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10:10 AM ET, February 4, 2025

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 Top Items: 
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.
RELATED:
New York Times:
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 …
Politico:
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
Politico:
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 …
Matt Shuham / HuffPost:
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” …
Washington Post:
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 …
Discussion: CNN and USA Today
Andrew Solender / Axios:
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: NBC News, Daily Kos and NCJA
Paul Krugman:
What the Musk is Happening?  —  When writing posts for this newsletter, I like to have a clear focus and offer a tightly argued thesis, backed by data.  This, however, won't be that kind of post.  If I had to summarize the state of affairs right now, I would quote Charlie Brown: “Aaugh!”
Discussion: Raw Story
Notes on the Crises:
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
Charlie Warzel / The Atlantic:
The ‘Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly’ of the United States Government
Peter Baker / New York Times:
How Trump Is Reshaping U.S. Government, Just 2 Weeks Into His Presidency
Discussion: HuffPost and Axios
Makena Kelly / Wired:
Elon Musk Ally Tells Staff ‘AI-First’ Is the Future of Key Government Agency
Discussion: DNyuz, more at Techmeme »
Politico:
Unions sue to block Musk team's access to Treasury payments
Joan Westenberg / The Index:   Elon Musk Is an Existential Threat to Big Tech
Associated Press:
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.
RELATED:
New York Times:
What Does Trump Really Want From Canada and Mexico?
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Blinks on North American Tariffs
The Hill:
Morning Report — Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico, Canada as China retaliates
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 …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
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 …
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Advisers Weigh Plan to Dismantle Education Department
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Hints at Curbs on Musk's Powers After Billionaire Shakes Up Washington
Discussion: Tennessee Star, Bloomberg and Reuters
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
The Familiar Arrogance of Musk's Young Apparatchiks
Discussion: Raw Story
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:
NBC News:
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 …
RELATED:
Garrett Shanley / The Independent Florida Alligator:
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 …
Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:
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
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 …
NBC 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 …
RELATED:
Benjamin Wittes / Default:
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 …
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.
CNN:
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 …
Peter M. Shane / Washington Monthly:
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 …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Victoria Taft / PJ Media:
USAID Pays the Terrorists Who Kill Us
Discussion: RedState and Exposing the role …
Lisa Friedman / New York Times:
E.P.A. Demotes Career Employees Overseeing Science, Enforcement and More
Discussion: The Daily Wire and New Republic
The Hill:
Trump's impending massacre of the federal workforce will destroy his second term
Politico:
Trump's plan to kill offshore wind is paying off
Bloomberg:
Kash Patel's $800,000 Trump Media Award Raises New Conflict Questions
New York Post:
RFK's hearings remove all doubt: He's not fit to lead a key federal health agency
Discussion: The Hill
 Earlier Items: 
Erin Doherty / Axios:
Trump's obsession: He can't quit bashing Biden
Discussion: Bangor Daily News and Reuters
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Affirmative action for white men
Stephen Robinson / Public Notice:
President-unelect Musk pushes US democracy to the brink
Josh Fiallo / The Daily Beast:
Unmasked: Elon's Secret DOGE Goon Squad—Every One Under 26
Discussion: Daily Mail, Raw Story and Twitchy
Brad Plumer / New York Times:
Chris Wright Is Confirmed to Be Secretary of Energy
The White House:
At USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs Deep
Discussion: CBS News and Blaze Media
 

 
From Mediagazer:

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”

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”

 
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