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Musk's DOGE Teen Was Fired By Cybersecurity Firm for Leaking Company Secrets — Edward Coristine posted online that he had retained access to the firm's servers. Now he has access to sensitive government information. — Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of Elon Musk's squad that's …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Independent, New Republic, Gizmodo, Mediaite, Raw Story and Wired, more at Techmeme »
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Reuters:
Staffer with Elon Musk's DOGE amplified white supremacists online — One of the people working with billionaire Elon Musk in his efforts to overhaul the U.S. government is a Berkeley-educated computer scientist who has boosted white supremacists and misogynists online.
Discussion:
Krebs on Security, Mashable and The Independent

Is Donald Trump Afraid of Elon Musk? — The president has long operated without anything resembling worry when it comes to appointments or executive action, but as his most powerful—and richest—political ally chainsaws his way through the federal government, some observers wonder if Trump might be tasting his own medicine.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Associated Press, Business Insider, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Daily Mail and Chicago Tribune

Vance and Trump Call for Rehiring of DOGE Staffer Who Quit Over Racist Posts. Musk Obliges.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Arizona Republic, Raw Story, HuffPost, Breitbart, New Republic, Associated Press, Forbes, Townhall, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner, Fortune, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Root, Truthout, The Verge, Axios, PinkNews, Advocate, Daily Mail and Wall Street Journal
Politico:
‘CFPB RIP’: Elon Musk is already descending on his next target
‘CFPB RIP’: Elon Musk is already descending on his next target
Discussion:
Reuters, NPR, CFPB Union, Wired, Bloomberg, Townhall, Breitbart, Washington Post, Gizmodo, Americans for Financial Reform and The Gateway Pundit
CNBC:
Musk to rehire Treasury DOGE staffer behind racist posts after Trump endorses idea
Musk to rehire Treasury DOGE staffer behind racist posts after Trump endorses idea
Discussion:
New Republic, Associated Press, NBC News, Daily Kos, Politico, New York Post, RedState, Mercury News, Forbes, Townhall, The American Spectator, Axios, Scripps News, American Greatness, Business Insider, Mediaite, Rolling Stone, driftglass, Daily Mail and The National Pulse, more at Techmeme »
Patrick Svitek / Washington Post:
Musk to rehire DOGE staffer with history of racist tweets
Musk to rehire DOGE staffer with history of racist tweets
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Guardian, Politico, Bloomberg, Raw Story, OutsideTheBeltway and Crooks and Liars
Katherine Long / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Calls for Rehiring of DOGE Staffer Who Resigned Over Racist Posts
Trump Calls for Rehiring of DOGE Staffer Who Resigned Over Racist Posts
Discussion:
Forbes, New Republic, Fortune and Beyer

A US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’ — An internal email reviewed by WIRED calls DOGE staff's access to federal payments systems “the single biggest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”
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The Atlantic:
The Government's Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified … Elon musk's unceasing attempts to access the data and information systems of the federal government range so widely, and are so unprecedented and unpredictable, that government computing experts believe the effort has spun out of control.
Discussion:
Foreign Affairs, The Verge, HotAir, Mashable, Raw Story, Musk Watch, Digby's Hullabaloo, Washington Examiner, MeidasTouch News and Washington Post

19 states sue Trump, Treasury to halt DOGE access
Discussion:
ZeroHedge News, Michigan Advance, Associated Press, CBS News and Fox News
Washington Post:
Treasury installs ally of Musk's DOGE as head of payment system
Treasury installs ally of Musk's DOGE as head of payment system
Discussion:
ProPublica, New Republic, Raw Story, RedState, Gizmodo, Deep Left Field, Bloomberg and New York Times
Time:
Inside Elon Musk's War on Washington
Inside Elon Musk's War on Washington
Discussion:
New York Times, HuffPost, NBC News, The Hill, CNN, The Guardian, KRDO, Daily Mail, The Independent, New York Magazine, New Republic, Washington Post, Healthcare Dive and Politico
Michael Stratford / Politico:
Treasury elevates Musk ally to lead government payment system
Treasury elevates Musk ally to lead government payment system
Discussion:
Washington Post, Bloomberg, Vox, Forbes, Tampa Free Press, NPR, New York Times, Associated Press, HuffPost, Washingtonian, Reuters, One America News Network, The Post Millennial and CNN

