Top Items:

Chuck Schumer says Senate Democrats won't provide votes to pass GOP funding bill as shutdown draws near — After meeting with his conference, the Senate minority leader said “Republicans do not have the votes” to advance the House-approved measure, which requires 60 to pass.
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Senate Democrats embrace hardball on government shutdown — Senate Democrats left a private meeting Wednesday saying there aren't enough votes to advance the short-term funding bill that passed the House on Tuesday. — Why it matters: This raises the chances of a government shutdown this weekend.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, The Hill and Washington Post

Democrats are heading to GOP districts for town halls: 'We're filling a void' — House Democrats are heading to Republican districts to conduct town halls — a strategy designed to highlight the moratorium on those public events recently suggested by the head of the GOP's campaign arm.

Tim Walz to launch national tour of town halls in Republican House districts — Tim Walz is headed back out on the road - this time, for a tour of House districts represented by Republicans who have stopped holding in-person town halls amid the raucous receptions some of their colleagues have gotten across the country.

Government Shutdown Looms With Senate Democrats Opposing 6-Month Funding Bill
HuffPost:
Senate Democrats Balk At GOP Funding Bill As Government Shutdown Nears
Senate Democrats Balk At GOP Funding Bill As Government Shutdown Nears
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Scripps News, PoliticusUSA, IJR, The Daily Caller, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Daily Kos, CBS News, Townhall, New York Daily News, WisPolitics, Reuters, Politico, The Daily Signal, GovExec.com, Talking Points Memo, NPR and USA Today
Politico:
Trump calls Schumer a ‘Palestinian’ while defending GOP spending bill, egg prices and tariff policy
Trump calls Schumer a ‘Palestinian’ while defending GOP spending bill, egg prices and tariff policy
Discussion:
Reuters, Politico, The Guardian, RedState, The Independent, Fox News, Raw Story, New York Post, Townhall, Blaze Media, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Washington Examiner, Mediaite and The Forward
Sue Halpern / New Yorker:
Trump Is Still Trying to Undermine Elections
Jordain Carney / Politico:
Senate Dems form plan to avoid a shutdown
Senate Dems form plan to avoid a shutdown
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, One America News Network, The Daily Wire, Roll Call, The Hill, Washington Examiner and WBUR
Politico:
Senate Democrats take stock of their shutdown pickle
Senate Democrats take stock of their shutdown pickle
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, Axios, NBC News, GovExec.com, Townhall, Washington Times, Forbes, Associated Press, Joy's House, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, HotAir, USA Today, Deseret News, God's Spies, Blaze Media, New Republic, CNN, Fox News, Voice of America, The Daily Signal and Washington Examiner
Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
Republicans Quietly Move to Relinquish Power to Undo Trump's Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China
Republicans Quietly Move to Relinquish Power to Undo Trump's Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China
Discussion:
The Hill, Politico, Washington Post and Mediaite

Social Security scraps far-reaching cuts to phone services after Post report — The agency will move ahead with a much narrower change eliminating direct deposit changes by phone amid DOGE fraud concerns. — just now — The Social Security Administration late Wednesday abandoned plans …
Discussion:
The Hill, Raw Story, MSNBC, PolitiFact, Forbes, New Republic and ABC News
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Eli Hager / ProPublica:
“The President Wanted It and I Did It”: Recording Reveals Head of Social Security's Thoughts on DOGE and Trump — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — Since the arrival of a team …
Discussion:
The Independent and The Daily Beast

Trump's FBI Moves to Criminally Charge Major Climate Groups — The FBI is moving to criminalize groups like Habitat for Humanity for receiving grants from the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration. — Citibank revealed in a court filing Wednesday that it was told …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, New York Post and New York Times
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Claire Brown / New York Times:
E.P.A. Cancels Climate Grants, Intensifying Battle Over $20 Billion
E.P.A. Cancels Climate Grants, Intensifying Battle Over $20 Billion
Discussion:
Reuters, Associated Press, Ars Technica, Grist and Politico

