Top Items:

Musk Cronies Dive Into Treasury Dept Payments Code Base — Overnight, Wired reported that, contrary to published reports that DOGE operatives at the Treasury Department are limited to “read only” access to department payment systems, this is not true. A 25-year-old DOGE operative named Marko Elez …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Digby's Hullabaloo and Nudity and Nerdery
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A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System — The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is a sleepy part of the Treasury Department. It's also where, sources say, a 25-year-old engineer tied to Elon Musk has admin privileges over the code that controls Social Security payments, tax returns, and more.

Federal Workers Sue to Disconnect DOGE Server — Two federal workers, citing reports that Elon Musk's associates are operating an illegally connected email server at OPM, seek a restraining order. — Federal employees are seeking a temporary restraining order as part of a class action lawsuit accusing …
Discussion:
Raw Story

Elon Musk's Power Grab Is Lawless, Dangerous, and—Yes—a Coup — The federal government is currently under relentless and unlawful assault by a man no one elected to lead it. With Donald Trump's blessing and enabling, Elon Musk and his confederates have laid siege to the executive branch …
Discussion:
Common Dreams, IJR, Al Jazeera, Raw Story, The Verge, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, The Nation, Boston.com and USA Today

Bessent tells lawmakers Musk's DOGE does not control Treasury payments system
Discussion:
MarketWatch, Raw Story, FedScoop, Truthout, HuffPost, Townhall, ABC News, Baltimore Sun, Bloomberg and Marketplace
David Dayen / American Prospect:
Illegal Executive Spending Decisions Are Happening Now
Illegal Executive Spending Decisions Are Happening Now
Discussion:
Axios
Rolling Stone:
Inside Trump and Musk's Clumsy, ‘Exhausting’ Hunt for Leakers
Inside Trump and Musk's Clumsy, ‘Exhausting’ Hunt for Leakers
Discussion:
Raw Story and The Independent
Notes on the Crises:
Day Five of the Trump-Musk Treasury Payments Crisis of 2025: Not “Read Only” access anymore
Day Five of the Trump-Musk Treasury Payments Crisis of 2025: Not “Read Only” access anymore
Discussion:
American Prospect and Raw Story
The Independent:
The seven techies barely out of college helping Musk to slash billions from federal government
The seven techies barely out of college helping Musk to slash billions from federal government
Discussion:
The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Beast and Twitchy, more at Mediagazer »

White House preparing executive order to abolish the Department of Education — The planned order follows years of campaign promises from President Donald Trump to abolish the federal Education Department. — The White House is preparing an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education …
Discussion:
New York Times, NOTUS, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Truthout, UPI, Reuters, Raw Story, The National Pulse, The Gateway Pundit, DNyuz, USA Today, The Independent, WFLA, New York Post and Washington Examiner
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Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:
Trump Is Testing Our Constitutional System. It's Doing Fine.
Trump Is Testing Our Constitutional System. It's Doing Fine.
Discussion:
ABC News

FBI turns over names of 5,000 employees who worked on January 6 cases to Trump Justice Department, as agents sue — FBI officials have complied with demands to provide the Justice Department with a list of thousands of employees who worked on investigations related to the January 6, 2021 …
Discussion:
CBS News, HotAir, Daily Mail, Raw Story, Twitchy, The Post Millennial, DNyuz, Orlando Sentinel, Florida Politics, Metro.co.uk and The Gateway Pundit
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‘Accidental’ F.B.I. Chief Builds a Following as Agency's Defender — Brian Driscoll was accidentally catapulted into the acting director's chair on Jan. 20 and has defended the bureau from the potential of mass firings, inspiring memes and satirical clips. — Brian Driscoll …
Discussion:
Default, The Daily Beast and The Post Millennial

FBI agents sue to block DOJ from compiling list of officials who worked on Jan. 6 or Trump cases — The agents are fearful that the Trump-led Justice Department will exact punishment against employees deemed disloyal. — FBI agents who worked on cases stemming from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol …

About 20,000 federal workers took “buyout” so far, official says — About 20,000 federal workers have accepted the “buyout” offer put forward by the Trump administration last week, a senior administration official tells Axios. … - The offer is open through Thursday, meaning the total could rise …
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Federal layoffs ‘likely’ if too few employees choose to quit, memo says
Discussion:
Associated Press, RedState and The Gateway Pundit
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
We Did This to Ourselves — Four years ago today, the House of Representatives voted to remove …
We Did This to Ourselves — Four years ago today, the House of Representatives voted to remove …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal and CNN

RFK Jr. closes in on HHS Cabinet post after Senate panel vote — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., once seen as a long shot to serve as America's top health official, is now set to head to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now one step closer to running …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Axios, STAT, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, New York Post, Washington Examiner, New Republic, Bloomberg, The Hill, CBS News and Daily Mail
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Trump Administration Live Updates: Committee Votes to Advance Tulsi Gabbard's Bid for Intelligence Post
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Politico, WSVN-TV, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, NBC News, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, The Independent, NOTUS, Bangor Daily News, Blaze Media, DNyuz, Fox News, The Hill, CBS News, New York Daily News, MSNBC, Althouse, RedState, Townhall, Washington Examiner, New York Post, The Daily Caller and The Transom, more at Techmeme »
Dan De Luce / NBC News:
Senate committee backs Tulsi Gabbard as next intelligence chief
Senate committee backs Tulsi Gabbard as next intelligence chief
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Axios, Roll Call, CBS News, The Post Millennial, The Daily Caller, UPI, ABC News, Townhall, Blaze Media and DNyuz