Trump Says He Will Dismiss Kennedy Center Board Members and Install Himself as Chair — The move by the president, whose authority to make the changes was not clear, is the latest attempt to bring a Washington institution under his control. — President Trump announced his intention …
Discussion:
Politico, USA Today, CNN, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, CBS News, Axios, Fox News, Billboard, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, WUSA, Raw Story, Blaze Media, Baltimore Sun, Mediaite, The Hollywood Reporter, Consequence, Variety and Florida Politics
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Judge Will Freeze Elements of Trump Plan to Shut Down U.S.A.I.D. — Where Things Stand — Political payback: President Trump said on Friday that he was revoking former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s security clearances, and made clear that he was doing so because Mr. Biden had rescinded his privileges four years ago.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, The Atlantic and One America News Network

Donald Trump Says He'll Name Himself Chairman Of Kennedy Center And Oust Board Members — Donald Trump said that he will oust board members of the Kennedy Center, while naming himself as its new chairman. — David Rubenstein is the current chairman of the center and agreed to stay in that role through 2026.
Discussion:
Washington Post
Ginger Adams Otis / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Appoints Himself Kennedy Center Chair, Citing Disapproval of Drag Shows
Trump Appoints Himself Kennedy Center Chair, Citing Disapproval of Drag Shows
Discussion:
New York Post
Mother Jones:
Kash Patel Took $25,000 From Russia-Linked Firm to Appear on an Anti-FBI TV Series — Last year, Kash Patel, the MAGA provocateur whom Donald Trump has nominated to head the FBI, received $25,000 from a Russia-linked production company to participate in a documentary in which he assailed the FBI and called for closing its headquarters.
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Trump says he's revoking Biden's security clearance, ending intelligence briefings in payback move — President Donald Trump said Friday that he's revoking former President Joe Biden's security clearance and ending the daily intelligence briefings he's receiving in payback for Biden doing the same to him in 2021.
Discussion:
Fox News, NBC News, Washington Examiner, Scripps News, USA Today, Breitbart, Forbes, RedState, Raw Story, One America News Network, Al Jazeera, Daily Caller News Foundation, KRDO, New York Post, WSVN-TV, Mediaite, Daily Mail, The Independent, Townhall, The Post Millennial, Blaze Media and WTOP News
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Trump says he is revoking Joe Biden's security clearance
Discussion:
NBC News
grants.nih.gov:
Key Dates — Related Announcements — Issued by — Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD) — Purpose — The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards a large number of grants providing substantial federal funding for research purposes.
Discussion:
Ars Technica, New York Times and STAT
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Trump fires archivist of the United States, official who oversees government records — President Trump has fired Archivist of the United States Colleen J. Shogan, the government official responsible for preserving and providing access to government records.

Trump hints at tariffs on Japan during meeting with its prime minister — President Donald Trump hinted during a news conference that Japan could soon face U.S. tariffs if it doesn't take steps to buy more from the United States. The comments come as Japan's new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba …
Discussion:
Raw Story, New York Times, CBS News, ABC News, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Breitbart, NOTUS, NPR, Roll Call, The Japan Times, Fox News, WAGA-TV, Daily Mail, Politico, Bloomberg, UPI, The Post Millennial, The Hill, Semafor, Reuters, Kyodo News+, Nikkei Asia, The Guardian and Asia Times
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Behind Closed Doors, Trudeau Says Trump Threat to Take Over Canada Is Real
Victoria Guida / Politico:
‘Reciprocal’ tariffs on every country to be announced next week, Trump says
‘Reciprocal’ tariffs on every country to be announced next week, Trump says
Discussion:
Washington Post, National Review, Townhall, Fortune, Forbes, Associated Press, The Japan Times, ABC News, Truthout, New York Post and Foreign Policy

