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US Secret Service approached South Side school, not ICE agents, officials say — Chicago Public Schools officials initially claimed they denied ICE entry to Hamline Elementary Friday morning — US Secret Service approached Hamline Elementary School in Back of the Yards …
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ICE agents ‘showed up’ at Chicago school amid heightened concerns of raids
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Payday Report, New York Times, Wirepoints, The Hill, LAist, WUSA, Axios and Raw Story

Donald Trump in fiery call with Denmark's prime minister over Greenland — US president insisted he wants to take over Arctic island — Donald Trump insisted he was serious in his determination to take over Greenland in a fiery telephone call with Denmark's prime minister, according to senior European officials.

Mexico refuses to accept a U.S. deportation flight — The Mexican government has criticized President Donald Trump's unilateral immigration actions, and the landing would have required Mexico's assistance. — WASHINGTON — Mexico denied a U.S. military plane access to land Thursday …
Discussion:
HotAir, Fox News, Reuters, Alternet.org, Forbes, New York Post, The Hill, UPI, Instapundit, Daily Mail, Bloomberg, American Greatness and Townhall

State Department issues immediate, widespread pause on foreign aid — The “stop-work orders” appear to apply to US aid for all countries except Israel and Egypt. — Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday issued new guidance halting spending on most existing foreign aid grants for 90 days.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Financial Times, Associated Press, Townhall, Twitchy, Rewire News Group, NPR, UPI, The Gateway Pundit, DNyuz, Forbes, Reuters, Raw Story and Washington Blade
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Trump Pauses Disbursements to Program Supplying H.I.V. Treatment Worldwide — Pepfar, which is estimated to have delivered lifesaving treatment as many as 25 million people in 54 countries, faces a funding delay of as long as 180 days. — The Trump administration has halted disbursement …
Camilla Schick / CBS News:
Rubio orders freeze of new funding for nearly all U.S. foreign aid programs
Rubio orders freeze of new funding for nearly all U.S. foreign aid programs
Discussion:
NBC News and New Republic

Senate is preparing to confirm Hegseth as defense secretary in late evening vote — The Senate is muscling Pete Hegseth's nomination as defense secretary toward confirmation late Friday, prioritizing his vow to create a “warrior culture” at the Pentagon over allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women.
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Pete Hegseth, Trump's embattled pick for defense secretary, wins Senate confirmation — Pete Hegseth overcame allegations of sexual assault, public drunkenness and questions of financial mismanagement at two veterans' groups he ran to narrowly win Senate approval to become Donald Trump's defense secretary.
Discussion:
Scripps News, Washington Post, CBS News, Associated Press, The Hill and KTOO

Hegseth Confirmation on the Line With Senate Vote Outcome Uncertain
Discussion:
Axios, Rolling Stone, USA Today, The Hill, Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit, DNyuz, The Atlantic, Townhall, NBC News, UPI, Political Wire, Washington Post, The Guardian and Mediaite

Trump has pulled Fauci's security detail, source says — President Donald Trump has terminated Dr. Anthony Fauci's security detail that was being provided and paid for by the National Institutes of Health, a source familiar with the situation tells CNN. It was pulled on Thursday night.
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The Guardian, The Hill, Reuters, Fox News, USA Today, WUSA, Associated Press, HuffPost, Raw Story, New York Daily News, WNYW-TV, UPI, Washington Examiner, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, Forbes, The Daily Caller, The Post Millennial, Mediaite and DNyuz
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Trump returns — and so does his astounding ignorance — If you feel off-kilter, you're in good company. The president seems downright bewildered. — “I think we're going to do things that people would be shocked at,” President Donald Trump declared on his second day in office.
Discussion:
Plain Dealer, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Signal, New Jersey Online and NOTUS
Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Trump recommends ending FEMA ahead of California fire site visit
Trump recommends ending FEMA ahead of California fire site visit
Discussion:
New York Times, NPR, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Politico, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, One America News Network, Breitbart, GovExec.com, Forbes, The Gateway Pundit, Alternet.org, Daily Kos, Semafor, CBS News, DNyuz, WNYW-TV, The Independent, USA Today, IJR, Scripps News, UPI, PBS NewsHour, Salon and Saywhat Politics

Wall Street Banks Prepare to Sell Billions of Dollars of X Loans — Banks are hoping to sell the X debt at around 90 to 95 cents on the dollar — Banks are getting ready to sell billions of dollars in debt borrowed by Elon Musk's X, bringing Wall Street a step closer to exiting …
Discussion:
The Verge, Benzinga, Reuters and Futurism, more at Techmeme »

Trump signs anti-abortion policies after speaking to March for Life — Those impacted include overseas health organizations that distribute contraception and help combat HIV. — President Donald Trump's campaign-trail promise to leave abortion regulation to the states lasted just a few days into his presidency.
Discussion:
The Hill, UPI, Associated Press, NBC News, New York Post, KFF, Axios, The 19th and Washington Examiner
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Sensing Political Support, Abortion Opponents Raise Ambitions
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The Hill, Politico, Associated Press, RNS, WSVN-TV, New Republic, Roll Call, The Guardian, The Daily Signal, Washington Examiner, The 19th, Raw Story, DNyuz, Los Angeles Times, Michigan Advance, NOTUS and Washington Post

