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11:45 AM ET, February 17, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Tara Copp / Associated Press:
Trump begins firings of FAA air traffic control staff just weeks after fatal DC plane crash  —  The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal mid-air collision …
RELATED:
Pete Muntean / CNN:
Hundreds of FAA probationary workers fired by Trump administration, union says  —  The Trump administration has started firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration probationary employees who maintain critical air traffic control infrastructure, according to their union.
Discussion: MeidasTouch News and New Republic
Paul Krugman:
Our Government Is Experiencing a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly  —  Musk is moving fast and breaking important things  —  Last month SpaceX carried out a test launch of its in-development Starship rocket.  Liftoff was achieved, but as the company later announced, “Starship experienced …
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:   FAA firings begin weeks after deadly crash near DC
Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:
Musk's DOGE seeks access to personal taxpayer data, raising alarm at IRS  —  The unusual request would put sensitive data about millions of American taxpayers in the hands of Trump political appointees.  —  Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service is seeking access to a heavily-guarded Internal Revenue Service system …
RELATED:
Politico:
‘Five alarm warning’: Possible DOGE access to private taxpayer data sparks outcry  —  The Elon Musk-run effort wants to study a system that includes tax returns, Social Security numbers and other information.  —  Democrats and tax experts are sounding alarms about a plan by Elon Musk's DOGE team …
Discussion: Raw Story
NBC News:
DOGE-affiliated employee has accessed IRS system with sensitive taxpayer information  —  The Integrated Data Retrieval System allows IRS employees to access taxpayer information.  —  WASHINGTON — An Internal Revenue Service employee who is affiliated with the Department of Government Efficiency …
Discussion: Bloomberg and The Japan Times
New York Times:
Musk Team Seeks Access to I.R.S. System With Taxpayers' Records
Discussion: The Guardian
Associated Press:
Elon Musk's DOGE asks for access to IRS taxpayer data, sources say
Discussion: Washington Examiner
Eliza Collins / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Voters Splinter Over His Rapid Shake-Up of Washington  —  Some core supporters love his no-holds-barred approach, but several swing voters are taken aback at his early moves
Discussion: Fox News and Raw Story
RELATED:
Shadi Hamid / Washington Post:
Why I still criticize Democrats more than Trump
Discussion: Townhall and Grabien
CBS News:
A legal look at Trump's executive sprint
Financial Times:
Trump administration pressures Romania to lift restrictions on Tate brothers  —  Tristan and Andrew Tate have been charged with sexual misconduct, organised crime and money laundering  —  The Trump administration has pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions …
Discussion: Raw Story
Gideon Rachman / Financial Times:
Vance's real warning to Europe  —  Europeans need to reduce their dangerous dependence on an adversarial America  —  When JD Vance took the stage at the Munich Security Conference last week, he issued a stern warning.  The US vice-president told the assembled politicians and diplomats …
Discussion: Asia Times
RELATED:
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
Rubio spars with Brennan over Vance's Munich speech  —  Secretary of State Marco Rubio sparred with CBS host Margaret Brennan over Vice President Vance's speech in Munich.  —  Rubio joined Brennan on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, where he was asked what Vance accomplished by meeting with a leader …
Matt Binder / disruptionist:
Elon Musk's X blocks links to Signal, the encrypted messaging service  —  Signal has been a primary method of communication for federal workers looking to blow the whistle on DOGE.  —  Elon Musk's social media platform, X, is currently banning links to “Signal.me,” a URL used by the encrypted messaging service Signal.
RELATED:
Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:
X is blocking links to Signal, a secure messaging platform used by federal workers  —  Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) is blocking links to Signal.me, a URL shortener used by the private messaging app Signal that allows users to send out a link that's used to contact them directly through the service.
