Things Musk (and Trump) Did... Day 31 | Blog#42
No more taxation for a huddled oligarchy yearning to be free?
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Yesterday’s post
Yesterday’s news highlights
Why the White House insists Elon Musk is merely an ‘employee’
HHS redefines sex as "immutable" in new guidance
The math questions behind DOGE's $55 billion savings claim
Pentagon ordered to make $50B in budget cuts to spend on Trump priorities
FEMA email: Firings will affect ‘majority of our staff’
Commerce Secretary Lutnick: Trump's goal is to abolish the IRS
Thousands of layoffs expected to start hitting the IRS on Thursday
Musk’s DOGE, SpaceX both land at FAA
West’s ‘crisis’ coalition grows as Trump rails against Zelenskyy
Trump Education pick Linda McMahon clears committee, heads to full Senate
Linda McMahon, President Trump’s pick for Education secretary, passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Thursday morning, sending her confirmation to the full Senate.
The HELP panel voted 12-11 along party lines to approve McMahon and send her nomination to its final hurdle.
Continue reading at The Hill
Haley admonishes Trump for Ukraine stance: ‘Exactly what Putin wants’
Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley admonished her 2024 election rival, President Trump, over his stance on Ukraine and recent comments directed at the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Continue reading at The Hill
Unions sue over Trump admin efforts to fire probationary federal employees
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has directed agencies to terminate the employees, who can be more easily removed as they remain on probation anywhere from one to two years after being hired, depending on their agency.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, claims OPM is usurping congressional authority. It adds to more than 80 lawsuits challenging major Trump administration actions since his inauguration one month ago.
“OPM is an agency with no statutory authority to make termination decisions for federal employees (Other than for OPM’s own employees). Notwithstanding this lack of legal authority, OPM ordered federal agencies throughout the nation, including in this District, to wipe out their ranks of probationary employees without any regard to applicable statutes,” the lawsuit states.
Continue reading at The Hill
Haberman says Trump’s Russia-Ukraine rhetoric ‘seems to be about flexing muscle’
New York Times political correspondent Maggie Haberman said President Trump’s rhetoric around bringing an end to the nearly three-year-long war between Russia and Ukraine “seems to be about flexing muscle.”
Haberman, also a CNN analyst, joined host Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday for “The Source,” where she was asked what she makes of Trump suggesting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a dictator and sidelining the country in peace talks with Russia.
“He is very much heeding his own counsel on matters these days,” Haberman said, adding, “There’s a lot of discussion about strategy around Donald Trump, and he absolutely has what David Axelrod often calls some kind of feral impulse for certain things, including weakness in other people.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Bannon: ‘Oligarchs’ will abandon Republicans
Steve Bannon argued that the “oligarchs” close to President Trump will abandon Republicans the same way they did to Democrats.
Bannon was briefly interviewed by CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan on Wednesday, when he continued his case against tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
“You can tell President Trump doesn’t totally trust the oligarchs,” Bannon said.
The adviser-turned-podcaster went on to say he wasn’t a conservative but is registered with the Republican Party and sees himself as “a populist nationalist.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump Is Making It Harder for the Supreme Court to Side With Him
A haphazard approach makes it more likely the Supreme Court rules against him.
President Donald Trump has embarked on the most ambitious and wide-ranging effort to change the country’s constitutional system in at least half a century. He may well get there — but the way he’s been going about it is undermining his own chances of success.
Trump’s list of dramatic executive actions grows by the day — the massive spending freeze, the widespread firings within the federal government, the decision to ignore various laws, not to mention the work of Elon Musk’s DOGE, which has neutered multiple federal agencies. All of these moves have two things in common. They all appear to be illegal under laws that Congress has passed, and they all reflect a bid to dramatically expand the power of the presidency and significantly diminish the power of Congress.
The apparent violations of federal law are a feature, not a bug, of the effort. The Trump administration is expecting legal challenges and hopes that they can change longstanding principles of constitutional law with the assistance of a Supreme Court that is stacked in favor of Republicans after decades of conservative activism and political hardball. The strategy, at least in its broad strokes, makes sense if you want to change the law or move it in a different direction. When the dust finally settles, Trump may get at least some of what he wants — maybe even a lot of it — once the Supreme Court weighs in.
Continue reading at Politico Magazine
Capitol agenda: The Senate vote-a-rama is on
Senate Republicans are pushing ahead on their budget resolution, despite Donald Trump's demand to pass the House budget.
Senate GOP leaders are coming dangerously close to defying President Donald Trump, moving forward on their budget resolution today despite his explicit demand for “both Chambers to pass the House Budget.”
Of course, that's not how they see it. Senate Majority Leader John Thune insists their two-track version is a back-up plan if the House can't rally the votes for its budget paving the way for “one big, beautiful bill” that includes immigration, energy and tax policy. And even as Vice President JD Vance backed up the president when he came to a private GOP lunch on Wednesday, senators indicated he didn’t shut down their argument for proceeding.
“The president prefers one big, beautiful bill — so do I,” Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham told reporters. “But you always need a Plan B around here.”
Not all Senate Republicans agree with that, however. While Thune insisted Wednesday that “our colleagues are on board with the idea of proceeding,” Sen. Rand Paul, the only Republican publicly opposing the budget resolution, left the Wednesday lunch saying “it would be a waste of time” for the Senate to move forward with a marathon “vote-a-rama.”
Continue reading at Politico
Valadao treads lightly on Medicaid as Obamacare vote haunts him
The California representative publicly pushed Speaker Mike Johnson not to slash the benefit in a letter signed by seven other House Republicans.
Rep. David Valadao’s vote to repeal Obamacare may have cost him his seat in 2018. He’s not eager to repeat that mistake.
The Republican representative, whose Central Valley district is being bombarded with TV ads pressuring him not to slash Medicaid, is parrying the Democratic-led campaign by withholding his support for a House resolution to cut at least $1.5 trillion from the federal budget — a goal that would be impossible to meet without reductions to the popular health care program.
On Wednesday, he publicly pushed Speaker Mike Johnson not to slash the benefit in a letter signed by seven other House Republicans representing Latino-heavy districts.
Continue reading at Politico
Fresh executive order targets sanctuary cities, federal aid for undocumented migrants
The action marks Trump’s latest attempt to crack down on illegal immigration.
President Donald Trump signed an immigration executive order late Wednesday designed to target sanctuary cities and ensure undocumented immigrants aren’t receiving federal benefits.
The order directs federal departments and agencies to identify any federal programs providing financial benefits to undocumented immigrants, while in the same breath acknowledging that under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, undocumented immigrants are already mostly barred from public programs.
Continue reading at Politico
Andy Beshear: Democrats need to talk ‘like real human beings’ to win elections
The Kentucky governor said his party wasn’t using ‘normal language’ in an interview during POLITICO’s Governors Summit.
Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear wants his party to start talking “like real human beings” and get away from what he called “sanitized” language and messaging.
“We got to talk to people like real human beings,” Beshear told POLITICO’s Elena Schneider at POLITICO’s Governors Summit on Thursday. “We’ve sanitized different language so significantly that, you know, people don’t feel like we’re talking to them.”
Continue reading at Politico
Note from Rima: #$^* ???
‘You screwed people’: Inside the National Science Foundation’s firing of 168 workers
At an emotional meeting, foundation officials announced layoffs for about 10 percent of their workforce and warned of more firings to come.
The National Science Foundation went beyond the staff cuts demanded by the Trump administration in a move that set off a frenzied backlash at the science funding agency.
NSF fired about 10 percent of its staff at the end of Tuesday, removing 168 people who included most of the agency’s probationary employees and all of its experts, a class of contract workers who are specialists in niche scientific fields.
The agency didn’t have to fire its experts but decided to in the interest of fairness, a top NSF official told staffers in an emotionally charged hybrid meeting Tuesday morning at its Alexandria, Virginia, headquarters.
“The removal of experts was completely at the agency’s discretion. Because if we’re asked to remove probationers, then we also need to remove at-will employees,” Micah Cheatham, NSF’s chief management officer, said at the tense and tearful hour-long meeting, according to a transcript obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.
Continue reading at Politico
Governors in both red and blue states are facing policy peril in Trump era
The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, combative trade policies and spending cuts create challenges for state executives.
Governors are scrambling to figure out the most effective way to respond to the seismic changes unleashed in the opening weeks of the Trump administration.
The basic calculus is clear: Democrats are searching for ways to thwart the White House’s most sweeping actions, while Republicans are desperate to show they’re fully on board with the MAGA agenda.
But beneath that crude dynamic, the deliberations happening in state capitals are far more nuanced and politically fraught.
Democrats are wary of simply mounting a scorched-earth resistance to President Donald Trump’s policies given the GOP’s sweeping victories on Election Day. That’s especially true on immigration, where the president’s hard-line tactics have resonated even with voters in deep blue swaths of the country.
Republicans, meanwhile, must navigate their own political tightrope in responding to the administration’s efforts to slash federal spending. That’s particularly tricky with regards to the massive packages enacted during the Biden administration that Trump has vowed to unwind — but that have disproportionately benefited red states.
Continue reading at Politico
The economic peril of pivoting to Russia
As Donald Trump pivots away from Europe and toward Russia, he's putting at risk the deepest and most important economic relationship in the world: that between the U.S. and Europe.
Why it matters: The U.S. economy has reaped enormous dividends from the way in which the U.S. government has provided a security guarantee to Europe. If that guarantee goes away, the dividends might, too.
