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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 — 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 …
Discussion:
BBC, The Daily Beast, American Prospect, New York Magazine, NBC News, Reuters, CNN, ABC News, Bloomberg, Forbes, Politico, Associated Press, New York Times, Daily Mail, Federal News Network, WUSA, Slate, Fox Business, Mediaite, The Daily Wire, RedState, Common Dreams, WSVN-TV, Crooks and Liars, FOX 11 Los Angeles, The Independent, DNyuz, WTOP News, Daily Kos, The Daily Sceptic, Breitbart, The Post Millennial, NOTUS, The Gateway Pundit, New Republic and Semafor, more at Techmeme »

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” …
Discussion:
Fortune, The Daily Wire, The Information and USA Today

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 …
Nicholas Wu / Politico:
Hakeem Jeffries wants funding freeze ‘choked off’ in spending deal
Hakeem Jeffries wants funding freeze ‘choked off’ in spending deal
Discussion:
Democratic Leader …, Axios, Associated Press and Digby's Hullabaloo
Burgess Everett / Semafor:
‘Trump will screw up’: Schumer plots the Democratic comeback
‘Trump will screw up’: Schumer plots the Democratic comeback
Discussion:
Deep Learning State Machine, RedState and The Hill
Politico:
Trump administration moves to further undercut USAID
Trump administration moves to further undercut USAID
Discussion:
CNN, Bloomberg, HotAir, Mercury News, Sun-Sentinel, CBS News, Al Jazeera, Blaze Media, Washington Examiner, MeidasTouch News, Scripps News, Hollywood Life, Forbes and DNyuz
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Congressional Democrats denied entry to USAID building
Congressional Democrats denied entry to USAID building
Discussion:
ABC News, NPR and Baltimore Sun
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:
Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, CBS News, The Post Millennial, New York Post, Mashable, The Daily Wire, Baltimore Sun, Associated Press and Axios
David Edwards / Raw Story:
‘What is happening here is illegal’: Dem senator confronts security at USAID headquarters
‘What is happening here is illegal’: Dem senator confronts security at USAID headquarters
Discussion:
CBS News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, GovExec.com, Mediaite and MPR News

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:
Associated Press, Reuters, Chicago Tribune and E&E News
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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

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).

Warren Questions Bessent Over Musk Access to Treasury Payment System
CNN:
Elon Musk is serving as a ‘special government employee,’ White House says
Elon Musk is serving as a ‘special government employee,’ White House says
Discussion:
Business Insider, Rolling Stone and Forbes
Caleb Ecarma / Popular Information:
Musk associates given unfettered access to private data of government employees
Musk associates given unfettered access to private data of government employees
Discussion:
Raw Story, Mediaite and The Column
Politico:
Unions sue to block Musk team's access to Treasury payments
Unions sue to block Musk team's access to Treasury payments
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA and Bloomberg
John Zangas / DCMediaGroup:
Federal Workers Block Doors of Admin Building Over Elon Musk Data Breach
Federal Workers Block Doors of Admin Building Over Elon Musk Data Breach
Discussion:
New Republic and The Daily Signal
Clara Jeffery / Mother Jones:
Nobody Voted for Elon Musk
Cybele Mayes-Osterman / USA Today:
‘Fork off’: Protesters gather outside OPM to condemn Elon Musk ‘stealing’ personal data
‘Fork off’: Protesters gather outside OPM to condemn Elon Musk ‘stealing’ personal data
Discussion:
Daily Mail, Raw Story, Blaze Media and GovExec.com

Trump backs off tariff threat with Canada and Mexico — Tariffs will be paused for 30 days. But a 10 percent levy on Chinese goods is still scheduled to go into effect. — President Donald Trump reached agreements with Mexico and Canada on Monday that will delay his threatened tariffs for one month …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Fox News, Business Insider, NBC News, The Guardian, NPR, Global News, Politico, Reuters, Al Jazeera, West Virginia Watch, DNyuz, Blaze Media, BBC, CNBC, New York Times, Associated Press, The Independent, WAGA-TV, WHYY, Axios, Quartz, Deadline, New York Post, New Republic, Scripps News, CBS News and E&E News
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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 …
Discussion:
Reuters, USA Today, Detroit Free Press, DNyuz, Breitbart and Daily Mail

Trump pauses tariffs on Canada imports for 30 days after doing the same for Mexico
Discussion:
Fox News, New York Post, DNyuz, IJR, Associated Press, Ace of Spades HQ, The Floridian, UPI, Variety and Semafor
New York Times:
Live Updates: Mexico Reaches Deal With U.S. to Delay Trump Tariffs
Live Updates: Mexico Reaches Deal With U.S. to Delay Trump Tariffs
Discussion:
NPR, Washington Post, New York Post, New York Daily News, PBS NewsHour, Global News, American Enterprise Institute, HotAir, KFMB, WTOP News, Slate, Jacobin, The Contrarian, NBC News and freebeacon.com
Reuters:
White House: Mexico is ‘serious’, Canada appears to have ‘misunderstood’ Trump's executive order
White House: Mexico is ‘serious’, Canada appears to have ‘misunderstood’ Trump's executive order
Discussion:
The Economist, Washington Examiner, Metro.co.uk, Digby's Hullabaloo, Retail Dive, Ars Technica, The Free Press, New York Daily News and Axios
Politico:
Trump backs off tariff threat with Mexico, digs in on Canada
Trump backs off tariff threat with Mexico, digs in on Canada
Discussion:
Washington Post, Associated Press, Bloomberg, New York Post, CNN, Breitbart, ABC News, Global News, DNyuz, 6abc, The Gateway Pundit, PoliticusUSA, The National Pulse, Tennessee Star, The Daily Signal, American Enterprise Institute, Raw Story, The Guardian, The Independent, Blaze Media, Los Angeles Times, Texas Standard, American Greatness, Al Jazeera, Boston Herald, The Daily Wire 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:
Fortune, Business Insider, Fox News, Raw Story and New Republic

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.
Discussion:
Law & Crime and Washington Examiner
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Judge signals plan to further block Trump spending freeze — A judge said some nonprofits continued to be hampered by the freeze and still couldn't access promised funding. — A federal judge expressed concern Monday that the Trump administration is continuing to implement a blanket freeze …
Discussion:
Axios, Bloomberg, Reuters, USA Today, RedState, Ohio Capital Journal, WTTG-TV, WUSA and Associated Press

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 …
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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, RedState, The Guardian, Scripps News, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, USA Today, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit and Jewish Insider

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
Trump administration finalizing plans to shutter Education Department
Discussion:
Forbes

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:
Reuters, Bloomberg Law, NBC News, New Republic and The Independent, 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 …, CNBC, Politico, New York Times, The Daily Caller, consumerbankers.com, UPI, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, RedState, Fox Business and Daily Kos

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

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.

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
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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:
Wired, Washington Examiner, The Daily Signal, New Republic, The Daily Wire and New York Post

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 …
Discussion:
NBC News, Raw Story, The Forward, Associated Press, Revolver News, The Independent, Mediaite and Rolling Stone

State Dept. Fires About 60 Contractors Working on Democracy and Human Rights — The contractors helped enact programs that focus on building up civil society and democratic practices in authoritarian states such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba.
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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 …