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8:10 PM ET, February 19, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“They're Scared Shitless”: The Threat of Political Violence Informing Trump's Grip on Congress  —  With the president smashing norm after norm, even lawmakers within his party have feared for their personal safety, and at least one has told confidants that it has swayed his decision-making.
RELATED:
Raheem J. Kassam / The National Pulse:
EXCLUSIVE: VP J.D. Vance Warns Zelensky Over ‘Disgraceful’ Public Attacks on Trump, Confirms Ukrainian Elections Are Now U.S. Policy.  —  EXCLUSIVE: VP J.D. Vance Warns Zelensky Over ‘Disgraceful’ Public Attacks on Trump, Confirms Ukrainian Elections Are Now U.S. Policy.
Liz Goodwin / Washington Post:
After ceding power of the purse, GOP lawmakers beg Trump team for funds  —  Republican senators are asking Cabinet secretaries and other Trump officials to let money flow back into their states.  —  Republican senators find themselves in an unusual position these days …
Anton Troianovski / New York Times:
Zelensky and Trump Trade Blows as Feud Escalates Over Peace Talks  —  President Trump called Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” after the Ukrainian president took issue with his statements on the war with Russia.  — 2.3k  —  Constant Méheut and Anton Troianovski
NPR:
GOP senators fact check Trump's Ukraine rhetoric, while still backing his strategy  —  Some Senate Republicans took issue Wednesday with President Trump's escalating criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “dictator” and his false assertion that Ukraine provoked the ongoing war with Russia, now in its third year.
Politico:
Trump's America is Putin's ally now  —  LONDON — The thing about a war is it forces people to pick a side.  And Donald Trump, it seems to many in Europe, is siding with Vladimir Putin.  —  Seven days of presidential interventions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have made real the nightmares …
Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:
Goldman accuses Trump of ‘dozens of impeachable offenses’ in first days back in White House
Discussion: Scripps News
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Trump Issues Order to Expand His Power Over Agencies Congress Made Independent
Csongor Körömi / Politico:
Trump blaming Ukraine for Putin's war leaves Europe reeling
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Republicans rebuke Trump on Ukraine — gently
Steven Monacelli / The Texas Observer:
ICE Prosecutor in Dallas Runs White Supremacist X Account  —  Fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids began to spread the day after President Donald Trump was inaugurated for the second time.  Posts on social media and Reddit claimed that ICE had already been spotted …
Quinnipiac University Poll:
Majority Say System Of Checks & Balances Not Working Well, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Congressional Job Approval: Democrats Hit All-Time Low, Republicans Hit Record High  —  mail_outline  —  Less than 4 in 10 voters think the system of checks and balances between the executive …
RELATED:
Andre Tartar / Bloomberg:
DOGE Says It's Saved $55 Billion; Data Show Much Less
Politico:
Why the White House insists Elon Musk is merely an ‘employee’
Nick Bednar / Default:
Did DOGE Take Credit for Spending Cuts Related to President Carter's Death?
Discussion: Bloomberg, emptywheel and Tangle
Justine Brent / KGUN-TV:
One confirmed dead in Marana Regional Airport crash Wednesday morning  —  KGUN 9 has a crew on scene  —  MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — A crash has occurred at Marana Regional Airport, 11700 W. Avra Valley Road, Wednesday morning, KGUN 9 has confirmed with airport personnel.
RELATED:
NBC News:
Aircraft collision at Arizona airport leaves at least 1 person dead
New York Post:
NYC congestion pricing axed as Trump pulls approval of hated toll  —  Congestion pricing, we hardly knew ye.  —  New York City's spectacularly unpopular congestion pricing scheme is on death row as the Trump administration will announce Wednesday it is pulling its approval of the toll …
RELATED:
Jason Lange / Reuters:
Trump's approval rating slips as Americans worry about the economy  —  U.S. President Donald Trump's approval rating has ticked slightly lower in recent days as more Americans worried about the direction of the U.S. economy as the new leader threatens a host of countries with tariffs, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
RELATED:
GovExec.com:
IRS expected to fire 6,700 employees beginning Thursday  —  The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to conduct mass firings of 6,700 employees beginning Thursday, according to multiple employees notified of the plans.  —  Staff in their probationary periods—mostly recent hires …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Trump administration orders Pentagon to plan for sweeping budget cuts  —  The directive, detailed in a memo dated Tuesday, exempts a handful of programs, including the president's expanded military mission along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Oops: Trump-Musk Cuts Just Wrecked an NIH Org Championed by GOPers  —  With co-Presidents Donald Trump and Elon Musk now inflicting deep cuts on federal agencies that sponsor medical research, thousands of scientists, researchers, and medical professionals are getting fired.