The big picture: "No two other regions in the world are as deeply integrated as the U.S. and Europe," per AmCham EU, which collates such figures.
More than 60% of foreign investment into the U.S. comes from Europe, and in the other direction, more than 60% of foreign investment by the U.S. goes into Europe.
Similarly, U.S. companies employ about 5 million Europeans, while European companies employ some 5 million Americans.
European companies are major employers in several Trump-supporting states, including BMW in South Carolina, Volkswagen in Tennessee, Airbus in Alabama, and Siemens in Texas and the Carolinas.
Zoom out: "Security goes hand in hand with interdependence," Abraham Newman, a Georgetown University political scientist, tells Axios.
Continue reading at Axios
What to know about Fort Knox's gold depository that Musk wants audited
President Trump has repeatedly vowed to bring America into its "golden age" in part by making sure the gold kept in Fort Knox is still there.
The big picture: Ford Knox's tightly sealed U.S. Bullion Depository currently stores 147.3 million troy ounces in gold — or more than half of the Treasury's total supply, according to the U.S. Mint.
The gold is held at a government-set book value of $42.22 per ounce, though, as Forbes notes, gold trades for a far higher value on the open market.
Zoom out: The fortified vaults have been the subject of swirling skepticism and shrouded by secrecy for decades: No visitors are permitted in the facility, and its doors have only opened to unauthorized personnel a handful of times.
Continue reading at Axios
How companies are changing DEI in the Trump era
Companies are scrambling to rejigger, recast or just kill their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies to avoid the wrath of the White House.
Why it matters: Firms are on a tightrope with legal risks on either side — stick with DEI and face a Trump DOJ investigation or lawsuit; or abandon it, and face the potential for lawsuits from employees and job applicants.
Either way companies run the risk of angering customers and staff.
Where it stands: Corporate America's DEI anxiety intensified after February 5, when newly sworn-in attorney general Pam Bondi issued a memo directing the DOJ Civil Rights division "to investigate, eliminate, and penalize illegal DEI and DEIA preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities in the private sector."
By March 1, the division should report "the most egregious and discriminatory DEI" practitioners, per the memo.
That followed an executive order Trump signed the day after taking office that directed agencies to make lists of companies to target.
Continue reading at Axios
Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice announces she is stepping down
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court announced Wednesday that she is stepping down from the court by the end of April, opening the door for the court to have a 6-1 majority of Democratic-backed justices.
Elizabeth Clement did not give a reason for her upcoming resignation.
“Leading our state’s highest court has been an opportunity to continue a proud record of independence, fairness, and commitment to the rule of law,” Clement said in a statement. “I am thankful to my colleagues for their support and friendship, as well as for their willingness to seek common ground in serving the people of Michigan.”
[…]
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has the opportunity to appoint a justice to fill Clement’s vacancy and create a 6-1 majority of Democratic-backed justices. Whoever fills the vacancy must run for retention in 2026 for a full eight-year term.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Trump signs order aimed at denying undocumented immigrants federal benefits
President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from receiving federal benefits.
The big picture: The order that's part of the Trump administration's wider immigration crackdown directs federal department and agencies to "identify all federally funded programs" that provide financial benefits to undocumented immigrants and take "corrective action," and to "enhance eligibility verification systems."
Currently welfare laws, "specifically" the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of (PRWORA) generally prevents undocumented workers from welfare programs, the order notes.
Continue reading at Axios
Fatal drug overdoses are falling — but not everywhere
Driving the news: The age-adjusted rate of U.S. fatal drug overdoses fell from 32.6 per 100,000 people in 2022 to 31.3 in 2023, the CDC says.
The rate for synthetic opioids specifically — including fentanyl — dropped from 22.7 to 22.2.
Yes, but: States like Alaska, Oregon and Washington bucked the national trend, reporting major increases in their fatal OD rates.
Even their absolute numbers are relatively high: 2023 saw 49.4 fatal overdoses per 100,000 people in Alaska, 40.8 in Oregon, and 42.4 in Washington, compared to 31.3 nationally.
Caveat: Some areas with big drops in their overdose rate still have relatively high absolute numbers.
The fatal OD rate per 100,000 people in Maine, for instance, dropped 17.3% between 2022 and 2023 — but the Pine Tree State still had an overall rate of 44.9 per 100,000 people in 2023.
Continue reading and view the map at Axios
Trump says federal government should ‘take over’ DC
President Trump on Wednesday said the federal government should “take over the governance” of Washington, D.C.
“I think that we should govern the District of Columbia,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawless.”
Trump praised the District’s police department and said he gets along “great” with Mayor Muriel Bowser, who met with Trump after the 2024 election. Still, he railed against the conditions of the city, pointing to crime and the homeless population.
“The federal government should take over the governance of D.C. and run it really, really properly,” Trump said. “And I like the mayor, I get along great with the mayor, they’re not doing the job – too much crime, too much graffiti, too many tents on the lawns, there’s magnificent lawns and there’s tents. It’s a sad thing, homeless people all over the place. We’ve gotta take care of the homeless.
Continue reading at The Hill
Rep. Don Bacon says Trump ‘wrong’ to call Zelensky a dictator
“The president needs a do-over day – and start again. He took a bad turn,” Bacon, a moderate Republican, said in an interview with CNN’s Brianna Keilar. “I think what he said is wrong, and it’s a shame.”
Trump’s war of words with Zelensky escalated on Wednesday, when he took to Truth Social and called the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections” who was doing a “terrible job.”
Bacon, in the interview, pushed back on the claim, noting Zelensky was, in fact, democratically elected and that the country’s constitution allows for elections to be postponed under martial law, which was invoked because of Russia’s invasion.
Bacon also said the president’s words do not reflect the views of the whole GOP.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump's "dictator" slam of Zelensky rocks Capitol Hill
President Trump's direct criticisms of Volodymyr Zelensky have detonated on Capitol Hill, where Republicans are torn between their loyalty to their president versus honoring their promises to Ukraine.
"The president speaks for himself," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters about Trump's latest comments.
Why it matters: In the past 24 hours, Trump called Zelensky "a dictator without elections," falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia and said it "could have made a deal" to end the fighting.
🥊 In response, some Republicans eviscerated Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Putin started this war. Putin committed war crimes. Putin is the dictator," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) wrote on X.
"Vladimir Putin is a vile dictator and thug," Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) wrote on X.
"Vladimir Putin is the Dictator without Elections," Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) wrote on X.
Zoom in: Trump's slams today broke through the defenses of GOP senators, who had gotten smoother at dodging questions on Trump's social media posts.
Continue reading at Axios
Appeals court deals setback to Trump efforts to immediately end birthright citizenship
The issue is likely headed to the Supreme Court.
A federal appeals court panel has denied the Trump administration’s emergency bid to overturn an order blocking President Donald Trump’s effort to restrict birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants and short-term U.S. visitors, teeing up another potential race to the Supreme Court.
The 3-0 ruling Wednesday from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals maintains for now a Seattle-based federal District Court judge’s order blocking Trump’s policy nationwide. That judge, Reagan appointee John Coughenour, upbraided Trump for seeking to upend more than a century of settled case law on birthright citizenship.
Even if Trump had won at the appeals court Wednesday, his birthright citizenship order would have remained on ice because federal judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and New Hampshire have also issued rulings halting the directive. Still, the rejection by the appeals court panel gives Trump a chance to put the issue before the Supreme Court, perhaps in a matter of days.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump’s Ukraine plan is ‘close to surrender,’ warns ex-adviser John Bolton
U.S. president eyeing a “settlement that really, they could have written in the Kremlin,” his former national security adviser tells POLITICO.
John Bolton, who served under Trump for 17 months from 2018 to 2019 in his first term in the White House before leaving in a rift over foreign policy, told POLITICO’s Power Play podcast that the result of any such agreement would be to weaken both Ukraine and Europe’s security.
Speaking to Power Play host Anne McElvoy, Bolton predicted that a hasty end to the war in Ukraine could swiftly open the door to the U.S. exiting NATO.
“I thought Trump would withdraw from NATO and he hasn’t done that yet, but you can hear the music begin to play,” Bolton said. “There’d be a cease-fire in place, a militarized zone would be created, negotiations would begin, Ukraine would agree not to join NATO — which is a settlement that really, they could have written in the Kremlin.”
Continue reading at Politico
Germany’s Left comes back from the dead
Once written off as a party in terminal decline, Die Linke is defying expectations with a youth-driven resurgence.
BERLIN ― Germany’s far-left Die Linke party ― or The Left ― was struggling with declining support for years. So when its star politician, Sahra Wagenknecht, broke away at the end of 2023 to launch a new populist force, many wrote the party off for good.
But ahead of a national election this Sunday, The Left is showing surprising signs of life: In recent polls it has surged back above the 5 percent threshold needed to win seats in the Bundestag, while its membership has grown to an all-time high.
“It’s incredible how much energy is unleashed when we clarify our positions and focus clearly,” said Ines Schwerdtner, one of the party’s national leaders. “There’s a sense of momentum throughout the party.”
The Left, which traces some of its roots back to East Germany’s communist party, is doing particularly well at appealing to young voters across the country who are outraged by the rise of the far right.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Germany votes Sunday for a new government that will shape Europe’s response to an assertive Trump
BERLIN (AP) — German voters go to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament that will determine how the country is run for the next four years.
Europe’s biggest economy is the 27-nation European Union’s most populous nation and a leading member of NATO, as well as the second-biggest weapons supplier to Ukraine, after the United States, following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Germany’s next government will be central to Europe’s response to an assertive new U.S. administration.