NBC News:
CDC ‘disease detectors’ among hundreds fired as Trump administration ramps up agency cuts  —  Administration officials last week informed CDC leaders of plans to cut up to 10% of its workforce as it targeted federal probationary employees.  —  The Trump administration on Saturday terminated hundreds …
Discussion: Forbes, The Independent and Daily Mail
RELATED:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Washington Post backs out of ‘Fire Elon Musk’ ad order  —  The Washington Post this week backed out of a “Fire Elon Musk” advertising order that was to run as a wrap on some of its Tuesday editions, according to the advocacy group Common Cause.  —  The group said it signed a $115,000 agreement …
Thomas Chatterton Williams / The Atlantic:
How the Woke Right Replaced the Woke Left  —  The hypocrisy of Trump's language wars  —  One of the defining features of the social-justice orthodoxy that swept through American culture between roughly the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012 to Hamas's assault on Israel in 2023 was the policing of language.
Nahal Toosi / Politico:
The Marco Rubio guide to survival is not working well  —  The secretary of State is taking positions that were once anathema and sounding very Trumpy online.  —  It is becoming increasingly clear that Marco Rubio is secretary of State in name only.  —  Since taking over Foggy Bottom …
Tom Hals / Reuters:
Judge calls rare hearing on a holiday in case against Musk's DOGE  —  A U.S. judge has scheduled a rare holiday court hearing on Monday, in a case brought by Democratic state attorneys general seeking to protect major federal agencies from Elon Musk's government cost-cutting team known as DOGE.
Cheyanne M. Daniels / The Hill:
NAACP spending guide urges Black Americans to avoid companies that dumped DEI  —  The NAACP is urging Black Americans to refrain from shopping at retailers that have stepped back from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.  —  The nation's oldest civil rights organization released …
Jill Colvin / Associated Press:
Mike Pence emerges as one of the few Republicans willing to challenge Trump 2.0  —  His group spent nearly $1 million on ads opposing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump's pick to lead the nation's health agencies.  He's delivering speeches urging the president to stand with longstanding foreign allies …
J.D. Wolf / MeidasTouch News:
Trump Posted 14 Times About His Daytona 500 Trip, Nothing About Multi-State Flooding  —  An indifferent Trump was chauffeured around the racetrack as Kentucky mourned 8 deaths including a mom and her 7 year old child  —  On Saturday, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social:
Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:
Conservative Party leader in Canada pledges to respond forcefully to Trump tariffs  —  Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada's Conservative Party, pledged on Saturday to respond forcefully to tariffs imposed by President Trump that harm the Canadian people or their economy.
Liza Featherstone / New Republic:
Musk and Trump Are Cutting Popular Programs.  That's Deliberate. … One particularly sadistic aspect of Elon Musk's and Donald Trump's rampage through our government is that they're cutting programs that are popular.  To some observers, that might seem like bad politics, in line with the juvenile …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Associated Press:
Israel's Netanyahu signals he's moving ahead with Trump's plan to move Palestinians from Gaza
Popular Information:
In botched DEI purge, OSHA trashes workplace safety guidelines
Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
Trump has already weaponized the Department of Education
Discussion: Washington Post and Breitbart
Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
Trump Targets a Growing List of Those He Sees as Disloyal
Discussion: Raw Story
Washington Post:
Under Trump, CIA plots bigger role in drug cartel fight
New York Times:
Crypto Gamblers, Tech Oligarchs, Wall Street Opportunists. What Could Go Wrong?
 Earlier Items: 
Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:
Five pressing questions as RFK Jr. takes HHS reins
Jack Blanchard / Politico:
Playbook: Europe's split-screen moment
Raymond Zhong / New York Times:
As Trump Targets Research, Scientists Share Grief and Resolve to Fight
Discussion: Forbes
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
First Test of Trump's Power to Fire Officials Reaches Supreme Court
Jed Shugerman / Shugerblog:
Birthright Citizenship: Barnett & Wurman's NY Times Essay and their Bates/Blackstone Double Backfire
Discussion: Tanadrin and PJ Media
Allan Smith / NBC News:
Transportation Department workers with ‘exceptional’ reviews told they're fired for ‘performance’ issues