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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 …
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Democrats push back after Musk says Trump agrees to close USAID and workers are kept out — Democrats have delivered a strong rebuke against the Trump administration's attempts to gut an agency that provides crucial aid overseas to fund education and fight starvation and disease …
Discussion:
American Prospect, BBC, Fox News, NBC News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Reuters, Axios, CNN, Politico, Associated Press, New York Times, NPR, Slate, Fox Business, Mother Jones, Al Jazeera, The Independent, DNyuz, Forbes, Mashable, New York Post, Common Dreams, Semafor, C-SPAN.org, WNYW-TV, Breitbart, WUSA, WTOP News, Federal News Network, MeidasTouch News, USA Today, Daily Kos, The Daily Wire, The Daily Sceptic, New Republic, The Gateway Pundit and PinkNews

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 …
Discussion:
Axios, Reuters, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Mashable, West Virginia Watch, Tennessee Star, American Greatness, United States Senate Committee …, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Business Insider, DNyuz, The Federalist, OutsideTheBeltway, Fortune, The National Pulse, New Republic, Center for Reproductive Rights and UPI

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 …
Discussion:
Reuters, Politico, Scripps News, Washington Examiner and Jewish Insider

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 …

Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz puts a hold on Trump's State Department nominees — The move comes after Elon Musk said he and Trump would shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development. — WASHINGTON — Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said Monday he's placing a “blanket hold” …
Discussion:
RedState, PoliticusUSA and Reuters

Hakeem Jeffries wants funding freeze ‘choked off’ in spending deal
Discussion:
Democratic Leader …, Axios and Digby's Hullabaloo
Bloomberg:
Behind DOGE's Standoff at USAID: Desk Searches and Elon Musk Calling
Behind DOGE's Standoff at USAID: Desk Searches and Elon Musk Calling
Discussion:
NBC News, CBS News, Letters from an American, Reuters, The Post Millennial, Axios, New York Post, Associated Press, Baltimore Sun and DNyuz
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Closes USAID Headquarters
Trump Administration Closes USAID Headquarters
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Axios, NOTUS, The Gateway Pundit, ABC News, NBC News, Daily Mail, CBS News and Fox News
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Congressional Democrats denied entry to USAID building
Congressional Democrats denied entry to USAID building
Discussion:
ABC News and Baltimore Sun
Politico:
Trump administration moves to further undercut USAID
Trump administration moves to further undercut USAID
Discussion:
Raw Story, Bloomberg, HotAir, CNN, Sun-Sentinel, CBS News, Scripps News, DNyuz, Blaze Media, Washington Examiner, Al Jazeera, Hollywood Life and The Gateway Pundit
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The GOP's meek acquiescence to Trump's power grabs
The GOP's meek acquiescence to Trump's power grabs
Discussion:
NOTUS and Wall Street Journal
Andrew Perez / Rolling Stone:
Elon Musk Is Permanently Deleting Government Agencies
Elon Musk Is Permanently Deleting Government Agencies
Discussion:
Reuters, Public, Financial Times, USA Today, Breitbart, New York Times, The Post Millennial and DNyuz, more at Techmeme »
Arthur Jones II / ABC News:
‘Paid administrative hell’: Some Department of Education staff put on leave after Trump's DEI order
‘Paid administrative hell’: Some Department of Education staff put on leave after Trump's DEI order
Discussion:
Raw Story, Townhall and MeidasTouch News

White House: Mexico is ‘serious’, Canada appears to have ‘misunderstood’ Trump's executive order — The White House said on Monday it has noticed that Mexico is “serious” about President Donald Trump's executive order on tariffs but Canada has “misunderstood” it.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Daily Wire, Ars Technica, Retail Dive, The Free Press, Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News
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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.
Discussion:
Axios, Reuters, Washington Post, Politico, NPR, Financial Times, New Republic, Washington Examiner, New York Post, The Guardian, Global News, American Enterprise Institute, freebeacon.com, The Hill, RedState, The Contrarian, CNN, Raw Story, Slate, WTTG-TV, HotAir, The Independent, The Fucking News, Kansas Reflector, Jacobin, KFTC-TV, NBC News, Townhall, The Post Millennial and Fortune