Here’s a look at what to expect for Sunday and beyond.
What happens on election day?
Polls are due to open at 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.. Germans can also vote by postal ballot, but their ballot must arrive by the time polling stations close on election day to be counted.
Exit polls will come and vote-counting will begin immediately after voting ends, and the general picture of the outcome should be clear very quickly. A final official result is expected early Monday.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Ursula von der Leyen tightens her grip
The Commission president is further centralizing the EU executive in her second term.
BRUSSELS — On the day of U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the communications advisers of EU commissioners received strict instructions from their counterpart in Ursula von der Leyen’s cabinet.
According to an EU official, they were allowed only to repost the European Commission president’s Jan. 20 message to Trump on social media, and under no circumstances to add words of their own.
Such oversight is now a hallmark of von der Leyen’s time atop the Commission, with her leadership style growing more controlling than ever as she begins her second five-year term. It’s a centralization of power that many see as evolving toward a fully presidential model under the firm hand of the 66-year-old former German defense minister.
It’s all part of a pattern in which she and a close-knit circle of largely German advisers run the show, largely shunning scrutiny from the European Parliament and keeping a tight grip on all messaging and communication.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Breaking News:
McConnell won’t seek reelection to Senate
Continue reading at The Hill
Note from Rima: You don’t say…
Collins to vote against Patel nomination
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she would vote against the nomination of Kash Patel to serve as the FBI director, citing a string of political comments that call into question his ability to apolitically lead the bureau.
Collins noted recent actions at the Justice Department and FBI, from prosecutors resigning after facing pressure on how to handle certain cases to FBI agents facing firing over their work on Jan. 6 cases.
“In this context, there is a compelling need for an FBI Director who is decidedly apolitical. While Mr. Patel has had 16 years of dedicated public service, his time over the past four years has been characterized by high profile and aggressive political activity,” Collins said in a statement.
Continue reading at The Hill
62 percent say Trump not doing enough to address high costs of goods: Poll
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say President Trump has not done enough to try and lower costs for everyday goods, according to a new poll released Thursday.
In the CNN poll, conducted by SRSS at the end of Trump’s fourth week in office, 62 percent of respondents say the president has “not gone far enough” in trying to reduce prices, while 27 percent say he has “been about right” in his approach and 11 percent say he’s gone too far.
Democrats, at 73 percent, are more likely to say Trump has not gone far enough, but a significant share of Republicans, at 47 percent, say the same. About 65 percent of independents also say the president has not done enough, the poll shows.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump weighing 25 percent lumber tariffs
President Trump is considering imposing a 25 percent tariff on international lumber and wood products, looking to add another item to an expanding list of products under duties.
“I’m going to be announcing tariffs on cars and semiconductors and chips and pharmaceuticals, drugs and pharmaceuticals and lumber, probably, and some other things over the next month or sooner,” Trump said Wednesday at the FII Priority Summit.
“It’s gonna have a big impact on America, We are bringing our businesses back. If they don’t make their product in America then they will very simply have to pay a tariff, but if they do make their product in America, they don’t have to pay any tariff,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Judge bars immediate deportation of asylum seekers fleeing torture, rape and other violence
The Justice Department says one of them may already be en route.
A federal judge has barred the Trump administration from quickly deporting eight foreign nationals who say they are likely to be persecuted or killed if they’re returned to their home countries — including a family of four fleeing the Taliban.
However, the Justice Department indicated Thursday that one of the prospective asylum seekers, identified only as N.S. in public court filings, may already be en route back to Ecuador, where she says her husband — a police officer who she says has raped her, beat her and held her at gun point — might kill her.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump executive order requires sweeping review of federal regulations
It’s the latest action in Trump’s quest to dramatically expand his authority over the federal government.
President Donald Trump signed yet another sweeping executive order late Wednesday that stands to dramatically curb the power of federal agencies by ordering a thorough review of all government regulations to decide which should be on the chopping block.
It’s the latest action in Trump’s quest to expand his authority over the federal government, which he believes has grown too expansive, under the direction of his newly confirmed budget director, Russ Vought.
Continue reading at Politico
Hegseth could fire some senior generals and admirals soon, sources say
Rumors about the impending dismissals have been percolating for weeks, but a more formal list of those who could be fired was recently shared with Republican lawmakers, suggesting that the dismissals could be imminent, one of the sources said. Democrats were not briefed directly, that person said. The fact that the list was sent to lawmakers was first reported by NBC.
The list includes Gen. CQ Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the sources said. Before he was nominated as defense secretary, Hegseth said Brown should be fired because of his “woke” focus on diversity, equity and inclusion programs inside the military.
“First of all, you’ve got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” Hegseth said in a November appearance on the “Shawn Ryan Show.” “But any general that was involved – general, admiral, whatever – that was involved in any of the DEI woke s— has got to go. Either you’re in for warfighting, and that’s it. That’s the only litmus test we care about,” Hegseth said.
On Hegseth’s first day in the Pentagon, however, he stood next to Brown and said he looked forward to working with him.
Continue reading at CNN
Elon Musk may be on the brink of achieving the impossible: Salvaging his $44 billion investment in X
Bloomberg on Wednesday reported that X is in talks to raise money that would value the company at $44 billion. The anonymous sources Bloomberg cited acknowledged that the ongoing talks could break down, and it’s not clear whether X will actually fetch that valuation.
But the report coincides with a sudden turn in fortunes for X. Big advertisers, who had largely abandoned X after hate speech surged on the platform and ads were seen running alongside pro-Nazi content, have begun to return. (X made several pro-Nazi accounts ineligible for ads following advertiser departures.) Amazon and Apple are both reportedly reinvesting in X campaigns again, a remarkable endorsement from two brands with mass appeal.
The brand’s stabilization helped a group of bondholders, who had been deep underwater in their investments, sell billions of dollars in their X debt holdings at 97 cents on the dollar earlier this month — albeit with exceedingly high interest rates — according to several recent reports.
Continue reading at CNN
Steve Vladeck’s blog
Dozens of Port of L.A. truck drivers on strike over pay, health costs
More than 70 truck drivers who haul cargo from the Port of Los Angeles are on strike Thursday over pay changes and increasing health care costs.
Dozens of Universal Logistics Holdings’ subsidiary, Southern Counties Express drivers were already standing outside the Compton area truck depot around 5 a.m. demanding contract negotiations.
“They forced us to change our pay so, we were hourly and now we’re pay-per-load,” striking truck driver Jocelyn told KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos. She said the change was not in their contract and they are also facing rising health costs.
“They’re increasing our health insurance from $30 a week, for me, a family of three, to give or take $180 a week,” Jocelyn said.
Continue reading at KTLA
Transportation Secretary blasts California high-speed rail spending, opens investigation
As President Donald Trump’s administration makes cuts to government programs, his head of the Department of Transportation announced that federal assistance intended for a major California transit project could be next on the chopping block.
In a news conference at Union Station in downtown L.A. on Thursday morning, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said that the once “exciting” California’s High-Speed Rail has been “mismanaged.”
In 2023, then-President Joe Biden awarded a $3 billion grant to help officials complete the first phase of the project. That grant came after he reinstated a $1 billion grant to the High-Speed Rail Authority that had been previously blocked by the first Trump administration.
The ambitious project, designed to connect L.A. and San Francisco with the first publicly funded high-speed rail transit system in U.S. history, has faced a complicated history with years of delays. Currently, some 171 miles of the system are being constructed and designed between Merced and Bakersfield.
Continue reading at KTLA
Minnesota lieutenant governor launches Senate bid
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan launched her official campaign Thursday for the U.S. Senate, running to succeed retiring Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in the 2026 election cycle.
“Today, I’m officially launching my campaign for the U.S. Senate to go to D.C. and speak in a loud and clear voice for ALL of Minnesota,” Flanagan wrote in a post on social platform X, noting that, “In Ojibwe, my name means ‘speaks in a loud and clear voice woman.’”
“Throughout my career, I’ve worked to live up to my name,” she continued. “On the school board, in the state house, and as lieutenant governor, I’ve fought for kitchen-table issues that impact children and families.”
Continue reading at The Hill
New York sues major vape companies for targeting kids, teens
New York is suing some of the largest vape distributors for allegedly fueling the country’s youth vaping epidemic.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the lawsuit against 13 major e-cigarette manufacturers, distributors and retailers for illegally marketing and selling popular flavored vape brands like Puff Bar and Elf Bar to minors.
Selling flavored nicotine vapes has been banned in New York since 2020, but the products can still be found in corner stores and smoke shops in the city.
Continue reading at The Hill
LGBTQ+ identification approaches 10 percent: Gallup
LGBTQ+ identification in the United States is approaching 10 percent of the adult population, a new survey finds.
The poll released Thursday by Gallup found that in 2024, 9.3 percent of American adults identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual.
That’s an increase of more than a percentage point from the 2023 survey and nearly double what was found in 2020, Gallup noted.
When the polling firm first began surveying Americans about their LGBTQ+ status in 2012, it came in at just 3.5 percent.
Continue reading at The Hill
Most Americans in new survey say Russia started war in Ukraine
Most Americans think Russia started the war in Ukraine, with those who said Kyiv was first to attack were in single digits, according to a survey published Wednesday.
The YouGov poll found that 61 percent of U.S. adults think Russia started the conflict in Eastern Europe that has been raging for nearly three years, while some 6 percent said Ukraine was the one to kick it off.
