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5:15 PM ET, February 4, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
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 …
RELATED:
Wired:
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.
Dell Cameron / Wired:
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
David Dayen / American Prospect:
Illegal Executive Spending Decisions Are Happening Now
Discussion: Axios
Rolling Stone:
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
Discussion: American Prospect and Raw Story
David Ingram / NBC News:
Elon Musk and DOGE are hacking the government
NBC News:
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 …
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:   Trump Order Set to Ban Transgender Girls and Women From Female School Sports
Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:
Trump Is Testing Our Constitutional System. It's Doing Fine.
Discussion: ABC News
CNN:
Trump administration drafting executive order to initiate Department of Education's elimination
CNN:
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 …
RELATED:
Adam Goldman / New York Times:
‘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 …
Politico:
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 …
NBC News:
FBI agents file lawsuits alleging Justice Department ‘retribution’ over their work on Jan. 6 cases
Discussion: Washington Post and Bloomberg
Marc Caputo / Axios:
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 …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
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 …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: Committee Votes to Advance Tulsi Gabbard's Bid for Intelligence Post
Adam Wren / Politico:
Sen. Todd Young will back Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence
Dan De Luce / NBC News:
Senate committee backs Tulsi Gabbard as next intelligence chief
Michael Silver / New York Times:
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.
RELATED:
Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
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
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
‘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 …
NOTUS:
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 …
Greg Allen / NPR:
‘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.
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.”
RELATED:
Jean Chemnick / Politico:
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 …
Discussion: Oregonian, Bloomberg and RedState
Alan Feuer / New York Times:
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.
Wall Street Journal:
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 …
Stephen Neukam / Axios:
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.
Associated Press:
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.
Richelle Wilson / WPR:
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
Daniel Gonzalez / Arizona Republic:
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
Andrea Hsu / NPR:
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.
Politico:
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 …
 
 
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 More Items: 
The Bulwark:
Anne Applebaum: Outside the Rule of Law
Mike Brock / Techdirt:
To Stop The Coup, We Must Be Clear About The Truth: Two Plus Two Equals Four
The Hill:
Senate preparing to move first on budget package amid House stalemate
 Earlier Items: 
Ajit Niranjan / The Guardian:
Temperatures at north pole 20C above average and beyond ice melting point
Michael McElroy / Cardinal & Pine:
Army helicopter pilot killed in DC plane crash was one of the NC voters Jefferson Griffin is trying to disenfranchise
Discussion: Raw Story and NC Newsline
Bloomberg:
EU Sees a Path to Negotiate With Trump to Avoid a Tariff Fight
Discussion: USA Today, BBC, Al Jazeera and Politico
Dylan Matthews / Vox:
The worst thing Trump has done so far
Garrett Shanley / The Independent Florida Alligator:
State audit finds overall unnecessary spending under former UF President Ben Sasse
Discussion: Politico and Florida Politics
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Affirmative action for white men
 

 
From Mediagazer:

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:
James and Kathryn Murdoch detail the succession battle that has pitted James and Lachlan Murdoch against each other, leaving the family empire's future unclear

Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube TV says it has “reached a short term extension” to keep Paramount's content, including CBS and Nickelodeon, “as we work toward a deal”

Sara Fischer / Axios:
The White House says it will bar AP from events in the Oval Office and on Air Force One over AP's refusal to use “Gulf of America” instead of “Gulf of Mexico”

 
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