Trump to pause promised tariffs for 30 days after speaking with Trudeau
Discussion:
CNBC, Reuters, Business Insider, USA Today, Politico, Bloomberg, Detroit Free Press, Daily Mail, New York Post, DNyuz, New York Daily News, Associated Press, WNYW-TV, Breitbart, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, UPI, The Independent, New Republic, CBS News and E&E News
Kevin Shalvey / ABC News:
Trump 2nd term live updates: Marco Rubio made acting administrator of USAID: Sources
Trump 2nd term live updates: Marco Rubio made acting administrator of USAID: Sources
Discussion:
New York Times, CBS News, Raw Story, Fox News, New York Post, Baltimore Sun, RedState, Forbes, Twitchy, DNyuz and The Post Millennial
Sam Sutton / Politico:
The oracle of Biden's inflation woes has a warning for Trump
The oracle of Biden's inflation woes has a warning for Trump
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, BBC, Raw Story, Fortune, Quartz, Fox News, Business Insider, Daily Mail, DNyuz, Twin Cities and New Republic
David Edwards / Raw Story:
Trump backs down on Mexico tariffs after Mexican president pledges border troops
Trump backs down on Mexico tariffs after Mexican president pledges border troops
Discussion:
Associated Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Bloomberg, Washington Post, ABC News, CNN, The Guardian, NPR, Fox News, New York Post, PoliticusUSA, Tennessee Star, The Daily Signal, American Enterprise Institute, CBS News, Metro.co.uk, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, The National Pulse, The Daily Wire, Breitbart, USA Today, Blaze Media, Mediaite, WTOP News, Reason, Fortune, Texas Standard, MeidasTouch News, One America News Network, Boston Herald, Scripps News, Axios, The American Conservative, E&E News and The Gateway Pundit

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.
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Musk associates given unfettered access to private data of government employees — Several of Elon Musk's associates installed at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have received unprecedented access to federal human resources databases containing sensitive personal information for millions of federal employees.
Discussion:
New Republic, USA Today, Raw Story and The Column
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
The Twitter Files Playbook Comes For The US Government
The Twitter Files Playbook Comes For The US Government
Discussion:
Advocate

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.
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Judge Says She Will Further Block White House Spending Freeze — The statement, along with a similar order from Friday, amounted to a rebuke of the move as an overreach that likely lacked legitimate authority. — A federal judge said on Monday that she intended to temporarily block …
Discussion:
Reuters, Scripps News, WTTG-TV and Law & Crime

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.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, The Daily Wire, ABC News, The Hollywood Reporter and The Post Millennial
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Bloomberg:
Trump Signs Action Directing Creation of Sovereign Wealth Fund
Trump Signs Action Directing Creation of Sovereign Wealth Fund
Discussion:
NBC News, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Reuters, Politico, USA Today, Axios, New Republic, RedState, Hollywood Life, Townhall, Al Jazeera, One America News Network, The Information, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News, Los Angeles Times, Daily Mail, New York Post and The Daily Hodl, more at Techmeme »

Elon Musk is serving as a ‘special government employee,’ White House says — Elon Musk is officially serving under President Donald Trump as a special government employee, according to a White House official. — That designation means Musk - the billionaire tech entrepreneur …
Discussion:
Rolling Stone and Forbes
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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 …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, New Republic, The Daily Wire, The Daily Signal and New York Post
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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 …
Discussion:
Politico, NBC News, CNBC, The Independent, Bloomberg Law, Roll Call, RedState and Fox Business, more at Techmeme »
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Laurel Wamsley / NPR:
Treasury Secretary Bessent, tapped to run CFPB, orders staff to halt work
Treasury Secretary Bessent, tapped to run CFPB, orders staff to halt work
Discussion:
Consumer Financial …, New York Times, consumerbankers.com, UPI, Daily Kos, Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal

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 …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, ABC News, Esquire, The Independent, The Verge, Fortune, The Lens, MeidasTouch News and Robert Reich
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David Dayen / American Prospect:
‘Filled With Unmitigated Terror’
‘Filled With Unmitigated Terror’
Discussion:
American Crisis, Rolling Stone, Notes on the Crises and Axios

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).

RFK Jr. vote poses key test for Bill Cassidy, endangered Louisiana senator — The fate of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s bid to run HHS may rest with a Republican wrestling with his training as a physician and his instincts as a politician. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s bid to serve …
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Daniel Payne / Politico:
Bill Cassidy's decision on RFK Jr. could jeopardize his Senate career
Bill Cassidy's decision on RFK Jr. could jeopardize his Senate career
Discussion:
Fox 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 …

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 and Reuters
US Department of Justice:
Russian and Uzbek Nationals Charged with Conspiracy to File False Voter Registration Applications — For Immediate Release — A Russian national and an Uzbek national, both residing in Florida, were arrested for their alleged participation in a scheme to submit false and fraudulent voter …

‘Trump will screw up’: Schumer plots the Democratic comeback — Chuck Schumer's advice for Democrats staring at a long two or more years out of power: Just wait. — “Trump will screw up,” he told Semafor in an interview. — The Senate minority leader and his 47-member caucus finally got …
Discussion:
The Hill, Deep Learning State Machine and RedState

No, Elon: It Isn't Illegal To Boycott X — While news cycles in the first Donald Trump presidency were dominated by Trump's erratic social media pretense, news cycles during Trump 2.0 seem so far to be dominated by the erratic social media titan Elon Musk. The X CEO and leader …
Discussion:
Breitbart and Adweek, more at Mediagazer »

Democratic state Sen. Mallory McMorrow preparing to enter US Senate race in Michigan, AP sources say — Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow is preparing to enter the Democratic primary for an open U.S. Senate seat in the state, multiple people familiar with her plans confirmed on Monday.