About 15 percent of respondents blamed both sides equally while 18 percent were not sure, the poll found.
Continue reading at The Hill
DOGE cancels federal contract for 9/11 research
Researchers working on the Career Firefighter Health Study received notice last week of the CDC contract’s termination.
NEW YORK — News that the Trump administration canceled a $257,000 federal contract for research on 9/11-related diseases drew widespread condemnation Thursday among New York Democrats.
The contract would have paid for data processing work to compare cancer incidence rates among firefighters exposed to the World Trade Center toxins to firefighters in three other U.S. cities who were not exposed.
Researchers working on the project — the Career Firefighter Health Study — received notice of the contract’s termination last week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to FDNY officials.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, who is considering a campaign for governor, zeroed in on the role of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency apparatus.
Continue reading at Politico
Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid in the wake of McConnell’s retirement
The former gubernatorial candidate came up short in 2023 but is widely seen as the GOP leader’s heir apparent.
Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, seen as a rising star in the Republican Party, announced Thursday he is seeking the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by former GOP leader Mitch McConnell.
Cameron, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2023, enters the Republican primary with high name ID and ability to mount a formidable statewide campaign, after becoming Kentucky’s first Black attorney general in 2019.
Continue reading at Politico
Warning signs for Trump in new polling
Two new polls show the president’s approval rating is slipping.
Donald Trump’s honeymoon may be wearing off.
New polls show a majority of Americans say he has overstepped his presidential authority — and hasn’t done enough to address high prices.
Two new polls from CNN/SSRS and The Washington Post/Ipsos show the GOP president’s approval rating underwater (47-52 in the CNN poll, 45-53 in the Post), a shift from polling earlier this year that found voters roughly divided on him, with some surveys even showing a positive approval rating.
One reason for the erosion of support: a slight majority of respondents in both surveys said Trump has overstepped his presidential power in his attempts to reshape the federal government driven by tech billionaire Elon Musk. Many of Trump’s most controversial early initiatives, including a sweeping spending freeze, have been blocked in court thus far, but the new administration has still made waves with layoffs of federal workers, cuts to federal contracts and a flood of executive orders.
Continue reading at Politico
Layoffs begin at the IRS, as DOGE cuts collide with tax season
The IRS started laying off employees on Thursday, just as tax season kicks in to high gear.
Why it matters: The terminations, reportedly of 6,000 relatively new workers at the agency, are part of President Trump's broader purge of the federal workforce.
Zoom in: Layoffs began Thursday for dozens of Denver-based Internal Revenue Service employees.
Between 120 and 150 Denver IRS employees are on the chopping block, National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 32 president Patricia Allen told Axios Denver on Thursday morning.
Most are probationary employees, she said, and are being cut from multiple divisions, including collections and tax compliance.
Some employees were laid off early Thursday morning, Allen said, and as of mid-morning more were waiting for an email that was expected to tell them they have 30 minutes to vacate the premises.
What they're saying: "I've been with the IRS for 20 years, and I've never seen this kind of layoff. Never," Allen said.
Continue reading at Axios
Inflation warning signs mount
Bond markets are betting that inflation will stay elevated in the years ahead, and some evidence from business surveys and forecasters points in the same direction.
Why it matters: This belief suggests the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve face a headwind in securing a return to low inflation — concerns that have escalated just in the last few weeks, as the president has threatened tariffs on a variety of U.S. trading partners.
State of play: The gap between interest rates on standard U.S. Treasury securities and inflation-protected bonds gives a window into how much bond investors expect prices to rise in the future. That gap, known as the breakeven rate, has been on a tear in recent weeks.
Bond prices now imply 2.7% annual Consumer Price Index inflation for the next five years, up from 2.4% at the start of 2025 and 1.95% as recently as last summer.
The only times five-year breakevens have been higher, in a data series that dates to 2003, were during the peak of the 2022 inflation surge and a brief period in 2005.
There are hints in surveys that it isn't just bond traders who are revising their inflation outlook.
Continue reading at Axios
GOP lawmaker files measure to impeach judge who blocked Trump
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.) this week became the first House Republican to file articles of impeachment against a federal judge who has blocked President Trump in his efforts to upend the federal government.
Why it matters: The measure is an extreme long shot, but it signals a new willingness by congressional Republicans to use impeachment as a cudgel to help clear obstacles to Trump's agenda.
Several other House Republicans, including Reps. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) and Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), are also planning articles of impeachment against judges.
Trump said last week: "It seems hard to believe that a judge could say, 'We don't want you to do that,' so maybe we have to look at the judges because I think that's a very serious violation."
Continue reading at Axios
Zuckerberg deeply unpopular among U.S. adults in new survey
A majority of Americans hold negative views of X owner Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The big picture: The billionaire tech magnates already have huge cultural influence, but their alliances with Trump have influenced the overhauling of the federal government and brought significant changes to the platforms they own in an effort to align more with the MAGA agenda.
By the numbers: In the survey of 5,086 U.S. adults from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents had a less favorable view of Musk and Zuckerberg than Republicans and people who lean Republican.
Only 12% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents had a favorable view of Musk, while 73% of Republicans held a favorable view.
Continue reading at Axios
What to know about Ukraine's rare earth minerals, which the U.S. wants
The big picture: Ukraine's willingness, or lack thereof, to share its minerals and the revenue from their sale may determine whether or not the U.S. ends all support for the country, as its war with Russia nears the start of its fourth year.
What are rare earth minerals?
Context: Rare earths, as the U.S. Department of Energy explains, are a series of elements that are crucial to modern electronics, batteries and the like.
The U.S. has them, but not nearly in the quantities of some other countries.
The Pentagon has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to establish a rare earths supply chain, with limited impact so far.
Most of the world's supply and production is in China, which is increasingly cracking down on exports.
What rare earth minerals does Ukraine have?
Continue reading at Axios
Trump to hold Black History Month celebration amid his administration’s war on DEI
The event will be held in the East Room at the White House.
President Donald Trump plans to honor Black Americans’ vast contributions to the nation during a White House celebration on Thursday that coincides with his first full month back in office.
Trump spent that month abolishing decades of diversity efforts throughout the federal government and beyond, removing many Black employees from the federal workforce, and leading a culture war on “woke” diversity, equity and inclusion policies he disparaged as “dangerous” and “immoral” race-based programs.
Some view Trump’s Black History Month celebration as evidence his outreach to Black Americans isn’t in conflict with his pledge to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion policies throughout the government he oversees.
Trump is the only one slated to speak at the Black History Month event, which was rescheduled from last week due to inclement weather, and he isn’t expected to sign any executive orders, according to a person familiar with the plans. Organizers said the extra days afforded them time to plan a larger event. The White House declined to comment further.
Continue reading at Politico
Hochul set to announce guardrails around Eric Adams
Hochul will unveil proposals to strengthen and expand oversight of city government as she faces pressure to remove Adams from office.
NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is planning to announce guardrails Thursday hemming in Mayor Eric Adams in light of his alliance with President Donald Trump and Trump’s leverage over Adams, three people familiar with the matter told POLITICO.
Hochul is set to unveil proposals to strengthen and expand oversight of city government as she faces pressure to remove Adams from office, according to a person familiar. She will empower the state inspector general by adding a deputy for city affairs.
She also intends to add protections for the city Department of Investigation commissioner to prevent Adams from removing that person. His predecessor, Mayor Bill de Blasio, fired his DOI commissioner amid a power struggle.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump: Russia holds ‘the cards’ in Ukraine peace talks
“I think the Russians want to see the war end, I really do. But I think they have the cards a little bit, because they’ve taken a lot of territory,” says U.S. president.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia has the upper hand in peace talks over Ukraine as the Kremlin occupies a significant chunk of Kyiv's territory.
"I think the Russians want to see the war end, I really do. But I think they have the cards a little bit, because they've taken a lot of territory. So they have the cards," Trump told the BBC on Air Force One.
The U.S. president was flying back to Washington from a meeting in Florida on Wednesday evening, after falsely blaming Ukraine for starting the war with Russia, attacking its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and arguing that Kyiv should hold new elections.
The new Trump administration, however, has appeared to give up much of its negotiating leverage over Russia unilaterally. Speaking at NATO headquarters on Feb. 12, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. would not accept NATO membership for Ukraine or provide peacekeeping troops, and warned the country would not return to its pre-2014 borders when Moscow launched its initial attack.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
‘Transatlantic relations are over’ as Trump sides with Putin, says top German MP
As the U.S. aligns with Russia, senior European officials wring their hands in disbelief.
Donald Trump’s verbal assault on Ukraine is a “complete failure” for the transatlantic alliance, according to a senior German lawmaker.
“This is pure Kremlin — and Putin — speech,” said Michael Roth, chairman of the foreign relations committee in the German parliament, after the U.S. president called Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” and sided with Russia’s narrative about why the war began.
In a morning show Thursday on Germany’s ZDF, Roth said he was surprised at “hearing this propaganda from the White House.”
Roth, a member of the center-left Social Democrats, who are running behind the conservative Christian Democrats in polls ahead of Sunday’s national election, also described the new U.S. government’s tone as a “worst-case scenario.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
UK and Norway start Arctic defense pact talks to combat Putin
As Russian threat grows, London and Oslo look to “boost our security in the High North.”
The U.K. and Norway began negotiations Thursday on a defense deal aimed at countering the threat from Russia in the Arctic.
