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.

RFK Jr. passes key HHS confirmation hurdle with Senate panel vote  —  President Donald Trump's pick to lead Health and Human Services faced tough questioning in hearings about vaccines, abortion and other major health-care issues.

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

Elon Musk's Midnight Takeover  —  The world's richest man and his allies are “avoiding office hours at all costs” as they take a wrecking ball to the US government.  —  Much like a gremlin fed after midnight, Elon Musk is staying up late and causing mayhem.

N.Y. lets doctors keep names off abortion pills to avoid red-state charges  —  Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) approved the law on Monday, after New York doctor Margaret Carpenter was charged with prescribing abortion pills to a girl in Louisiana.

Trump Blinks on North American Tariffs  —  The President pauses after minor concessions from Canada and Mexico.  —  President Trump never admits a mistake, but he often changes his mind.  That's the best way to read his decision Monday to pause his 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada after minor concessions from each country.

Affirmative action for white men  —  Since taking office on January 20, President Donald Trump has targeted so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programs, also known as DEI.  According to a January 21 executive order, “critical and influential institutions of American society …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

E.P.A. Demotes Career Employees Overseeing Science, Enforcement and More  —  A spokeswoman for the agency said the change was “common practice.”  Others said it injects partisanship into jobs that have always been neutral.  —  The Environmental Protection Agency plans to demote career employees …

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 …

Sen. Todd Young will back Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence  —  Sen. Todd Young said Tuesday he will support Donald Trump's embattled nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, improving her chances of confirmation.  Facing a wave of political pressure …

Trump personally ordered firings of special counsel prosecutors  —  Exclusive: move to purge those who worked for Jack Smith came from Trump, sources say, in show of unchecked power  —  The US justice department fired more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on the criminal cases against Donald …

MAGA Senator Goes on Weird Rant About Sex and Omelets  —  “I could eat an omelet at every meal,” the senator said when defending Elon Musk's USAID shutdown.  “I like omelets better than sex.”  —  PARTNER UPDATE  —  Combat Aging With This Fatty-Acid-Powered Supplement  —  AGING?  FAT CHANCE

Panama Considers Canceling Port Deal With Hong Kong Firm  — Trump has threatened Panama over perceived influence by China  — CK Hutchison subsidiary operates two ports adjacent to canal  —  Panama is weighing whether to cancel its contract with the Hong Kong-based company …

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 …

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 …

Trump to hold private dinner with Republican senators at Mar-A-Lago on Friday  —  The GOP senators will be in town for the NRSC annual winter meeting.  —  President Donald Trump answers a question after signing an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Jan. 31, 2025.