Federal Reserve as it contends with yet another year of consumer prices rising faster than the central bank's target. — Here is what the latest Consumer Price Index showed on Friday.
RELATED:
Christopher Rugaber / Associated Press:
Inflation measure falls to nearly five-year low as gas prices fall and housing costs cool
Associated Press:
Feds investigating whether 2 ICE officers lied about the shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis — Federal authorities have opened a criminal probe into whether two immigration officers lied under oath about the shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis last month.
Discussion:
CBS News, Associated Press, The Independent, Raw Story, KSTP-TV, KVIA-TV, Reuters and KARE-TV
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Samuel Oakford / Washington Post:
The Don Lemon indictment: Video appears to contradict key claims — The former CNN anchor, now an independent journalist, faces criminal charges after covering a protest at a church in St. Paul last month — Video footage appears to contradict key aspects of a federal indictment's descriptions …
Discussion:
CNN, Axios, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, NewsNation and NewsMax.com, more at Mediagazer »
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The Athletic:
President Trump pardons Hall of Famer Joe Klecko and four other former NFL players — Share full article — President Donald Trump pardoned former NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon on Thursday, according to White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson.
Discussion:
Breitbart, Mediaite, MS NOW, New Jersey Online, NewsMax.com and Blaze Media
RELATED:
C. Frances / The Intercept:
The Woman Alex Pretti Was Killed Trying to Defend Is an EMT. Federal Agents Stopped Her From Giving First Aid. — MINNEAPOLIS — The struggle that killed Alex Pretti began with a shove. It ended with gunshots. — In the final moments before he was shot and killed by federal authorities in Minneapolis …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News and Mediaite
New York Times:
Justice Department Sues Harvard for Admissions Records — The Trump administration appears to have renewed its pressure campaign against Harvard since President Trump backtracked this month on a possible settlement with the Ivy League school. — The Trump administration sued Harvard University on Friday …
RELATED:
Paul Krugman:
The MAGA Bubble Is Imploding — Americans aren't buying Trumpist gaslighting about the economy … Attorney General Pam Bondi's meltdown on Wednesday while being questioned the House Judiciary Committee was exceptional, even by this administration's rock-bottom standards.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Balloon Juice and CNN
New York Times:
The Infrastructure of Jeffrey Epstein's Power — This is an edited transcript of “The Ezra Klein Show.” You can listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts. — At the end of January, President Trump's Justice Department released what it said was the last tranche of the Jeffrey Epstein files …
Discussion:
New Republic, The.Ink and Lawyers, Guns & Money
RELATED:
David Remnick / New Yorker:
The Epstein Files Reveal What Trump Knew
The Epstein Files Reveal What Trump Knew
Discussion:
Washington Examiner
ProPublica:
“Not Ready for Prime Time.” A Federal Tool to Check Voter Citizenship Keeps Making Mistakes. — When county clerk Brianna Lennon got an email in November saying a newly expanded federal system had flagged 74 people on the county's voter roll as potential noncitizens, she was taken aback.
Discussion:
New Republic, Truthout, Washington Times, One America News Network and The Post Millennial
Collin Anderson / The Washington Free Beacon:
Former UPenn President Liz Magill, Who Resigned in Disgrace After Disastrous Anti-Semitism Testimony, Named Dean of Georgetown Law — Liz Magill, the former University of Pennsylvania president who resigned in disgrace after arguing that calls for the genocide of Jews could be permissible under campus rules …
Discussion:
Georgetown University, Jewish Insider, Above the Law and Politico
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Ring cancels its partnership with Flock Safety after surveillance backlash — Following mounting pressure and a questionable Super Bowl ad, the Amazon-owned company walked back its plan to integrate with the controversial law-enforcement technology company.
Discussion:
The Hill, flocksafety.com, Associated Press, CBS News, The Hollywood Reporter, KARE-TV, KVIA-TV, Reason, UPI, CNBC, The Ring Blog, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Straight Arrow News, Variety, The Register, Futurism, Mashable and Berkeleyside, more at Techmeme »
Associated Press:
Logistics giant DP World replaces chairman named in Jeffrey Epstein documents — Dubai has announced a new chairman for DP World, one of the world's largest logistics companies, replacing the outgoing head who was named in the Jeffrey Epstein documents. The announcement by the government's …
Discussion:
Financial Times, The Guardian, TMZ.com, East Bay Times, Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, ABC News, GV Wire, NewsNation, New York Post, CBS News, New York Times, FreightWaves, KVIA-TV, Al Jazeera, Newsweek, NewsMax.com, Transport Topics, Bloomberg, Semafor, Forbes, France 24, Bangor Daily News and 5Pillars
AP-NORC:
A majority disapprove of how Trump is handling Greenland — Twenty-four percent of adults approve of Trump's handling of Greenland; 72% disapprove. … The Trump administration's approach to Greenland is proving unpopular among U.S. adults, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
New York Times:
‘I Just Want to Get Out of Here’: ICE Is Detaining Hundreds of Children … A 7-year-old in Oregon was seeking treatment for a nosebleed last month when immigration agents detained her and her parents outside a hospital emergency room. They were taken to a federal detention center in Texas for three weeks.
Discussion:
The Bulwark
Jacob Owens / KVOA-TV:
Nanos pushes back on claims of withholding evidence in Guthrie case — TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) - Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is pushing back on claims that he is withholding crucial evidence from the FBI in the Nancy Guthrie case. — Nanos denies the allegations, describing the report as “not even close to the truth.”
Sophie Brams / The Hill:
Pride flag returns to Stonewall National Monument after Trump administration removal — A rainbow Pride flag is once again flying over Stonewall National Monument in New York City, days after the LGBTQ symbol was removed from the historic site due to a federal order from President Trump, according to local outlets.
Media Matters for America:
Jesse Watters: “Epstein got his money from two Jewish billionaires” and “the Jewish banking dynasty, the Rothschilds”
Discussion:
Wonkette
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
Slotkin looks to make sure DOJ has ended investigation into military video … The letter, addressed to Pirro and Attorney General Pam Bondi, wants the DOJ to confirm by the end of the day Friday that its probe is over. — Slotkin's lawyers are using Trump's behavior in the aftermath …
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Post, ABC News and The Hill
Jen Rice / Democracy Docket:
In victory for Democrats, Virginia Supreme Court says redistricting vote can go forward — In a big win for Virginia Democrats' efforts to counter President Donald Trump's GOP gerrymanders in other states, the Virginia Supreme Court said the state can hold its special election on the redistricting plan.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Washington Examiner, NBC News, NPR, Fox News, RedState, Roll Call, Cardinal News, Election Law Blog, Blue Virginia and Independent Women