British Defense Secretary John Healey met his Norwegian counterpart Tore Sandvik at the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, a fortress tunneled deep into the side of a mountain near the northern town of Bodø just above the Arctic Circle.
The defense agreement will see closer working between the two nations' armed forces, including protecting undersea cables from sabotage. Since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, ships traveling to or from Russian ports have been suspected of severing key European infrastructure links — whether by accident or sabotage — particularly in the Baltic Sea.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Farage counters Trump: Zelenskyy is ‘not a dictator’
But the British firebrand added, “it’s only right and proper that Ukrainians have a timeline for elections.”
LONDON — Nigel Farage said Thursday that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is “not a dictator,” in a sign of disagreement with his close ally Donald Trump.
The U.S. president said Wednesday that Ukrainian leader Zelenskyy was a “dictator without elections” who duped the U.S. into supporting Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale military invasion.
Asked about Trump’s comments, right-wing Reform UK leader Farage stressed Zelenskyy was democratically elected — but should go to the polls soon.
“Let’s be clear, Zelenskyy is not a dictator but it’s only right and proper that Ukrainians have a timeline for elections,” Farage told conservative channel GB News.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Revealed: How EU Socialists plan to counter far right
‘Confidential’ document details concerted plan to woo Manfred Weber’s EPP back to center ground.
BRUSSELS — Center-left lawmakers in the European Parliament are plotting to counter the rise of the far right by advising members to be “more assertive,” to ridicule the extremists and to “drive a wedge” between the them and the European People’s Party, according to internal plans obtained by POLITICO.
“We should identify and leverage all those issues which can drive a wedge between the extreme right and the EPP,” the Socialists and Democrats’ document reads, referring primarily to the Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations groups.
In recent months the EPP has infuriated centrist and center-left groups by joining forces with right-wing and far-right parties to dilute anti-deforestation rules — a key element of the European Green Deal.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Will Ukraine turn into WW3? Macron doesn’t rule it out
The French president’s comments came during a live appearance on his social media channels.
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of bringing Europe to the precipice of a new world war on Thursday during a live social media appearance.
"The Russians have globalized the war in Ukraine," Macron said in response to a question asking if Russia's invasion of Ukraine could lead to World War III.
While the French president said he is "wary of bold words," he pointed out that Russia is using Iranian drones to strike targets in Ukraine and has deployed of North Korean troops to the front lines.
"There's a conflict in Ukraine, in which Russians, as a matter of fact, have made things global," Macron said. "Will [the war] be limited to this theater? Let's hope so," Macron said.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Scoop: U.S. and Ukraine discuss "improved" minerals deal after Trump raged at Zelensky
The Trump administration has given Ukraine an "improved" draft for a minerals agreement between the countries, after President Volodmyr Zelensky infuriated President Trump by rejecting his initial offer, a Ukrainian official, a U.S. official and three sources with knowledge tell Axios.
Why it matters: The disagreement over minerals helped spark a wider crisis in relations this week, with Trump denouncing Zelensky as a "dictator" who chose war with Russia, and Zelensky accusing Trump of swallowing Russian "disinformation."
The intrigue: Sources on both sides now say a deal is now looking more likely.
A source with knowledge said several of Zelensky's aides have encouraged him to sign the updated proposal to avoid a further clash with Trump and allow the U.S. president to justify further U.S. support for Ukraine.
"There was significant improvement in the recent draft and it is in conformity with Ukrainian law," the source said.
National security adviser Mike Waltz told reporters Thursday that Zelensky needed to "come back to the table" on the minerals issue.
"This is a negotiation. And in a negotiation, you negotiate. Ukraine wants to negotiate minerals, so we're talking about it," a White House official said.
Continue reading at Axios
Birkenstock sandals not ‘works of art,’ German court says in denying copyright bid
Federal Court of Justice rules Birkenstock is not entitled to damages from cut-price imitators of its footwear.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Playbook PM
The race to replace a Senate titan tips off
DEVELOPING — “Kennedy Center evacuated amid bomb threat, police units on site,” by WaPo’s Travis Andrews and Janay Kingsberry
BREAKING IN THE BIG APPLE — “Hochul set to announce guardrails around Eric Adams,” by POLITICO’s Nick Reisman and Joe Anuta
NOMINATION NEWS — Kash Patel is on track to be confirmed as FBI director in a matter of hours, despite Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announcing that she plans to vote against him over concerns about his fitness to lead what’s designed to be an apolitical agency. And the Senate HELP Committee advanced Linda McMahon’s nomination to lead the Education Department to the Senate floor in a 12-11 party-line vote.
SENATE TITAN SAYING GOODBYE — Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the longtime GOP leader, will not seek reelection next year, ending a seven-term span in the Senate that made him one of the most consequential Republicans of his generation.
McConnell, who turned 83 today, announced his decision in a floor speech around noon.
“Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate,” McConnell said in his speech, with numerous aides lining the back of the chamber, the AP notes. “Every day in between I’ve been humbled by the trust they’ve placed in me to do their business here. Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time.”
McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984, beginning a historic career that in recent years has seen him clash with Donald Trump as the president has reshaped the Republican Party.
The seismic-but-not-surprising news comes after a string of health challenges, including a fall taken while leaving the Senate chamber earlier this month that has left him using a wheelchair, POLITICO’s Daniel Desrochers, Jonathan Martin and Daniel Lippman report.
Attention now turns to the race to replace McConnell.
The top contenders: Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) and former Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron are the frontrunners on the Republican side. Barr, a former intern for McConnell, was quick to capitalize on the news this morning, issuing a statement that he is considering a run for the seat. Cameron, a former McConnell staffer, announced a formal bid shortly after McConnell’s remarks and has long been seen as a potential heir. Cameron was a Trump 2024 surrogate, which could give him an in on an endorsement from the president — though his swing-and-miss on a gubernatorial run dented his political standing in the state.
Continue reading at Politico Playbook PM newsletter
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The Trump Backers Who Have Buyer’s Remorse
by Yair Rosenberg
With every new policy and offhand remark, Trump belies the imaginary versions of himself that inspired many of his supporters.
Last June, the popular UFC fighter Sean Strickland surprised onlookers when, immediately following a victory, he ducked into the audience and took a photo with a bystander: Donald Trump. “President Trump, you’re the man, bro,” Strickland declared in his post-match interview with Joe Rogan. “It is a damn travesty what they’re doing to you. I’ll be donating to you, my man. Let’s get it done.” Video of the moment rocketed across social media, serving as an early indicator of Trump’s enduring strength with his base, despite his recent felony convictions.
Strickland went viral last week for a very different reason: opposition to the president and his plan to take over Gaza. “Man if Trump keeps this bs up I’m about to start waving a Palestinian flag,” the fighter posted on X. “American cities are shitholes and you wanna go spend billions on this dumpster fire. Did we make a mistake?! This ain’t America first.” Strickland’s lament racked up 159,000 likes and 13.2 million views.
Continue reading at The Atlantic
Senate confirms Kash Patel as FBI director in 51-49 vote
Patel's nomination was approved in a party-line vote, 51 to 49. Two Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — joined Democrats in voting to oppose Patel.
Continue reading at CBS News
IRS lays off 6,700 employees, torpedoing Democratic enforcement boost
The IRS fired 6,700 employees on Thursday, a government official told NewsNation, the sister television network of The Hill.
The employees were designated as probationary, meaning they were working for the agency on a trial basis prior to becoming full staff members.
More than 5,000 of the fired staff members were auditors and collection staff dealing with tax compliance issues, the official told NewsNation.
The White House, Treasury Department and the IRS did not respond to questions from The Hill regarding the specifics of the firings.
But Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), told reporters at the White House on Thursday that the decision was motivated by government efficiency concerns.
Continue reading at The Hill
Ex-presidents’ silence on Trump dismays some Democrats
Former Presidents Clinton, Obama, Biden and George W. Bush have barely uttered a word about President Trump’s actions a month into his second term, to the dismay of Democratic critics who say their voices are badly needed.
Those calling out for the ex-presidents to speak say Trump’s actions and the potential for him to bypass court orders should be red flags to the former occupants of the Oval Office.
“No one knows more about the importance of our presidents respecting separation of powers and showing restraint than former presidents,” Democratic strategist Joel Payne said. “Given Trump’s ongoing power grab, those voices and perspectives of our ex-presidents would be critical to the public discourse at this moment.”
“I don’t know what they’re waiting for,” one former senior aide to Obama said. “The time isn’t when Trump ignores court rulings. The time is now.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Musk says X Community Notes increasingly ‘gamed by governments & legacy media’
Elon Musk on Thursday said he is going to “fix” his social media platform’s X Community Notes feature, claiming without evidence the feature is being “gamed” by governments and legacy media.”
“Unfortunately, @CommunityNotes is increasingly being gamed by governments & legacy media,” Musk wrote on X. “Working to fix this …”
The tech billionaire’s remarks were included in a repost of a circulating poll from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) finding 57 percent of Ukrainians trust President Zelensky. The poll was referenced in a CNN fact check of President Trump, who claimed Wednesday that Zelensky has a 4 percent approval rating.
Continue reading at The Hill
DOGE Now Has Access to the Top US Cybersecurity Agency
DOGE technologists Edward Coristine—the 19-year-old known online as “Big Balls”—and Kyle Schutt are now listed as staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old engineer with Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) known as “Big Balls,” is now on staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, WIRED has confirmed. He is joined by another member of the DOGE team, 38-year-old software engineer Kyle Schutt, who is now also on the CISA staff, according to a government source.