NFL to remove ‘End Racism’ messaging in end zone ahead of Super Bowl: Sources — NEW ORLEANS — At his annual news conference Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expressed strong support for the league's policies designed to promote diversity at the club-employment level and indicated that those endeavors will continue.
Discussion:
Raw Story, RedState, USA Today, Breitbart, DNyuz, Daily Mail, Fox News, The Daily Wire, Defector, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Examiner
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Trump expected to attend Super Bowl, White House official says
Discussion:
New York Post, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, Townhall, Bloomberg, Breitbart, The Daily Wire, Axios, IJR, Fox News and The Hill

Negotiations stall ahead of shutdown deadline as Democrats slam Trump for subverting spending laws — Democrats are eying the March 14 deadline to push back on Trump's recent unilateral actions, saying he needs to follow the law on government funding. — WASHINGTON — Government funding negotiations …
Discussion:
DNyuz
The Hill:
Waffle House adding surcharge for every egg ordered — (NEXSTAR) - Waffle House restaurants across the nation will be adding a 50 cent surcharge to every egg ordered amid soaring prices due to inflation and the bird flu epidemic. — The surcharge took effect Monday, according to a Waffle House memo shared with Nexstar.
Discussion:
KGET-TV
RELATED:
Jordan Valinsky / CNN:
Waffle House is placing a surcharge on every egg it sells
Waffle House is placing a surcharge on every egg it sells
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, New York Times, USA Today, MeidasTouch News, Quartz, Associated Press, WAGA-TV, DNyuz, New York Post, Fortune, Eater, New York Daily News, CBS News, WCSC-TV, Breitbart and Crooks and Liars

‘Things Are Going to Get Intense:’ How a Musk Ally Plans to Push AI on the Government — Thomas Shedd, a Musk-associate and now head of the General Services Administration's Technology Transformation Services (TTS), told government tech workers in a meeting this week that the administration plans …
Discussion:
Wired, Raw Story, TechCrunch and DNyuz, more at Techmeme »

Republican Senators Say They're Fine Handing Their Power to Elon Musk — Musk's actions may be unconstitutional but “nobody should bellyache about that,” Sen. Thom Tillis said. — Copy — Tech billionaire Elon Musk is working to shut down government agencies and cancel congressionally approved funding …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, ABC News, Orlando Sentinel, The Independent, Grabien and HuffPost

‘Beyond betrayal.’ Venezuelans in Florida are angry at Trump immigration policy — MIAMI — Venezuelan migrants in South Florida say they feel betrayed by a Trump administration decision to end legal protections for hundreds of thousands of people who fled dictatorships and sought refuge in the U.S.
Discussion:
NBC News, Federal Register, Florida Politics, The Daily Wire, Raw Story, Breitbart, Associated Press, Orlando Sentinel, Axios and Bloomberg
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
Ocasio-Cortez: Musk ‘one of the most unintelligent billionaires I have ever met’ — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed tech billionaire and “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) head Elon Musk as “one of the most unintelligent billionaires that I have ever met.”
Discussion:
New York Post, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner and RedState
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EPA spending freeze continues despite court orders — Two judges have ordered the administration to lift the freeze. But nonprofits and states still can't get money for contracts backed by the Inflation Reduction Act. — The Trump administration is still freezing many climate …

Proud Boys Lose Control of Their Name to a Black Church They Vandalized — A judge awarded the trademarked name and symbols to a Washington church to help satisfy a $2.8 million judgment against the far-right group. — The Proud Boys no longer have control over their own name.
Discussion:
CBS News, The Guardian, UPI, Law & Crime, WUSA, Daily Kos, New Republic, The Independent and Washingtonian

U.S. Begins Migrant Flights to Guantanamo Bay — The Trump administration has said it would expand operations at the American naval base in Cuba to hold up to 30,000 immigrants — WASHINGTON—The first flights carrying detained migrants from the U.S. to Guantanamo Bay have headed …
Discussion:
New York Post, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, The Independent and Instapundit

Scoop: Senate Dems plot USAID revenge on Trump … - Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Axios on Tuesday that he's willing to place holds on Trump nominees on the Senate Judiciary Committee. — Blumenthal said the caucus is proceeding as if there is a blanket hold on Trump nominations.
Discussion:
U.S. Senator Brian Schatz …, KTLA, NPR, WTOP News and PBS NewsHour

About 10 killed at adult education center in what officials say is Sweden's worst mass shooting — About 10 people, including the gunman, were killed on Tuesday at an adult education center in what Sweden's prime minister called the country's worst mass shooting.
Discussion:
WAGA-TV, Reuters, DNyuz, Associated Press, New York Times, UPI, Breitbart, Fox News, New York Post, Metro.co.uk and Al Jazeera

Half of Wisconsin Head Start programs can't access needed funds after federal freeze — One Head Start center in Waukesha closed last week, leaving more than 250 families without child care — One week after the Trump administration ordered a pause on federal grants and loans …
Discussion:
Digby's Hullabaloo

Family member condemns use of armored vehicle, stun grenades in Phoenix ICE arrest — A family member is speaking out against an ICE operation in northwest Phoenix on Sunday, calling it an unnecessary use of force that involved an armored vehicle, flash bang grenades and several dozen ICE agents …
Discussion:
Daily Mail

Trump administration adds fine print to ‘Fork’ resignation offer, deepening confusion — It's been a week since nearly all 2.3 million civilian employees of the federal government were presented with an offer: Agree to resign from your job by Feb. 6 and keep your pay and benefits through the end of September.
Discussion:
FedSmith.com, Inside Medicine, WTOP News, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner and DNyuz

Trump moves to put nearly all USAID Washington staff on leave — Some 1,400 people will be notified Tuesday, on top of about 600 who were placed on leave starting Sunday night. — The Trump administration is making moves to place nearly all of the U.S. Agency for International Development's …
Discussion:
The Daily Signal, The Gateway Pundit and Associated Press