Supreme Court to hear church-state fight over Oklahoma bid to launch first publicly funded religious school — An attempt to authorize the Catholic school was challenged as a violation of the First Amendment, which limits government involvement in religion.
Discussion:
The Hill, Reuters, Politico, Associated Press, USA Today, Raw Story, Bloomberg, New York Times, The Independent, Oklahoma Voice and Reason
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Dems Worry Sen. Whitehouse Considering Vote for RFK Jr — Wanted to share some information on the RFK Jr. nomination before the Senate. — It probably won't surprise you that RFK Jr., along with Tulsi Gabbard, are among the few Trump nominees who might actually not get confirmed.
Discussion:
WPRI-TV, The Hill, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New Republic, Digby's Hullabaloo and The Independent

Experts saw Samoa's plunging vaccination rates as a crisis. RFK Jr. saw an opportunity. — New details show how Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then chair of an anti-vaccine group and now Trump's pick for health secretary, sought to exploit a deadly vaccine accident.
Discussion:
Politico, Forbes, Fox News, Raw Story, New Republic, DNyuz and Scripps News

Team Trump Says Mark Zuckerberg Has ‘More Ass-Kissing’ to Do — Trump's aides and allies aren't ready to buy the Facebook chief's right-wing conversion. “He can't just snap his fingers and make the past not happen” … The Meta CEO and Facebook co-founder reportedly promised the administration …
Discussion:
Raw Story, more at Techmeme »

Elon Musk doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt — Since Donald Trump's rise to power, some liberals have developed a bad habit of seeing secret Nazi imagery everywhere on the right. — Be it Laura Ingraham allegedly sieg-heiling at the 2016 Republican National Convention …
Discussion:
Colorado Times Recorder, Twitchy, PolitiFact, The Hill, Jewish Insider and HuffPost
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William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Musk Tells a ‘Joke’
Musk Tells a ‘Joke’
Discussion:
CNN, OutsideTheBeltway, VINnews and MPR News

The immigrant crackdown has begun. Its first target might surprise you. — Trump is not just going after foreigners who break the law. — Donald Trump promised to crack down on illegal immigration, a vow many Americans support. But so far, his administration has been much more fixated …
Discussion:
Baltimore Sun, CBS News and RTÉ

Facing FBI investigation that Trump could halt, Andy Ogles proposes allowing third term for president — The Tennessee congressman, who was effusive in his praise of President Trump, faces an FBI investigation over allegations of fraud in reporting a $320,000 personal loan to his campaign.
Discussion:
MSNBC, CNBC, HuffPost and Washington Examiner

Trump's Plan to Crush the Academic Left — Last year, Chris Rufo, the influential right-wing strategist who spearheaded the campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion, or D.E.I., initiatives, told me about his ambitions for a second Trump presidency. He hoped, he said …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Baltimore Sun and Fox News
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Trump Leaves Democrats Dazed and on the Defensive — Locked out of power in Washington, the party is struggling to agree on a unified message of opposition. Some of its lawmakers are even telling Republicans they want to work together. — As President Trump pushes aggressively to reshape …
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Trump enlists attorney general to investigate Biden administration — President has thrown weight of justice department behind two politically charged reviews into his personal grievances — Donald Trump has tasked the attorney general in two executive orders to conduct far-reaching investigations …

Trump's Obscene Jan. 6 Pardons Will Live in Infamy — As Inauguration Day neared, Donald Trump and his associates put out a reassuring message: while the new president would pardon many Jan. 6 rioters, as he had promised supporters, he would do so in a responsible and prudent way.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Raw Story, Washington Post, The Dean's Report and ABC News

RFK Jr. skipped meeting where officials planned fight against a future pandemic — The session between Trump and Biden administration officials is required of transitions and included other Trump Cabinet nominees. — As Biden officials packed up the White House last week …

Trump admin tells agencies to start firing DEI staffers … - The memo updates a directive sent earlier this week that told agencies to submit written plans for executing a “reduction-in-force,” i.e., layoffs, no later than January 31. — But the new memo says agencies should start issuing these reduction-in-force notices now.

Madison and Nashville School Shooters Appear to Have Crossed Paths in Online Extremist Communities — A month after a student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School, another killed a classmate at Antioch High School. Both were active in an internet subculture that glorifies mass shooters …
Discussion:
ABC News, Nashville.gov, DNyuz, New York Post and Raw Story

Paul Krugman on Leaving the New York Times — The paper wanted to take away his newsletter or make him write less frequently, he says. — For two and a half decades, Paul Krugman's columns in the New York Times were beacons of intelligence and common sense.

Inside the room: Where House Republicans are looking to slash … We got our hands on the presentations that House committee chairs made during a closed-door Republican conference meeting this week. — They lay out a road map of where the GOP's hunt for spending cuts is heading right now.
Discussion:
Axios, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller and DNyuz

Trump Officials Pause Programs to Let In Immigrants, Including Ukrainians — The pause on several initiatives that allowed immigrants to enter the country temporarily will block the entrance of people fleeing some of the most unstable and desperate places in the world.
Discussion:
Idaho Capital Sun, Politico, The Hill, ABC News and DNyuz
Target Corporation:
Target's Belonging at the Bullseye Strategy — We remain focused on driving our business by creating a sense of belonging for our team, guests and communities through a commitment to inclusion. Belonging for all is an essential part of our team and culture, helping fuel consumer relevance and business results.
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RedState, Alpha News, DNyuz, The Daily Signal, Forbes, Business Insider and The Post Millennial