CISA referred WIRED to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of which it’s a component agency, when reached for comment. DHS did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Coristine—briefly an intern for Musk’s brain-computer interface company Neuralink, as WIRED has reported—has been working his way through numerous federal agencies and departments as a DOGE operative since January. He has been tracked at the General Services Administration (GSA), the Office of Personnel Management, the State Department, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. At State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Technology, he potentially had access to systems containing sensitive information about diplomats and many sources around the world who provide the US government with intelligence and expertise.
Continue reading at Wired
USDS Engineering Director Resigns: ‘This Is Not the Mission I Came to Serve’
“I do not believe that DOGE can continue to deliver the work of USDS, based on their actions so far,” wrote Anne Marshall in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday.
The director of data science and engineering for the United States Digital Service—which Elon Musk rebranded as the US DOGE Service—has resigned from her position.
Anne Marshall, the now former director, spent more than a decade as an engineer at Amazon before joining USDS in September 2023. In December, she was promoted to director of data science and engineering, but only served around two months in the role before resigning on Wednesday.
“Today I resigned from the US Digital Service. It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be able to do this work, with this team of amazing people,” Marshall wrote on LinkedIn on Wednesday evening. “Unfortunately, DOGE chose to fire one third of them last week. These cuts were shortsighted, ill-informed, and indiscriminate. The government and the American people will be worse off from the loss of these people.”
Continue reading at Wired
The Incompetence of DOGE Is a Feature, Not a Bug
A series of mistakes by DOGE shows just how arbitrary and destructive this slash-and-burn strategy can get.
Within just the last week or so, Elon Musk’s DOGE hit team of mostly young, almost exclusively male engineers and executives have done the following:
Pushed a website live to track “savings” that showed no savings for several days and made it trivially easy for random people on the internet to make changes to it.
Published classified information on that same website.
Got called out for accidentally inflating that savings amount by $7.992 billion, and doubled down on their inaccuracy before they fixed it.
Fired hundreds of people who work on nuclear security, then scrambled to rehire them, except they had nuked all the work email addresses and personnel files so they didn’t know how to get in touch.
Basically the same deal, except with the US Department of Agriculture employees working to protect the country from a looming bird flu crisis.
Rehired a 25-year-old engineer with a stack of racist tweets to his name.
Spouted a bunch of nonsense conspiracy theories about who’s getting Social Security benefits. (OK, that was all Musk.)
That’s just a sampling. It doesn’t include the damage born of purging thousands of workers across multiple government agencies, the consequences of which will reverberate in both obvious and unexpected ways for a generation—not to mention the near-term impact that arbitrarily spiking the unemployment rate will have on the US economy. It doesn’t include the opportunity cost of tossing hundreds of government contracts and programs into a bonfire.
Continue reading at Wired
Comer won’t run for McConnell’s Kentucky Senate seat in 2026
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said he won’t run for Sen. Mitch McConnell’s open Senate seat in 2026 after the former House Minority Leader announced he would not seek another term.
“I’ve made it very clear I’m not running for the Senate,” Comer told The Hill on Thursday. “Maybe governor on down the road, but … not Senate.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Mississippi judge orders local paper to remove editorial, sparking outrage
A Mississippi judge issued a Tuesday order forcing the Clarksdale Press Register to remove an editorial criticizing city officials, sparking First Amendment concerns and pushback from press advocates.
The piece, titled “Secrecy, Deception Erode Public Trust” accused authorities in Clarksdale, Miss., of intentionally failing to notify the outlet about a City Council meeting on a proposed tax for alcohol, marijuana and tobacco products.
Judge Crystal Wise Martin ruled in favor of a temporary restraining order requested by city officials and scheduled a full hearing for Feb. 27, according to The Associated Press.
Continue reading at The Hill
DHS sued over stripping of deportation protections for Venezuelans
The suits target a move by Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to rescind Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans who have fled to the U.S. in recent years.
The January order from Noem impacts two clusters of Venezuelans.
“Secretary Noem took two illegal actions within one week of assuming her role at the head of DHS. Three days after her confirmation, she ‘vacated’ an extension of TPS protections for Venezuelans residing in the United States, just weeks after the extension was duly published in the Federal Register. Two days later, she terminated TPS for the Venezuelans who initially registered in 2023.
Continue reading at The Hill
Senate stares down an all-nighter to approve a ‘Plan B’ budget Trump spurned
The Senate could be voting on amendments to a nonbinding, but highly consequential, budget resolution well into the early morning hours.
Senate Republicans are embarking Thursday afternoon on an amendment free-for-all expected to keep lawmakers voting through the night — all to green-light a fiscal blueprint President Donald Trump doesn’t favor.
The budget measure the Senate is on track to adopt at the end of an arduous “vote-a-rama” sets a framework for a party-line package of energy policy, defense spending and border security investments. But Trump wants trillions of dollars in tax cuts rolled in, and so do Republicans on the other side of the Capitol.
After Trump publicly urged Senate Republicans this week to back off their approach, GOP senators are forging ahead with a budget they characterize as a fallback plan to deploy if Speaker Mike Johnson can’t rally virtually all of his conference’s 218 lawmakers around a budget setting up the one “big, beautiful bill” the president and House GOP leaders fancy.
Continue reading at Politico
Next steps on House budget plan
The Rules Committee will meet on the House GOP budget plan next Monday afternoon — a critical sign that Republican leaders believe they can advance the blueprint on the floor later that week.
The powerful panel controls what legislation goes to the House floor and under what terms. The committee vote will be an initial test of whether Speaker Mike Johnson has the support needed to unlock the massive, party-line Trump domestic policy bill.
Continue reading at Politico
Possible House Dem absence
Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.) is still recovering from a blood clot and infection after his recent knee surgery, and Democrats are unsure if he’ll be able to fly to Washington next week, according to two people familiar with the matter.
“I know he’s very eager to get back to DC, but is still in the hospital so at the moment it’s still too early for us to predict and will depend on when his doctors say it’s ok for him to fly,” a Mullin spokesperson said. Mullin canceled a town hall in recent days over the medical complication.
Depending on attendance, Mullin’s absence could mean Johnson could lose two Republicans instead of just one in a planned floor vote next week. The House and Senate need to adopt a budget plan to unlock their plans for a massive domestic policy bill.
Continue reading at Politico
At CPAC, Vance finally gets the reception he wishes he got in Munich
Surrounded by allies, the vice president basked in his role as culture-warrior-in-chief.
OXON HILL, Maryland — When Vice President JD Vance delivered an eviscerating speech in Europe last week that marked a hairpin turn away from decades of American foreign policy, he couldn’t have had a less receptive audience.
But on Thursday, Vance brought that globalism-bashing, culture warrior message stateside — and solidified his role as the America First movement’s communicator-in-chief.
“I’m glad you guys liked it. Not everybody liked it, you guys liked it,” Vance told the CPAC crowd of the speech he gave last week in Munich. There, it had generated more groans than applause, but here, just a short mention of it caused the crowd of thousands to whistle and stand.
“I’ll take a standing ovation for a speech I already gave,” Vance said. “Two for the price of one.”
Continue reading at Politico
RFK Jr. prepares shake-up of vaccine advisers
The health secretary is planning to remove members of a panel that recommends vaccines if he sees conflicts of interest.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is preparing to remove members of the outside committees that advise the federal government on vaccine approvals and other key public health decisions, according to two people familiar with the planning.
Kennedy plans to replace members who he perceives to have conflicts of interest, as part of a widespread effort to minimize what he’s criticized as undue industry influence over the nation’s health agencies, said one of the people, who were granted anonymity to speak freely. Kennedy has long argued that drugmakers have too much sway over the approval of their products.
The effort is likely to target the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which plays a key role in setting vaccine policy. Kennedy and his top aides are also scrutinizing a host of other outside panels, including those that advise the Food and Drug Administration.
Kennedy has only just begun evaluating the advisory committees, one of the people cautioned, and has not decided who or how many people will be replaced, or set a firm timeline for the removals.
Continue reading at Politico
Target's diversity rollback sparks backlash from Black community
As corporate DEI efforts held up as turning points during 2020's summer of unrest vanish in the face of political pressure, Black community leaders are responding with their wallets.
Why it matters: For them, this moment is about proving that Black economic power isn't dependent on corporate permission.
Driving the news: With companies rolling back DEI initiatives under conservative pressure, the NAACP urges Black consumers to support brands that remain committed.
The civil rights group is tracking which companies honor their promises—and which don't — as calls for economic resistance grow.
The latest: Target's move away from its post-George Floyd DEI promises, which mirrors a broader trend in corporate America, has sparked backlash. That includes a planned boycott led by Jamal Bryant, pastor of the prominent megachurch New Birth Missionary Baptist in metro Atlanta.
Continue reading at Axios
How Zelenskyy can salvage ties with Trump
Ukraine’s allies in Washington have a blunt message for Kyiv: Time to hit the reset button with President DONALD TRUMP and take another look at that rare earths deal Washington sent your way.
Trump administration insiders tell NatSec Daily there’s still time to salvage U.S.-Ukraine ties following several days of his blistering attacks against Kyiv that left Europeans stunned (and Russia positively gleeful.)
“They had to learn the hard way that criticizing Trump publicly is just going to backfire in a big way,” said one Republican advising top administration officials on Ukraine policy. (This person, like the others who spoke to NatSec Daily, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal administration matters.) “There’s a small but loud wing of the party who are very anti-Ukraine, but many inside who are still pro-Ukraine. Bashing Trump only adds fuel to the side against you.”