At Columbia, Tension Over Gaza Protests Hits Breaking Point Under Trump — There were protests, arrests, the departure of the school's president. Then, a new administration arrived in Washington. — Days after immigration officers arrested a prominent pro-Palestinian campus activist …
Discussion:
New York Daily News, The Hill, Associated Press, Axios and Chicago Tribune
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Effort to deport Columbia student rests solely on Rubio determination — A government document that details the civil charges against Mahmoud Khalil does not include written evidence from immigration officers. — NEW YORK — A determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio is so far …
Discussion:
New York Times, Mother Jones, CNN, The Hill, Christian Science Monitor, Fox News and Jacobin

Vandalize Tesla property and the White House will prosecute you as a domestic terrorist, Trump pledges — The White House could bring the full force of the U.S. government to bear on anti-Elon Musk protestors found to have destroyed his carmaker's assets, following a spate of attacks large and small targeting Tesla.
Discussion:
HuffPost, The Present Age, Business Insider, RedState, TheTruthAboutCars, The Guardian, Reason, El País, The Post Millennial, USA Today, Breitbart, Townhall, Bloomberg, The Daily Wire, Crooks and Liars, Mashable, CNN, NBC News, Twitchy, NPR, Grabien, Washington Times, Reuters, The Hill, Raw Story, UPI and The Gateway Pundit
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Charlie Warzel / The Atlantic:
Elon Musk Looks Desperate
Elon Musk Looks Desperate
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Global News, Vanity Fair, New York Daily News, Raw Story, The Hill and Deseret News

New CNN poll: Americans are negative on Trump's handling of economy — Americans are not impressed with President Donald Trump's stewardship of the economy, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, putting him underwater on the nation's top issue even as he sees ratings among the best …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Examiner, The Hill, New York Post, Breitbart, Plain Dealer, Raw Story, Forbes, Axios, Mediaite, WTOP News, Billboard, MM Press, New Republic and masslive.com
RELATED:

Trump vowed to fix the economy. His voters are still waiting.
Discussion:
The Federalist
Andrew Howard / Politico:
Americans sour on Trump's handling of economy, poll finds
Americans sour on Trump's handling of economy, poll finds
Discussion:
Vox, Business Insider, Breitbart, Washington Times, Democrats and Raw Story

U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer deported to Mexico with undocumented parents — The Texas family was on their way to an emergency medical checkup, they said, when they were detained at an immigration checkpoint. — A family that was deported to Mexico hopes they can find …

In reversal, NPR permits anchor to attend Pride event — The Scoop — National Public Radio dissuaded one of its most visible gay employees from attending a corporate LGBTQ Pride event, as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans put pressure on the public broadcaster.
Discussion:
Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Why I Left the Washington Post — Owner Jeff Bezos wants to transform the Opinions section of the paper, where I worked for forty years. After the publisher killed my column disagreeing with that move—it appears here in full—I decided to quit. — I walked into the Washington Post building …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Fox News, Nieman Lab and The Independent, more at Mediagazer »
US EPA:
EPA Launches Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History — Administrator Zeldin Announces 31 Historic Actions to Power the Great American Comeback — WASHINGTON - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency will undertake 31 historic actions …
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Judge says Trump penalties on law firm send ‘chills down my spine’ — The Trump administration was ordered to halt, at least temporarily, parts of its executive order punishing the law firm Perkins Coie. — A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration …
Discussion:
The Hill, CNN, Raw Story, NPR, Associated Press, Politico, USA Today, Law Dork, Blaze Media, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Forbes and Reuters
RELATED:
Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:
Trump's Revenge on Law Firms Seen as Undermining Justice System
Trump's Revenge on Law Firms Seen as Undermining Justice System
Discussion:
CBS News, Washington Examiner, Axios, New York Post, Raw Story and Above the Law

Federal student loan site down Wednesday, a day after layoffs gutted Education Department — An hours-long outage Wednesday on StudentAid.gov, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, underscored the risks in rapidly gutting the Department of Education, as President Donald Trump aims to dismantle the agency.
RELATED:

ICE Returns All Migrants From Guantánamo to Stateside Facilities — A court filing described strip searches and the use of restraint chairs on some of the 290 migrants the Trump administration has cycled through the base. — The Trump administration has abruptly cleared out a second group …
Discussion:
Voice of America, Reuters and Informed Comment

