Top Items:

Elon Musk's Blitz Shakes U.S. Government as He Sweeps Through Agencies — 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 …
Discussion:
Politico, Semafor, Mediaite, emptywheel, Today's Edition Newsletter, Chicago Tribune, DNyuz, Forbes, Mashable and The Daily Wire
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DOGE's access to federal data is ‘an absolute nightmare,’ legal experts warn — The latest moves at Treasury have already triggered a lawsuit, with a fight over the dissolution of USAID looming. — Elon Musk's headlong rush to take control of crucial federal agencies and functions …
Discussion:
American Prospect

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:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Fortune, The Daily Wire, The Information, Axios, Politico and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »

Democrats flood the zone with acts of anti-Trump resistance … - “That's not a thing. … - House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) unveiled a 10-part plan for countering Trump that includes using the federal funding process to thwart his efforts to “defund programs important to everyday Americans.”
Discussion:
The Guardian, NBC News, Daily Kos and NCJA

Elon Musk is a ‘special government employee.’ What does that mean? — The SGE designation, which has come under scrutiny under Democrats as well, exempts short-term federal employees from certain disclosure rules. — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has confirmed that Elon Musk …

The ‘Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly’ of the United States Government — Elon Musk's bureaucratic coup is underway. — Elon Musk is not the president, but it does appear that he—a foreign-born, unelected billionaire who was not confirmed by Congress—is exercising profound influence …

Elon Musk Is President
Discussion:
The UnPopulist, Reuters, Letters from an American, Axios, RedState, Daily Mail, New York Magazine, USA Today, Digby's Hullabaloo and E&E News
Hafiz Rashid / New Republic:
Elon Musk Installs Illegal Server to Seize All Federal Workers' Data
Elon Musk Installs Illegal Server to Seize All Federal Workers' Data
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, American Greatness, NBC News, GovExec.com and Business Insider
Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
CONSTITUTIONAL STANDOFF — Public opposition to the most wholesale and jaw-dropping violation …
CONSTITUTIONAL STANDOFF — Public opposition to the most wholesale and jaw-dropping violation …
Politico:
Unions sue to block Musk team's access to Treasury payments
Unions sue to block Musk team's access to Treasury payments
Discussion:
Axios, The Hill, UPI, Townhall, The Verge, PoliticusUSA, Tumblr, The Post Millennial, MeidasTouch News, Talking Points Memo and Wall Street Journal

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.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CBS News, BatBoyBlog and Agence France-Presse, more at Techmeme »
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Bessent tells lawmakers Musk's DOGE does not control Treasury payments system — The remarks came during a two-hour gathering between the Treasury secretary and GOP members of the House Financial Services Committee. — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent privately reassured Republican lawmakers Monday …
Discussion:
HuffPost, MarketWatch, Metro.co.uk, ABC News, Marketplace, Baltimore Sun, Bloomberg, The Independent, The Lens and Fortune

Day Five of the Trump-Musk Treasury Payments Crisis of 2025: Not “Read Only” access anymore — If you are a current or former career Bureau of the Fiscal Service Employee, especially if you're a legacy IT programmer with years of experience and especially if you are a COBOL programmer currently working …
Discussion:
Raw Story and American Prospect

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:
New York Times, Forbes, NPR, DNyuz, The Independent, Chalkbeat, Fox News, USA Today, The Post Millennial and Reuters
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Dylan Matthews / Vox:
The worst thing Trump has done so far — About two and a half months ago, I wrote a piece about what foreign aid might look like in the second Trump term. Reading that piece now feels bizarre. — I thought that Trump's second term would look much like his first: lots of proposals …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Daily Caller, The Dispatch, Fox News, Associated Press, Townhall and DNyuz

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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China counters with tariffs on US products. It will also investigate Google — China countered President Donald Trump's across-the-board tariffs on Chinese products with tariffs on select U.S. imports Tuesday, as well as announcing an antitrust investigation into Google and other trade measures.
Discussion:
Reuters, MeidasTouch News, Associated Press, Bloomberg, The Guardian, CNN, Mediaite, The Information, Semafor, masslive.com, Business Insider, WTOP News, NPR, DNyuz, Asia Times, Baltimore Sun and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »
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Playbook: China bites back
Discussion:
Financial Times, Deadline, DNyuz and The Independent

Rupert Murdoch Is Pictured With Trump At Oval Office Signing — With the media mogul just feet away, the president was asked about a blistering attack on his tariff policy by the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal. — LOADING — Eyebrows were raised as billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, The Independent, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and DNyuz
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Trump Blinks on North American Tariffs
Discussion:
The Economist, Drezner's World, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Raw Story, Fox News, Boston Herald, NPR, The Daily Signal, RedState, One America News Network, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The Daily Wire, Politico, New Republic, MeidasTouch News, The American Conservative, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, NBC News, The Poke, USA Today, Bloomberg and New York Times
New York Times:
What Does Trump Really Want From Canada and Mexico?
What Does Trump Really Want From Canada and Mexico?
Discussion:
HuffPost, CNN, CBC News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Canadian Press, Ace of Spades HQ, Semafor, The Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, New York Daily News, Bloomberg, Global News, Kyodo News+, DNyuz, The National Pulse, 6abc, PoliticusUSA, New York Post, American Enterprise Institute, freebeacon.com, Washington Examiner, Blaze Media, Raw Story, Texas Standard, Associated Press, USA Today, Boston Herald, Scripps News, Axios and The Dialogue Dilemma