Dean Fioresi / CBS News:
Cal Fire captain found stabbed to death inside of her San Diego County home  —  A Cal Fire captain was found stabbed to death inside of her San Diego County home on Monday and authorities are still searching for the suspect.  —  Deputies were dispatched to a home in the 20200 block …
Discussion: Los Angeles Times and KFOR-TV
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Trump says ‘inflation is back’: ‘I had nothing to do with it’  —  President Trump is seeking to distance himself from a rise in inflation, arguing that the uptick had “nothing to do” with his return to the Oval Office.  —  Trump instead placed the blame on former President Biden in an interview Tuesday …
RELATED:
David Goldman / CNN:
Trump acknowledges ‘inflation is back’ but blames Biden
Discussion: Daily Kos and Roll Call
New York Times:
A Frustrated Trump Wants His New Air Force One Planes Pronto  —  Among the ways being discussed to force faster delivery of two presidential planes are relaxing security clearances for Boeing workers and even purchasing a temporary luxury plane and retrofitting it.
Allan Smith / NBC News:
Two more staffers quit John Fetterman's office as the senator carves his own lane with Trump  —  The imminent exit of two of Fetterman's longest-serving staffers continues a string of departures from the senator's office over the past year.  —  Two of Sen. John Fetterman's longest-serving staff members …
Discussion: The Hill and The Intercept
Erica Orden / Politico:
Judge appears on track to let DOJ dismiss Eric Adams case  —  Some legal experts and advocacy groups had urged the judge to forcefully push back against the Justice Department's decision to abandon the case.  —  NEW YORK — The Justice Department appears likely to get the green light …
RELATED:
Michael David Smith / NBCSports.com:
Ex-NFL punter Chris Kluwe arrested over protest at Huntington Beach City Council meeting  —  Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe was arrested over a protest at a city council meeting in Huntington Beach, California on Tuesday.  —  Kluwe was protesting Huntington Beach's decision to display a plaque …
The Atlantic:
DOGE Has ‘God Mode’ Access to Government Data  —  The president's special commission now has an unprecedented ability to view and manipulate information at many federal agencies.  —  If you have tips about the remaking of the federal government, you can contact Charlie, Ian …
Wired:
These Are the SpaceX Engineers Already Working Inside the FAA  —  SpaceX engineers were said to be simply touring the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday.  In fact, some were already being onboarded at the agency under a policy designed to increase “employment opportunities for people with disabilities.”
Adam Przeworski / Adam's Substack:
Diary  —  I decided to keep a record of my thoughts as events transpire, a diary.  I have read several reactions by Germans to the rise of Nazism and I was struck by their difficulty to understand where the daily events they lived through could or would lead.  In retrospect, we will know, analyze, and make sense.
Benjamin Wittes / Default:
The Situation: What America Stands For Now  —  Great powers keep what they can grab.  And smaller powers suck it up.  —  Meet The Authors … The Situation on Friday asked whether it was still possible to serve ethically as a federal prosecutor.  —  Today, let's stare betrayal in the face.
Carmen Paun / Politico:
Foreign aid groups want Rubio held in contempt over funding freeze  —  The groups and the Trump administration are fighting in court while billions of dollars in foreign aid remain in limbo.  —  Two nonprofits that have had their foreign aid grants frozen asked a judge Wednesday to hold Secretary …
Discussion: The Hill and NPR
 
 
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 More Items: 
Katherine J. Wu / The Atlantic:
The NIH Memo That Undercut Universities Came Directly From Trump Officials
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Scoop: Trump targets U.S. Institute of Peace and other federal boards
Discussion: Washington Examiner
Kali Hays / The Guardian:
Mark Zuckerberg's charity guts DEI after assuring staff it would continue
Discussion: The Hill and TechCrunch
CNN:
Defense officials fear impending Pentagon firings could break law and hurt military readiness
Reuters:
US aviation sector requests emergency funds after recent alarming crashes
David Yaffe-Bellany / New York Times:
The Cryptocurrency Scam That Turned a Small Town Against Itself
 Earlier Items: 
Danny Nguyen / Politico:
State Department set to designate Latin American cartels, gangs as terrorist organizations
Pew Research Center:
How Americans view Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg
Discussion: Mediaite
Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:
Trump Wanted ‘Millions’ for 15-Minute Meeting With Execs
Jack Nicas / New York Times:
Trump Media Group Sues Brazilian Judge Weighing Arrest of Jair Bolsonaro
Dave Zirin / The Nation:
Why Democrats Won't Throw a Real Punch
Sam Stein / The Bulwark:
The DOGE Brain Drain Has Begun