Several administration officials and other Republicans in direct contact with the Trump team said the president remains very open to continuing talks with Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY on how to best set up Kyiv for a lasting peace deal with Russia after three years of war.
They downplayed the latest war of words as another example of the brash negotiating tactics one should expect from Trump the consummate deal maker — despite the fact that it appears to be damaging U.S. credibility among NATO allies in Europe.
These administration insiders say Ukraine needs to work quickly with the American side to clinch a deal floated by Trump to give American companies half ownership over Ukraine’s deposits of rare earth minerals that are strategically important and potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Continue reading at Politico National Security Daily newsletter
Note from Rima: This is a newsletter and it contains a lot more than seen here.
Axios Macro newsletter
1 big thing: Inflation warning signs mount
Bond markets are betting that inflation will stay elevated in the years ahead, and some evidence from business surveys and forecasters points in the same direction.
Why it matters: This belief suggests the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve face a headwind in securing a return to low inflation — concerns that have escalated just in the last few weeks, as the president has threatened tariffs on a variety of U.S. trading partners.
State of play: The gap between interest rates on standard U.S. Treasury securities and inflation-protected bonds gives a window into how much bond investors expect prices to rise in the future. That gap, known as the breakeven rate, has been on a tear in recent weeks.
[…]
2. A tariff anecdote
Walmart executives say across-the-board tariffs — should they take effect — threaten inflation, though just how inflationary they would be is unclear.
The intrigue: The nation's largest retailer says it will try to hold the line on price increases — an approach mirroring that of other retailers the last time around, in 2019.
What they're saying: Walmart chief financial officer John Rainey said the company was "going to work really hard to keep prices low."
"We are not immune to what is being suggested, but we'll work with suppliers," he told the Wall Street Journal.
Continue reading at Axios
POLITICO Pulse
Trump’s mixed Medicaid messaging
COMPETING MEDICAID VIEWS — President Donald Trump’s contradictory statements on Medicaid have left aides scrambling to figure out what he means, three people granted anonymity to discuss the action happening behind closed doors told POLITICO’s Ben Leonard, Adam Cancryn and Robert King.
What happened: Hours after pledging that the safety net program “isn’t going to be touched,” Trump surprised some of his own staff Wednesday when he endorsed a House budget that would gut Medicaid.
Aides were left trying to figure out which Medicaid cuts Trump would be willing to accept.
Why it matters: The potential Medicaid reductions — an option to help pay for Trump’s wide-ranging tax, energy and border agenda — are triggering a backlash from Republican lawmakers whose constituents rely on the program.
Trump’s seemingly competing comments — shared in a Fox News interview Tuesday evening and then on Truth Social Wednesday morning — are also fueling confusion and concern among Republicans on Capitol Hill, who are looking to him for political cover as they contemplate a potentially risky vote.
“You’ve got to look at if it is worth the political struggle to do it,” Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said in an interview. “Entitlements are difficult to deal with.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said he has “concerns” about “the House’s proposal for very deep cuts to Medicaid.”
Continue reading the Politico Pulse newsletter
Elon Musk Gives Remarks To CPAC
Speaker Johnson discourages DOGE stimulus checks idea
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) threw cold water on the idea of using savings from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) government-slashing activities to send checks to Americans.
That marks a break from President Trump and tech billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk, who have floated the idea in recent days.
Asked about the idea by Newsmax host Rob Finnerty on the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) stage on Thursday, Johnson was less than enthusiastic.
“Well, look. I mean, politically that would be great for us, you know, it gives everybody a check,” Johnson said.
Continue reading at The Hill
Judge rules Trump admin can move ahead on mass government layoffs
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that federal law mandates the unions bring their challenge before the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), which adjudicates labor relations within the federal bureaucracy, rather than a federal district court.
The decision notches another victory for Trump’s Justice Department, which is defending against dozens of lawsuits challenging a broad range of the president’s executive actions, including the administration’s efforts to slash spending and reshape government agencies.
Continue reading at The Hill
Musk calls former International Space Station commander ‘idiot’ in exchange over astronauts
Tech billionaire Elon Musk called a former commander of the International Space Station (ISS) an “idiot” on Thursday after he pushed back on Musk’s claim that the Biden administration “left” two astronauts in space “for political reasons.”
“What a lie,” Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen said on X. “And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media.”
Mogensen was responding to a clip of a recent Fox News interview in which Musk said that, at President Trump’s direction, “we are accelerating the return of the astronauts” who “were left up there for political reasons, which is not good.”
Musk doubled down on this position in response to Mogensen’s assertion that Musk was lying.
Continue reading at The Hill
Alabama grand jury recommends police department be ‘immediately abolished’
An Alabama county grand jury recommended a local police department be “immediately abolished” as it indicted a group of law enforcement officers in the death of 911 dispatcher Christopher Willingham last year.
Five Hanceville, Ala., officers and one of their spouses were accused of “negligence, lack of procedure, general incompetence and disregard for human life,” Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker said Wednesday at a news conference.
Hanceville Police Chief Jason Marlin was indicted alongside officers Cody Alan Kelso, Drew Shelnut, Jason Wilbanks and Eric Michael Kelso, as well as Eric Kelso’s wife, Donna Kelso. All were arrested and charged, and have been released from the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office on bond.
Continue reading at The Hill
Sheinbaum warns US cannot ‘invade’ Mexico in fight against cartels
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum reacted strongly to a State Department order declaring that several of the country’s drug cartels were terrorist organizations, which led Elon Musk to say they were “eligible for drone strikes.”
“This cannot be an opportunity for the US to invade our sovereignty,” Sheinbaum told reporters. “With Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism, and even less invasion.
“The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions, or any other action from abroad that is detrimental to the integrity, independence or sovereignty of the nation … [including] violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea or air.”
Some GOP members feel helpless as DOGE cuts hit
White House aides are inundated with congressional calls as Republicans fret.
A growing number of congressional Republicans are desperately trying to back-channel with White House officials as President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency ramps up its slash-and-burn firings of federal workers.
GOP lawmakers unleashed a frantic flurry of calls and texts after federal agencies undertook the latest firings this past weekend, with Republicans particularly worried about cuts affecting public safety and health roles. Trump’s legislative affairs team, headed by former JD Vance aide James Braid, took the brunt of the frenetic fallout, according to four Republicans granted anonymity to discuss the conversations.
For the most part, Republican members are publicly cheering the administration’s push to slash the federal government, which is being led by billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk with Trump’s blessing. But privately, many are feeling helpless to counter the meat-ax approach that has been embraced so far, with lawmakers especially concerned about the dismissal of military veterans working in federal agencies as well as USDA employees handling the growing bird flu outbreak affecting poultry and dairy farms.
“I thought we were supposed to be in a new era of meritocracy. Not the indiscriminate firing of people,” said one Republican congressional aide granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Continue reading at Politico
NY governor announces she will not remove Mayor Adams from office, at least for now
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday that she will not use her executive powers to remove Mayor Eric Adams from office at least for now.
At an afternoon news conference, the governor also proposed new guidelines and oversight of agencies in charge of local investigations and the city’s finances.
The proposals appear as though they will severely limit the mayor’s independence as Adams faces accusations that he is working to facilitate the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement in exchange for having his federal corruption charges dropped. Adams, who has said he wants to work with the administration on matters of public safety, has denied making a deal with the Trump administration.
CNN has reached out to representatives for Adams and Hochul for comment.
Hochul also announced the creation of a new state inspector general solely focused on New York City’s administration. In that position, the new inspector general will also have the power to initiate investigations.
Continue reading at CNN
Elections a ‘poison’ for Ukraine if held now, Kyiv mayor says
Vitali Klitschko warns millions of Ukrainians would be disenfranchised if elections were held while war rages.
“In the current situation, election is poison for our homeland … it’s my personal opinion,” Klitschko told reporters in Brussels, on a visit to receive the Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award for courage and excellence in the promotion of freedom.
After Trump called for elections and slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “a dictator,” Moscow supported the idea, sparking concern in Kyiv as it attempts to fend off Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion. European leaders have since pushed back — while Ukrainian politicians, officials and soldiers have also leapt to their president’s defense.
The Kyiv mayor said that once peace returns to Ukraine, elections would be the logical next step, but underscored that now is not the time.
“Elections are one of democratic bases, but we have unusual situation in Ukraine,” he said. “Almost 10 million Ukrainians are outside of the country, almost same number of displaced people inside the country. A lot of people, around a million, are taking uniform and fighting on the front line.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
World leaders head to Ukraine as Trump cozies up to Putin
As Ukraine’s future hangs in the balance, world and European leaders are rallying around Kyiv.
BRUSSELS — As Donald Trump's administration turns on Ukraine, EU and world leaders will head to Kyiv on Monday to rally around President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and talk security guarantees.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be there in person, they announced on X, while leaders from Lithuania, Latvia, Malta and Canada will join either in person or virtually in a unified show of support, several officials told POLITICO.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola will also participate, though it remains to be confirmed “in which format she will be able to join” due to previous commitments, her spokesperson told POLITICO.
The meeting will take place on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, days after the U.S. president blamed Ukraine for starting the war Moscow launched in February 2022.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Moroccan authorities expel EU lawmakers trying to enter Western Sahara
Officials “violently” forced MEPs back onto their aircraft after declaring them persona non grata, the would-be visitors said.
Three MEPs belonging to The Left group were forced back to Spain Thursday evening after landing in Laayoune, the capital of the disputed territory of the Western Sahara, which is partly controlled by Morocco.