Top ‘60 Minutes’ Producer Says He Will Not Apologize Over Trump Lawsuit — Bill Owens, the show's executive producer, addressed his staff as CBS's parent company, Paramount, pursues a legal settlement with the president. — The head of “60 Minutes” told the show's staff on Monday …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Fox News, The Independent, RedState, IJR and DNyuz, more at Mediagazer »
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Brian Stelter / CNN:
The FCC's battle with CBS over its Harris interview is raising red flags
The FCC's battle with CBS over its Harris interview is raising red flags
Discussion:
Reuters, Breitbart, New York Post, Daily Mail, Newsbusters and Washington Examiner
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
A Coup Is In Progress In America — A coup is underway in the United States, and we must stop pretending otherwise. The signs are unmistakable and accelerating: in just the past 48 hours, Elon Musk's DOGE commission has seized control of Treasury payment systems and gained unauthorized access …

Trump Is Testing Our Constitutional System. It's Doing Fine. — The president's flurry of illegal actions have been stopped by the courts. That's how it is supposed to work. — The Trump administration is subjecting the US constitutional system to a stress test.
Discussion:
ABC News and Executive Functions

State audit finds overall unnecessary spending under former UF President Ben Sasse — Sasse's expenditures included more than $300,000 in private jet flights — A preliminary report from the Florida Auditor General found UF failed to prevent former President Ben Sasse from leveraging …

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:
BBC, DNyuz, Inside Climate News, The Daily Caller, Mercury News, The Gateway Pundit, Forbes, The Root, Daily Mail and Wall Street Journal

‘Scared and betrayed’ — workers are reeling from chaos at federal agencies … As the third week of Donald Trump's presidency begins, workers across federal agencies are scrambling to find their footing among the chaos. — From the US Agency for International Development and the Department of Agriculture …
Discussion:
NPR, New York Times, HuffPost and Raw Story
RELATED:
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
Elon Musk's DOGE Is Still Blocking HIV/AIDS Relief Exempted From Foreign Aid Cuts
Elon Musk's DOGE Is Still Blocking HIV/AIDS Relief Exempted From Foreign Aid Cuts
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Daily Kos, C-SPAN.org, Global Dispatches and Washington Examiner

El Salvador offers to house violent US criminals and deportees of any nationality in unprecedented deal — El Salvador has agreed to house violent US criminals and receive deportees of any nationality, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday, in an unprecedented …
Discussion:
MeidasTouch News, Associated Press, United States Department …, Blaze Media, New York Post, DNyuz, USA Today, Forbes, WAGA-TV, UPI, Breitbart, Bloomberg, Scripps News and WTOP News

To Save Democracy, Start Filing Cases — The Trump-Musk ransacking of the federal government must stop. The courts offer one important way to apply the brake, says an administrative law scholar. — If you were a state senator in 1975 seeking constitutional advice, any competent lawyer …

The Situation: What's Going on at the FBI? — Don't look now but the FBI is resisting the political witch-hunt loosed upon it. — Meet The Authors … The Situation on Friday was too fluid to write responsibly on the ongoing purge at the FBI. — Things have clarified enough today …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Townhall, DNyuz, Politico and CBS News

Jan. 6 conspiracy theory promoter named to a top State Department job — Darren Beattie, who's claimed the FBI was responsible for the 2021 attack on the Capitol, has been named acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. — A conservative author who has spread conspiracy theories …
Discussion:
CNN, HuffPost, Mediaite, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Raw Story, Jewish Insider, The Forward, Twin Cities, Rolling Stone, Revolver News, ABC News and Semafor
The Hill:
Trump's impending massacre of the federal workforce will destroy his second term — The Trump administration has initiated what may become the most devastating dismantling of the federal workforce in modern history — not with mass firings, but with a carefully designed invitation to resign.

At USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs Deep — Here are only a few examples of the WASTE and ABUSE: — $1.5 million to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and business communities” — $70,000 for production of a “DEI musical” in Ireland — $2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam
Discussion:
CBS News and Blaze Media
Christian Paz / Vox:
How Democratic Gen Z activists lost the Gen Z vote — This story was originally published in The Highlight, Vox's member-exclusive magazine. To get early access to member-exclusive stories every month, join the Vox Membership program today. — Six months ago, young Democrats were preparing for a very different conversation.

Kash Patel's $800,000 Trump Media Award Raises New Conflict Questions — Patel got late windfall from Trump's social media company — FBI nominee didn't detail plans for stock award in disclosures — Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation …

Chris Wright Is Confirmed to Be Secretary of Energy — The former fracking executive said in confirmation hearings that his top priority would be to “unleash” American energy production. — The Senate confirmed Chris Wright to lead the U.S. Department of Energy on Monday …

RFK's hearings remove all doubt: He's not fit to lead a key federal health agency — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s two-day Senate confirmation hearing should remove all doubt: He's absolutely unfit to head the Department of Health and Human Services. — His testimony did nothing to change anyone's minds about that.
Discussion:
The Hill