1. Trump's second term: Early ratings and expectations — Table of Contents Table of Contents — Americans are deeply divided over Donald Trump's plans and the way he is handling his job in the early weeks of his return to the presidency. — Overall, 47% of U.S. adults approve …

Judge to pause Trump administration effort to gut USAID's workforce by thousands — Two labor groups had sued the Trump administration after it said that thousands of USAID employees would be placed on administrative leave starting at 11:59 p.m. Friday. — A federal judge on Friday …
Discussion:
CNBC, RedState, Scripps News, Raw Story, The Daily Wire, CNN, CBS News, New York Post, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, USA Today and NPR

Senate Republicans release budget blueprint ahead of Wednesday markup — Senate Republicans will hold a committee vote next week on a budget blueprint that will unlock their two-bill strategy for enacting the heart of President Donald Trump's domestic policy agenda.
Discussion:
CBS News, Breaking Defense, The Daily Signal, NBC News, Wisconsin Examiner, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Blaze Media, Baltimore Sun, NPR, E&E News and KRDO
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Falsehoods Fuel the Right-Wing Crusade Against U.S.A.I.D. — As the Trump administration works to dismantle the aid agency, right-wing influencers have flooded the internet with falsehoods about its work. — The video falsely claiming that the United States Agency for International …
Discussion:
Forbes, The Atlantic, The Guardian, TMZ.com, Althouse and Lee Fang, more at Mediagazer »

Exclusive: Trump Air Force nominee arranged satellite contract in manner that favored Musk's SpaceX, sources say — President Donald Trump's nominee as Air Force Secretary, currently a top official at the national spy satellite agency, arranged a multibillion-dollar contract solicitation …

Former GOP Director Of FBI, CIA Urges Chuck Grassley To Stop Kash Patel's Nomination — “After all the hard work that you've done over your career, to allow it to be destroyed on your watch would not be a legacy I would want,” warned William Webster. — LOADING
Discussion:
Raw Story
ProPublica:
The Elite Lawyers Working for Elon Musk's DOGE Include Former Supreme Court Clerks — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — As members of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy and NOTUS

North Carolina Judge Rejects GOP State Supreme Court Candidate's Bid To Throw Out 60K Ballots — A Wake County Superior Court judge rejected a bid by GOP North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin to overturn his 2024 election loss to incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs …
Discussion:
Associated Press, NC Newsline, Cardinal & Pine and Carolina Journal

Measles Outbreak Mounts Among Children in One of Texas' Least Vaccinated Counties — A measles outbreak is growing in a Texas county with dangerously low vaccination rates. — In late January, two school-age children from Gaines County were hospitalized with measles.
Discussion:
Ars Technica, CNN, The Hill, WAGA-TV and WXIA-TV

Trump's FBI Pick Kash Patel Took Up to $5M in Stock from Chinese Ecommerce Giant Shein — Donald Trump's pick for FBI director told senators he has no plans to divest his shares, which his financial disclosure form says were received in exchange for consulting services.
Discussion:
The Information, Reuters, Raw Story, CNN and freebeacon.com, more at Techmeme »

AG Bondi to Criminally Prosecute Private Entities for DEIA — Bondi makes clear that the “again” in MAGA refers to the period of Jim Crow America — This week a contact at the DOJ sent me a dozen memos just been issued by new US Attorney General Pam Bondi.

As Trump and Musk Upend Washington, Congressional Phones Can't Keep Up — In the three weeks since President Trump took office and gave Elon Musk free rein inside the federal government, millions of calls have poured in to members of Congress, jamming the system.
Discussion:
Breitbart and Washingtonian

U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users' encrypted accounts — Secret order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world, which if implemented would undermine Apple's privacy pledge to its users. — Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create …
Discussion:
The Verge, HotAir, Gizmodo, Techdirt, Bloomberg, Ars Technica, Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Register, Computerworld, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, Instapundit, BGR and Digital Trends, more at Techmeme »

Why Trump's plan to “clean out” Gaza actually matters — It's a safe bet that much of what President Donald Trump described in two press availabilities at the White House alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, as well as a follow-up social media post, is not going to happen.
Discussion:
The Forward, Digby's Hullabaloo, Washington Post and New York Times