CEOs Don't Plan to Openly Question Trump. Ask Again If the Market Crashes 20%. — Behind closed doors, business leaders air plenty of concerns about the administration and its policies — WASHINGTON—How business leaders talk about the Trump administration in private has been markedly different …
Discussion:
Fortune

Who's in Elon's ear — and DMs — Musk's most trusted advisers remain a tight-knit group of executives who have followed him from his companies but lack political experience. — Unlike traditional Washington power players, Elon Musk doesn't have a deep bench of policy wonks …

Putin orders swift expulsion of Ukrainian forces before peace talks — The Russian leader promised to treat captured forces as “terrorists.” — Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his troops to defeat Ukrainian forces occupying its Kursk border region as soon as possible …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, The Moscow Times, New York Times, Reuters, Al Jazeera, El País, The War Zone, The Kyiv Independent and Israpundit

Antisemitic and racist shock jock is back on the radio, 11 years after being fired for tirade — A conservative radio host who was fired a decade ago for calling a Black woman an “animal” and has since shared a host of racist and antisemitic content on social media has a new show on New York's WABC …

S.F. Tesla showroom has been operating without proper permits for nearly a decade — The San Francisco Tesla showroom on Van Ness Avenue has been operating without a proper permit for nearly a decade after city building inspectors failed to sign off on a $2.3 million renovation back in 2016.
Discussion:
SFist

Yale Suspends Scholar After A.I.-Powered News Site Accuses Her of Terrorist Link — The deputy director of a liberal project at Yale Law School was put on leave over allegations that she is linked to Samidoun, a group the U.S. government has said funds terrorists.

EU retaliates against Trump's trade moves and hits beef, whiskey, motorcycles with targeted tariffs — The European Union on Wednesday announced retaliatory trade action with new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products, responding within hours to the Trump administration's increase …
Discussion:
The Hill, Reuters, The Guardian, CBS News, Associated Press, Axios, PBS NewsHour, The Japan Times, European Commission, Washington Post, Politico, Daily Caller News Foundation, Forbes, Breitbart, USA Today, One America News Network, New Jersey Online, Marketplace, The Independent, Crikey, 19FortyFive, 6abc, Washington Examiner, Fox Business, The Daily Wire, World News, Washington Times, NewsNation, Scripps News, New York Times, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, E&E News, WTOP News, eutoday.net, Foreign Policy, Wall Street Journal, Crooks and Liars, RTÉ, Bloomberg, CNBC, New Republic and The Kyiv Independent

District Court Rules Trump Violated Constitution by Usurping Congress's Spending Power — On Monday, US District Judge Amir Ali ruled against the Trump Administration in an important case involving control over the spending power. The court held the administration could not withhold payments …
Discussion:
E&E News

Judge appears likely to grant request to reinstate thousands of fired probationary workers — “Move fast, fine. Break things? If that involves breaking the law, then that becomes problematic,” U.S. District Judge James Bredar said at the hearing. — BALTIMORE — A federal judge …
Discussion:
USA Today, Associated Press, Raw Story, Forbes and Reuters
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Biggest Federal Employee Unions Says Shutdown is Preferable to Elon/Trump CR … Federal workers obviously don't like government shutdowns. Most of them are furloughed. Others are forced to continue working without pay. But in a letter addressed to members of the Senate, which I obtained …

Is Trump Taking a ‘Liquidationist’ Approach to the Economy? — The administration's view that damaging the economy now could help it later comes with little upside for investors — During President Trump's first term, stocks rode high on the belief that he would always pull back on policies that led to a selloff.

Document prepared for Kremlin outlines hard-line negotiating stance — The document, written in February by a Moscow-based think tank close to Russia's Federal Security Service or FSB, lays out Russia's maximalist demands — Russia should work to weaken the U.S. negotiating position …
Discussion:
HotAir, CNN, New York Times, Breitbart and Atlantic Council

Goodbye, Kevin Drum — “Take care of Donald Trump for me.” — Our friend and colleague Kevin Drum passed away on March 7. He was 66 and had been living with multiple myeloma for 11 years, and being the extraordinary journalist he was, he had taken readers along on the journey, sharing health updates on his blog.

The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring — A contractor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and many other U.S. government agencies has developed a tool that lets analysts more easily pull a target individual's publicly available data from a wide array of sites …