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Scoop: White House to pull CDC director nomination — The White House is withdrawing the nomination of Dave Weldon to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), per a source close to Senate health committee and another source familiar.
Discussion:
Politico, Fox News, The Hill, CBS News, New York Times, NBC News, Washington Post, Associated Press, STAT, One America News Network and Forbes
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White House pulls nomination of Dave Weldon as CDC director hours before hearing — Sources say concerns about Weldon, a longtime vaccine critic, forced decision — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is withdrawing the nomination of Dave Weldon as its pick to run the Centers …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Townhall and The Independent

Trump's Big Bet: Americans Will Tolerate Economic Downturn to Restore Manufacturing — The president offers many reasons for imposing tariffs, including revenue, leverage over competitors and job creation. But history suggests a more complex history. — President Trump's simultaneous trade wars …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Post, 19FortyFive, Washington Examiner and Yahoo Finance
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Trump threatens 200% tariff on European wine and champagne
Discussion:
CNN, Axios, New York Post, Associated Press, New Jersey Online, Fortune, The Independent, Mediaite, Raw Story, Стр …, The Guardian and The National Pulse
Alex Gangitano / The Hill:
Trump threatens Europe with 200 percent tariff on wine, Champagne
Trump threatens Europe with 200 percent tariff on wine, Champagne
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Times, Associated Press, The Independent, Scripps News, Foreign Policy and New Republic

'They're Totally Screwed': White House Taunts Democrats on Shutdown — The administration thinks the opposition is about to eat crow. — Senate Democrats haven't even surrendered yet on a government shutdown — but already White House officials are gloating about making them eat crow, almost taunting them to vote “no.”
Discussion:
The Hill, Axios, The National Pulse, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Forbes, Associated Press, Townhall, The Guardian, HotAir and Punchbowl News
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Chuck Schumer says Senate Democrats won't provide votes to pass GOP funding bill as shutdown draws near
Discussion:
New York Times, HuffPost, The Hill, UPI, Townhall, The Guardian, Axios, Washington Post, God's Spies, Raw Story, Bloomberg, HotAir, New Republic, NPR, Politico and Off Message
NBC News:
Trump's economic troubles put Republicans on the defensive
Trump's economic troubles put Republicans on the defensive
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times
Julia Johnson / Fox News:
Senate Republicans coin ‘Schumer shutdown’ ahead of critical vote on Trump spending bill
Senate Republicans coin ‘Schumer shutdown’ ahead of critical vote on Trump spending bill
Discussion:
Twitchy, Politico, Washington Times, Scripps News, GovExec.com, Wall Street Journal, IJR, Blaze Media, Competitive Enterprise …, E&E News and CNN

Russia says it does not want a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine — Putin's foreign policy adviser says Moscow wants long-term settlement taking its interests into account — Russia does not want a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine and is pushing for a long-term peace settlement that will take into account …
Discussion:
USA Today, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, NOTUS, 19FortyFive and The Kyiv Independent
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A Putin aide rejects Trump's 30-day Ukraine ceasefire proposal
Discussion:
The Hill, Metro.co.uk, The Independent, Daily Mail and The Kyiv Independent
Matthew Luxmoore / Wall Street Journal:
Putin Aide Rejects Plan for Ukraine Cease-Fire
Putin Aide Rejects Plan for Ukraine Cease-Fire
Discussion:
Politico, Reuters, World News, RTÉ and Washington Examiner

Robert Morris, Texas megachurch pastor and former Trump adviser, indicted for child sex crimes — Morris is a former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, and Gateway — one of the nation's largest megachurches — has been particularly active in Dallas-area GOP politics.
Discussion:
Oklahoma Attorney General and Raw Story
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Pete Buttigieg, a Possible 2028 Contender, Won't Run for Senate in Michigan — The former transportation secretary, who moved to Michigan from Indiana in 2022, had been seen as the most prominent potential candidate in next year's marquee contest. — Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary …
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Adam Wren / Politico:
Buttigieg gives the clearest signal yet that he's eyeing a presidential run in 2028
Buttigieg gives the clearest signal yet that he's eyeing a presidential run in 2028
Discussion:
Fox News, The Independent, Mediaite, New York Post, Twitchy and The Gateway Pundit

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:
New York Times, Ars Technica, TechCrunch and New York Post

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 …

Trump Family Has Held Deal Talks With Binance Following Crypto Exchange's Guilty Plea — Discussions for stake in Binance's U.S. arm come as founder Changpeng Zhao has pushed for the administration to pardon him for his own 2023 guilty plea — Representatives of President Trump's family …
Discussion:
CoinDesk, more at Techmeme »

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.

