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6:50 PM ET, February 3, 2025

memeorandum

 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 …
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 …
Discussion: E&E News, The Daily Wire and Law Dork
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
Discussion: Saywhat Politics
Politico:
Trump administration moves to further undercut USAID
Bloomberg:
Behind DOGE's Standoff at USAID: Desk Searches and Elon Musk Calling
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 and DCMediaGroup
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).
Hafiz Rashid / New Republic:   Elon Musk Installs Illegal Server to Seize All Federal Workers' Data
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
The Twitter Files Playbook Comes For The US Government
Discussion: CNN
John Zangas / DCMediaGroup:
Federal Workers Block Doors of Admin Building Over Elon Musk Data Breach
Discussion: The Daily Signal and USA Today
Bryan Metzger / Business Insider:
Elon Musk is officially an employee of the US government — but he's not getting a paycheck
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:
New York Times:
Live Updates: Mexico Reaches Deal With U.S. to Delay Trump Tariffs  —  President Trump said he would pause tariffs on Mexico for a month, but levies on Canada and China were still set to take effect on Tuesday.  U.S. shares fell at the opening bell, following drops in Asian and European markets, amid fears of a trade war.
Reuters:
White House: Mexico is ‘serious’, Canada appears to have ‘misunderstood’ Trump's executive order
Bloomberg:
Trump's Border Deals With Canada, Mexico Avert Trade War for Now
Politico:
Trump backs off tariff threat with Canada and Mexico
David Edwards / Raw Story:
Trump backs down on Mexico tariffs after Mexican president pledges border troops
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:
Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:
Trump II Punishes Fed Workers For Attending Trump I Diversity Training  —  In an ironic twist, the Trump administration appears to be punishing Department of Education employees for attending diversity training sessions that were held during his first term.  —  Over the weekend the news began …
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
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 …
RELATED:
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 …
RELATED:
Dell Cameron / Wired:
Pronouns Are Being Forcibly Removed From Government Email Signatures
Discussion: PinkNews and Advocate
RELATED:
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 and The Daily Wire
RELATED:
Washington Post:
RFK Jr. vote poses key test for Bill Cassidy, endangered Louisiana senator
Discussion: Washington Examiner
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.
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 …
Reuters:
Trump plans to invoke obscure 18th century wartime law in bid for mass deportations  —  President Donald Trump is set to test the limits of his immigration crackdown by invoking a wartime law to deport immigrants alleged to be gang members without court hearings, a broad authority …
Discussion: The Independent, Townhall and Reuters
 
 
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 More Items: 
Nandika Chatterjee / The Daily Beast:
Musk Says He's ‘Deleted’ Popular Free IRS Tax Filing Program
Al Weaver / The Hill:
GOP's Susan Collins to back Tulsi Gabbard confirmation
Clara Jeffery / Mother Jones:
Nobody Voted for Elon Musk
Cathy Gellis / Techdirt:
Musk's Takeover Of The Government's Computer Systems Needs To Be Understood As A Cyberattack, Or Worse
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”
NOTUS:
Key State Department Programs ‘Wiped Out’ After Dozens of Contractors Fired
 Earlier Items: 
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The GOP's meek acquiescence to Trump's power grabs
Charlotte Graham-McLay / Associated Press:
RFK Jr. misled the US Senate on measles deaths, Samoa's health chief says
New York Times:
Why Are Investigators Focused on Night-Vision Goggles in the Deadly Midair Crash?
Kate Brumback / Associated Press:
Justice Department restores funding for programs that provide guidance in immigration courts
Discussion: WUSA and Associated Press
Associated Press:
Democratic state Sen. Mallory McMorrow preparing to enter US Senate race in Michigan, AP sources say
Elizabeth Nolan Brown / Reason:
No, Elon: It Isn't Illegal To Boycott X
Reuters:
Exclusive: Trump's meme coin made nearly $100 million in trading fees, as small traders lost money
Discussion: MSNBC, more at Techmeme »
 

 
From Techmeme:

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple announces WWDC 2025 for June 9-13, which will be an “entirely online” event free for developers, with an in-person special event at Apple Park on June 9

Simon Willison / Simon Willison's Weblog:
Alibaba releases Qwen2.5-VL-32B, a 32B open model under Apache 2.0, claiming better math reasoning and alignment with human preferences than earlier 2.5 models

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: the European Commission is set to close its year-long probe into browser options on iOS without a fine after Apple made changes to comply with the DMA
 
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