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7:25 PM ET, February 3, 2025

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 Top Items: 
Alexander Ward / Wall Street Journal:
Democratic Senator Says He Will Stall Trump Nominees Until USAID Is Back  —  Schatz said he would hold up Trump's diplomatic confirmations  —  WASHINGTON—Sen. Brian Schatz (D., Hawaii) said he would place a “blanket hold” on all of President Trump's State Department nominees until …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Democrats push back after Musk says Trump agrees to close USAID and workers are kept out  —  The Trump administration and billionaire ally Elon Musk moved to shutter an agency that provides crucial aid to fund education and fight starvation overseas, sparking a showdown with congressional Democrats …
Matt Shuham / HuffPost:
Elon Musk Suggests Getting Rid Of All Regulations In Midnight Call  —  “If it's not possible now, it'll never be possible,” Musk said of his proposal to simply ignore all federal regulation as a baseline.  —  LOADING  —  President Donald Trump's “government efficiency” …
Lauren Kent / CNN:
USAID workers at Washington HQ told to stay home on Monday in unexpected, early-morning email  —  The main office of the US Agency for International Development in Washington was unexpectedly closed Monday and workers were emailed shortly after midnight that they should not come in …
NBC News:   Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz puts a hold on Trump's State Department nominees
Politico:
Trump administration moves to further undercut USAID
John Paul Tasker / CBC News:
Trump to pause promised tariffs for 30 days after speaking with Trudeau  —  Trump, Trudeau spoke last hour for the second time today  —  Trump, Trudeau have 2nd phone call as tariff deadline nears  —  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump will hold off …
RELATED:
Politico:
Trump backs off tariff threat with Canada and Mexico
Politico:
Trump backs off tariff threat with Mexico, digs in on Canada
Bloomberg:
Trump's Border Deals With Canada, Mexico Avert Trade War for Now
David Edwards / Raw Story:
Trump backs down on Mexico tariffs after Mexican president pledges border troops
Denise Cana / Slate:
I'm a Federal Worker.  Elon Musk's Government Data Heist Is the Entire Ballgame.  —  On Friday night, reports emerged that Elon Musk's aides had tussled with Office of Personnel Management and Treasury staffers while demanding access to troves of information about federal employees.
Discussion: Vox
RELATED:
Hafiz Rashid / New Republic:
Elon Musk Installs Illegal Server to Seize All Federal Workers' Data
Discussion: NBC News and USA Today
John Zangas / DCMediaGroup:
Federal Workers Block Doors of Admin Building Over Elon Musk Data Breach
Discussion: New Republic and The Daily Signal
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:   The Twitter Files Playbook Comes For The US Government
Cathy Gellis / Techdirt:   Musk's Takeover Of The Government's Computer Systems Needs To Be Understood As A Cyberattack, Or Worse
New York Times:
Inside Musk's Aggressive Incursion Into the Federal Government  —  The billionaire is creating major upheaval as his team sweeps through agencies, in what has been an extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual.  —  The billionaire is creating major upheaval as his team sweeps through agencies …
RELATED:
Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day:
Musk's superteam of former iPad babies  —  Read to the end for Plimbo … Many other government websites faced outages throughout the weekend as they scrambled to figure out exactly how to comply with the instructions being sent out by the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Warren Questions Bessent Over Musk Access to Treasury Payment System  —  In a letter to the Treasury secretary, the Democratic senator warned against meddling with a system that processes trillions of dollars of transactions.  —  Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts sent a letter …
Courtney Cohn / Democracy Docket:
DOJ Says Trump Administration Doesn't Have to Follow Court Order Halting Funding Freeze  —  The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) argued Monday that a federal court order blocking President Donald Trump's federal funding freeze doesn't halt the administration's efforts.
RELATED:
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Judge Further Blocks White House Spending Freeze
Discussion: DNyuz
Washington Post:
Trump preps order to dismantle Education Dept. as DOGE probes data  —  Closing the agency would require congressional approval, so the new administration hopes to diminish it in the meantime.  —  President Donald Trump is preparing an executive order aimed at eventually closing the Education Department and …
Discussion: Forbes, CBS News and Reuters
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Advisers Weigh Plan to Dismantle Education Department  —  Administration officials are discussing executive order that could shut down key functions of the agency  —  Trump administration officials are weighing executive actions to dismantle the Education Department as part of the campaign …
Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:
Trump II Punishes Fed Workers For Attending Trump I Diversity Training
Discussion: ABC News
Juan Perez Jr / Politico:   Trump administration finalizing plans to shutter Education Department
Tony Romm / Washington Post:
CFPB halts work after Trump appoints Bessent as acting head  —  The consumer watchdog agency was formed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.  Elon Musk wants to “delete” it.  —  President Donald Trump on Monday appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as the acting director …
RELATED:
Laurel Wamsley / NPR:
Treasury Secretary Bessent, tapped to run CFPB, orders staff to halt work
Reuters:
Trump orders creation of US sovereign wealth fund, says it could buy TikTok  —  U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ordering the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments to create a sovereign wealth fund and said it may purchase TikTok.  —  “We're going to stand this thing up within the next 12 months.
Daniel Payne / Politico:
Bill Cassidy's decision on RFK Jr. could jeopardize his Senate career  —  As a doctor, Cassidy is troubled by RFK Jr. As a politician, he has reason to support him anyway.  —  Bill Cassidy is deeply torn over what to do about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  —  As a doctor who once prescribed life …
Discussion: Fox News
RELATED:
Washington Post:   RFK Jr. vote poses key test for Bill Cassidy, endangered Louisiana senator
Lisa Friedman / New York Times:
E.P.A. Tells More Than 1,000 They Could Be Fired ‘Immediately’  —  A spokeswoman for Lee Zeldin, the new head of the agency, said the goal was to create an “effective and efficient” federal work force.  —  The Trump administration has warned more than 1,100 Environmental Protection Agency employees …
NOTUS:
Key State Department Programs ‘Wiped Out’ After Dozens of Contractors Fired  —  The deep cuts to the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor — which focuses on advancing democracy — is the latest way Trump is trying to slash foreign aid.  — Copy  —  Dozens of contractors working …
RELATED:
New York Times:   State Dept. Fires About 60 Contractors Working on Democracy and Human Rights
Nandika Chatterjee / The Daily Beast:
Musk Says He's ‘Deleted’ Popular Free IRS Tax Filing Program  —  WHO ASKED FOR THIS?  —  The online tax filing option on the IRS website had a strong bipartisan 76% approval rating from registered voters.  —  Kanye West's Naked Grammys Stunt Could Cost Him $20M  —  THE NAKED TRUTH
Rochelle Raveendran / CBC News:
Ford ‘ripping up’ Ontario's $100M contract with Elon Musk's Starlink in wake of U.S. tariffs  —  Musk part of President Donald Trump's team that wants to destroy families, Ford says  —  Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford is “ripping up” Ontario's nearly $100 million contract …
CNN:
Trump appoints speechwriter fired for attending conference with White nationalists to top State Department role  —  Darren Beattie, a former Donald Trump speechwriter who was fired in 2018 after CNN revealed he spoke at a conference attended by White nationalists, has been elevated to a top job …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Al Weaver / The Hill:
GOP's Susan Collins to back Tulsi Gabbard confirmation
Clara Jeffery / Mother Jones:
Nobody Voted for Elon Musk
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
Murphy says tax records ‘potentially compromised’ by Musk
Discussion: Axios, Bloomberg and Progress Pond
US Department of Justice:
Russian and Uzbek Nationals Charged with Conspiracy to File False Voter Registration Applications
Executive Functions:
The Trump Executive Orders as “Radical Constitutionalism”
Kate Brumback / Associated Press:
Justice Department restores funding for programs that provide guidance in immigration courts
Discussion: WUSA
 Earlier Items: 
Associated Press:
Democratic state Sen. Mallory McMorrow preparing to enter US Senate race in Michigan, AP sources say
Annabella Rosciglione / Washington Examiner:
Kyrsten Sinema's campaign spent thousands on travel to Saudi Arabia in final months in office
Discussion: Arizona Republic and NBC News
Elizabeth Nolan Brown / Reason:
No, Elon: It Isn't Illegal To Boycott X
Megan Messerly / Politico:
US to again withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council, stop UNRWA funding
Reuters:
Trump plans to invoke obscure 18th century wartime law in bid for mass deportations
Discussion: Townhall, The Independent and Reuters
Reuters:
Exclusive: Trump's meme coin made nearly $100 million in trading fees, as small traders lost money
Discussion: MSNBC, more at Techmeme »
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Nectar Gan / CNN:
Chinese nationalists and state media praise Trump's decision to dismantle VOA, RFA, and other US-funded media outlets that broadcast to authoritarian regimes

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Memo: Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing plans to step down from his role as co-CEO to focus on creative projects for the company

Reuters:
Tencent Music reports Q4 revenue up 8.2% YoY to ~$1.03B, above ~$1.01B est., social entertainment services revenue down 13% to ~$225M, and net profit up 47.3%
 
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