DOGE Makes Its Latest Errors Harder to Find — Elon Musk's group obscured the details of some new claims on its website, despite promises of transparency. But The Times was still able to detect another batch of mistakes. — Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency …
Discussion:
Fortune

‘I just call Elon.’ To avoid DOGE cuts, lawmakers just need the right connections and an ‘R’ after their names — WASHINGTON — At Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, there is no official help line for members of Congress to call with questions about how the billionaire's far-reaching effort …

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, Washington Post, RTÉ, Reuters and Informed Comment

NH's new ID requirements send some would-be voters home to grab passports, birth certificates — It took three trips, but Brooke Yonge was finally able to cast her ballot. — On her first trip to the Derry polls Tuesday morning, Yonge didn't bring proof of her U.S. citizenship …

Fox's Laura Ingraham Advises Viewers to ‘Ignore’ Tumbling Stock Market Because Trump ‘Is Good for Business’ — Fox News host Laura Ingraham advised her viewers to “ignore” the tumbling stock market and “sky is falling reports in the regime press,” Wednesday, because President Donald Trump is “good for business.”
Discussion:
The Independent, HuffPost, Raw Story and Fox News

Judge orders DOGE and Elon Musk to turn over documents, answer written questions — The demands for information are designed to clarify the “parameters of DOGE's and Musk's authority.” — A federal judge has ordered that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency turn …
Discussion:
Fox News, Reuters, American Doom and Business Insider

Federal Workers Return to the Office. Custodial Staff Doesn't. — There are reports of clogged sinks, overflowing trash cans, and a lack of toilet paper. — With the Capitol shut down to tourists, a workman performs a routine cleaning of surfaces in the Capitol Visitor Center, March 13, 2020, in Washington.

Pete Hegseth to overhaul US military lawyers in effort to relax rules of war — The defense secretary has empowered his lawyer Tim Parlatore to remake the judge advocate general's corps — The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is expected in the coming weeks to start a sweeping overhaul …
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 …

Trump Officials Are ‘Pretending’ a Judge Didn't Bar His Anti-Diversity Orders — A judge blocked the administration from forcing organizations to accept anti-diversity contract terms. Trump officials haven't let them know … Trump's Justice Department decided the fairly broad injunction only covered certain agencies.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and New York Times

America First Policy Institute's “100-year plan” for Trumpism — Well-funded MAGA forces close to the White House are preparing a “100-year plan” to try to sustain Trumpism long after President Trump leaves office. — Why it matters: Top executives at the America First Policy Institute tell Axios …
Discussion:
Fox Business

Is the US headed for a recession? — Donald Trump has a gift for inheriting valuable things. And the economy of January 2025 was no exception. — When the president took office, stock values were hitting record highs, unemployment was hovering near historic lows, and consumer confidence was stable.
Discussion:
Reuters, The Independent, CBS News, WTOP News and Semafor

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 …
Discussion:
Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Experts give Kennedy low marks as measles outbreak tests him — A worsening measles outbreak in West Texas has spread to two other states, providing Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. his first real test of responding to a major public health incident.

Trump says Ireland cheats the US as its leader joins him to celebrate St. Patrick's Day — President Donald Trump welcomed Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin on Wednesday for the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration at the White House, where he added Ireland to the list of countries …
Discussion:
The Guardian, New York Post, Daily Kos, WTOP News, PinkNews, Twitchy, LateNighter, Migrant Insider, Daily Mail, RTÉ, New York Times, Washington Examiner, HuffPost, The Washington Free Beacon, Breitbart, Washington Post, IJR, Metro.co.uk, One America News Network, Politico, The Daily Wire, America Magazine, CBS News, New Jersey Online, Scripps News, Washington Times, The Daily Caller, Plain Dealer, World News, Reuters, The Hill, Associated Press, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, Fox Business, Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal

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 …