Top Items:

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:

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 and Chicago Tribune

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, Politico, American Prospect, New York Magazine, NBC News, Reuters, CNN, ABC News, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Denver Post, Associated Press, New York Times, Federal News Network, Daily Mail, WUSA, Slate, Mediaite, Common Dreams, RedState, Fox Business, CBS News, FOX 11 Los Angeles, The Independent, DNyuz, WTOP News, Mashable, Daily Kos, The Daily Wire, The Daily Sceptic, Breitbart, NOTUS and Crooks and Liars, more at Techmeme »

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, Washington Examiner, New York Post, RedState, The Guardian, USA Today, Raw Story, Townhall, Scripps News, The Gateway Pundit 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 …
Discussion:
USA Today, Forbes, CBS News, New York Times and Reuters

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 personnel told to stay away from headquarters after Elon Musk's shutdown comments — Marocco held several national security positions during the first Trump administration, including at USAID, where he tried to consolidate power and slash funding. — WASHINGTON — Secretary …
Discussion:
Daily Mail, The Root and The Independent

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, New Republic, NBC News and The Independent, more at Techmeme »

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).

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” …

Warren Questions Bessent Over Musk Access to Treasury Payment System
New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: Musk Says Trump Wants to Shut Down U.S. Foreign Aid Agency
Trump Administration Live Updates: Musk Says Trump Wants to Shut Down U.S. Foreign Aid Agency
Lauren Kent / CNN:
USAID workers at Washington HQ told to stay home on Monday in unexpected, early-morning email
USAID workers at Washington HQ told to stay home on Monday in unexpected, early-morning email
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
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 and Associated Press
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, Forbes and Mediaite
Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:
Trump II Punishes Fed Workers For Attending Trump I Diversity Training
Trump II Punishes Fed Workers For Attending Trump I Diversity Training
Discussion:
ABC News
Politico:
Trump administration moves to further undercut USAID
Trump administration moves to further undercut USAID
Discussion:
CNN, Bloomberg, Mercury News, HotAir, Sun-Sentinel, CBS News, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, Blaze Media, Washington Examiner, MeidasTouch News, Scripps News, Hollywood Life and Forbes
Politico:
The trade war in Trump's mind
The trade war in Trump's mind
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Post, Breitbart, The Daily Wire, USA Today, 19FortyFive and DNyuz
Politico:
Unions sue to block Musk team's access to Treasury payments
Unions sue to block Musk team's access to Treasury payments
Discussion:
Bloomberg and PoliticusUSA
Juan Perez Jr / Politico:
Trump administration finalizing plans to shutter Education Department
Trump administration finalizing plans to shutter Education Department
Discussion:
Forbes
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:
Scripps News, Consumer Financial …, CNBC, Politico, New York Times, The Daily Caller, consumerbankers.com, UPI, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, RedState and Fox Business
Jonathan Lemire / The Atlantic:
Elon Musk Is President
Elon Musk Is President
Discussion:
Axios, The UnPopulist, Reuters, NPR, USA Today, RedState, Advocate, Daily Mail, New York Magazine, E&E News and Techdirt

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, The Guardian and Daily Mail
RELATED:

Live Updates: Mexico Reaches Deal With U.S. to Delay Trump Tariffs
Discussion:
Vox, Reuters, NPR, Washington Post, CNBC, New York Post, New York Daily News, PBS NewsHour, Global News, HotAir, KFMB, WTOP News, Slate, Jacobin, The Contrarian and American Enterprise Institute
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Trump pauses tariffs on Canada imports for 30 days after doing the same for Mexico
Trump pauses tariffs on Canada imports for 30 days after doing the same for Mexico
Discussion:
Fox News, IJR, DNyuz, New York Post, Associated Press, The Floridian, UPI, Variety, Ace of Spades HQ and Semafor
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:
Raw Story, Business Insider, Fox News and Fortune
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
Republicans eye bigger farm bailout amid Trump trade wars
Republicans eye bigger farm bailout amid Trump trade wars
Discussion:
Mediaite, Raw Story, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Axios and DNyuz
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, Raw Story, Breitbart, ABC News, Global News, DNyuz, 6abc, The Gateway Pundit, PoliticusUSA, The National Pulse, Tennessee Star, The Guardian, American Enterprise Institute, The Daily Signal, The Independent, Blaze Media, Los Angeles Times, Texas Standard, American Greatness, Al Jazeera and Boston Herald
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 and Ars Technica
Politico:
Trump backs off tariff threat with Canada and Mexico
Trump backs off tariff threat with Canada and Mexico
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Fox News, NBC News, The Guardian, Business Insider, Global News, NPR, Politico, Reuters, Al Jazeera, West Virginia Watch, DNyuz, CNBC, BBC, Blaze Media, New York Times, Associated Press, The Independent, WAGA-TV, WHYY, Axios, Quartz, Deadline, New York Post, New Republic and Scripps News

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:
Roll Call, Law & Crime and Washington Examiner
RELATED:

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, RedState, E&E News, USA Today, Ohio Capital Journal, WTTG-TV, WUSA and Associated Press
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Judge Further Blocks White House Spending Freeze
Judge Further Blocks White House Spending Freeze
Discussion:
Civil Discourse … and DNyuz

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

Elon Musk Installs Illegal Server to Seize All Federal Workers' Data — Elon Musk has taken control of government employees' private data by having his cronies illegally install a commercial server at the Office of Personnel Management. — Musk and his handpicked associates at the fake …
Discussion:
NBC News
RELATED:

Musk associates given unfettered access to private data of government employees
Discussion:
DCMediaGroup, USA Today, Raw Story, The Atlantic, Mediaite and The Column
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
The Twitter Files Playbook Comes For The US Government

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:
Raw Story, Associated Press, The Independent and Mediaite
RELATED:

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.

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
Al Weaver / The Hill:
GOP's Susan Collins to back Tulsi Gabbard confirmation — Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced on Monday that she will support Tulsi Gabbard to become director of national intelligence (DNI), giving her a key boost in her confirmation push. — Collins was considered a crucial swing vote …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Fox News, RedState, Politico, Townhall, New York Post, Blaze Media, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, DNyuz, CBS News and New York Times
RELATED:
Connor O'Brien / Politico:
Collins, Lankford back Gabbard for top Intel job ahead of committee vote
Collins, Lankford back Gabbard for top Intel job ahead of committee vote
Discussion:
Bangor Daily News

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, New York Post and The Daily Wire

Senate confirms Chris Wright as Trump's energy secretary — Chris Wright, the Denver-based fracking CEO tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the Energy Department, was confirmed to the role by the Senate Monday evening. Senators voted 59-38 to confirm Wright, including support from some Democrats …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Examiner, CBS News, Axios, The Guardian, New York Post, The Federalist and The National Interest

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 …
RELATED:

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 …