After landing and descending to the tarmac the MEPs were denied passage by men in uniform and “violently forced back” onto their plane, the lawmakers said in a statement.
“There was no reason given, they just told us that we were persona non grata, and that officials of Morocco denied [us the right] to go there,” Finnish MEP Jussi Saramo told POLITICO by phone shortly after landing back in the Canary Islands.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Hegseth’s proposed Pentagon cuts, firing of generals: What to know
The Pentagon is the largest federal agency, with over 950,000 civilian employees. It also oversees around 1.3 million active-duty service members and almost 800,000 reserves and National Guard members.
DOGE has also shown intention of placing full-time Pentagon workers into contract posts so that they would be easier to terminate, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing a senior military official.
Hegseth is considering firing a number of military generals and flag officers, NBC News reported on Wednesday, citing two defense officials and three congressional officials.
The terminations could come as early as this week. The list of those who could be fired was shared with House and Senate GOP members. The majority of those on the list are linked to former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Continue reading at The Hill
California bill could make health insurers pay $1 million for denying care
A new bill in the California Senate could help residents fight back against denials by health insurance companies.
Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has introduced Senate Bill 363, the Health Insurance Accountability Act, which intends to provide “critical transparency and accountability for health insurance companies for baseless denials of coverage for medically necessary care,” Wiener’s office said in a news release.
“Accountability is critical when insurance companies wrongfully deny Californians health care coverage,” said Wiener. “The facts are alarming. Over 70% of mental health denials that make it all the way through the appeals process are overturned. This suggests insurers are engaging in widespread violations of state law and wrongfully denying urgently needed healthcare, potentially in a widespread way. We must gain a clearer picture of what is happening with coverage decisions and hold health plans accountable for unwarranted denials.”
Not only would Wiener’s bill require health insurance companies to “submit a written explanation regarding claim denials and modifications and the reason for such action,” but they’d also face increasing penalties for excessive denials.
Continue reading/watching at KTLA
Top MAGA Lawyer Launches ‘Operation Whirlwind’ to Look Into Democrats Over ‘Threats’ Against Elon Musk
A newly appointed prosecutor wants to go after those who are spreading hostile rhetoric against "public workers."
This week, interim US Attorney Ed Martin announced “Operation Whirlwind,” which is a new initiative to prosecute threats against public officials, the Washington Post writes. The name of the initiative appears to reference a comment made by Chuck Schumer in 2020 (close to half a decade ago) when, amidst the Supreme Court’s deliberation over whether to ditch women’s constitutional right to an abortion, Schumer said that the federal justices had “released the whirlwind” and would “pay the price.” Schumer subsequently apologized for the harsh rhetoric which, all things considered, is really not that bad next to a lot of the stuff Trump has said.
Martin’s “Whirlwind” was also apparently inspired by him having learned of threats against those working with the Department of Government Efficiency, the government demolition effort being led by Trump’s “first buddy,” Elon Musk. “We are the DC US Attorney’s office; we are the guardians of federal workers,” Martin wrote in a note circulated throughout his office. “You and I must do whatever possible to assure government work is safe for all involved. We must protect our cops, our prosecutors, our DOGE workers, the President, and all other government employees from threats against our nation.”
To hear a Trump-aligned prosecutor talk about being the guardian of “federal workers” is somewhat hilarious, given the fact that Trump and DOGE are currently decimating the federal workforce and laying siege to the very notion of public sector work.
Continue reading at Gizmodo
West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government
What’s Elon doing with your data?
Today, we’re relaunching one of our signature products to capture this moment authoritatively for this audience: West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government. Read more from John about our revamped newsletter.
On that note, ABC News reports this afternoon that thousands of layoffs have begun at the IRS, right as ELON MUSK takes the stage at CPAC. Check POLITICO.com shortly for the latest. OK, let’s get into it...
Musk is racing to perfect an AI model, just as teams of his young associates are gaining access to some of the nation’s most sensitive and closely guarded databases through the Department of Government Efficiency.
That has sparked worries among Democrats and even some Republicans that Musk could use those records to supercharge his AI.
But the world’s richest man is not — at least that’s what KAROLINE LEAVITT, the White House press secretary, told West Wing Playbook this week.
The notion that Musk would train Grok 3, the latest iteration of his AI, with data uncovered through DOGE, is “unequivocally false,” Leavitt told us. It’s the first definitive answer on this front.
(We asked the AI model itself this question. The answer was, uhh, less clear. More on that below.)
But it points to larger concerns about DOGE, which operates with secrecy and rules that are largely self-enforced and either nonexistent or unclear to the public — an unusual posture for a government body. On this issue and many others swirling around Musk, Americans have to take the White House at its word that the information he’s accessing through DOGE won’t be used in his business ventures. That’s because there are few guardrails on this unprecedented effort to remake the federal government and no Senate-confirmed person running it.
A senior White House official did not explain how they could prevent Musk from using government data to improve his AI in the future beyond saying that Musk keeps President DONALD TRUMP’s chief-of-staff, SUSIE WILES, in the loop.
Unsurprisingly, that doesn’t seem to be alleviating concerns.
RYAN GIRDUSKY, a pro-Trump conservative strategist, has been one of the leading voices on the right raising the alarm. He loves that Musk is aiming to root out waste — but there’s a but.
Continue reading at Politico West Wing Playbook
Note from Rima: This is a newsletter. Click to read the other topics covered
FTC launches probe into ‘Big Tech censorship’
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is launching a probe into leading technology companies’ content policies and user bans, Chair Andrew Ferguson announced Thursday, suggesting their actions could amount to illegal censorship.
“Big Tech censorship is not just un-American, it is potentially illegal. The FTC wants your help to investigate these potential violations of the law,” Ferguson wrote in a post on X.
“We are asking for public submissions from anyone who has been a victim of tech censorship (banning, demonetization, shadow banning, etc.), from employees of tech platforms, or from anyone else who can shed light on these practices and the ways in which they may violate the law.”
Continue reading at The Hill
White House crowd chants ‘four more years’ after Trump asks if he should run again
President Trump on Thursday again raised the idea of his seeking a third term, which is prohibited by the Constitution, this time drawing loud approval from supporters at a Black History Month event.
“Should I run again? You tell me?” Trump asked the crowd assembled in the East Room of the White House.
“There’s your controversy right there,” he said as supporters cheered.
Trump laughed as attendees began chanting “four more years,” and he quipped that the clip would be shown on evening newscasts.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump thanks Black Americans for electing him in Black History Month remarks
Flanked by golfer Tiger Woods and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Trump said the event was to “pay tribute to the generations of Black legends, champions, warriors that helped drive our country forward.”
“The last administration tried to reduce all of American history to a single year, 1619, but under our administration, we honor the indispensable role Black Americans have always played in the immortal cause of another date: 1776,” Trump said.
Trump went in to share the story of Prince Estabrooks, an enslaved Black man who became the first African American soldier to fight in the American Revolution.
Continue reading at The Hill
HHS postpones meeting of key CDC vaccine panel, one week after RFK Jr. sworn in
The first meeting of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory committee since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary has been postponed, the department confirmed.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was set to meet Feb. 26-28 to discuss and vote on multiple vaccine issues, including recommendations for the use of a meningitis vaccine in infants and new recommendations on influenza and RSV vaccines.
There was no time frame given for when the meeting would be rescheduled.
Continue reading at The Hill
Noem ends protections from deportations for Haitians
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday moved to end deportation protections for Haitians in the U.S., likely teeing up legal challenges.
The memo seeks to end temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians, which allows those unable to return to their country due to unrest or a natural disaster to remain in the U.S. without fear of deportation.
The directive from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would end the status for some 520,000 Haitians in the U.S.
Much like with an earlier directive that “vacated” TPS for Venezuelans, DHS purported to take the same action with regard to Haitians, blaming the prior administration for renewing the protections in June.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump moves to end protections for 500K Haitian migrants — paving the way for deportations
It’s part of the president’s sweeping crackdown on immigration.
The Trump administration on Thursday slashed temporary legal protections for Haitian migrants living in the United States, laying the groundwork for them to be targeted for deportation in less than six months.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem rescinded a June 2024 Biden administration extension of temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians already in the United States. The Biden administration had cited dangerous conditions in Haiti that made it unsafe for them to return, granting them protections until February 2026.
In August, up to 500,000 Haitians — some who came into the country illegally and others who were authorized to come into the U.S. through Biden-era programs — could lose Temporary Protected Status. It is a designation created by Congress in 1990 and used by Republican and Democratic presidents to offer legal reprieve to people from countries struck by natural disaster, armed conflict or other “extraordinary and temporary conditions.”
Continue reading at Politico
Newsmax, Fox News back AP in Trump standoff over ‘Gulf of America’
Newsmax and Fox News are among the outlets who have reportedly signed onto a letter pushing back on the Trump administration’s decision to restrict the Associated Press’s White House access, in a dispute over President Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
At least 40 news organizations have reportedly signed onto a letter that the White House Correspondents Association circulated in support of the AP having its longtime reporting access reinstated. Oliver Darcy of Status News first reported on the “confidential” letter and the two traditionally pro-Trump outlets’ inclusion.
“The First Amendment prohibits the government from asserting control over how news organizations make editorial decisions. Any attempt to punish journalists for those decisions is a serious breach of this Constitutional protection,” the letter reads, according to Darcy’s report.
Continue reading at The Hill
NY Republicans push back against 9/11 fund cut
New York and New Jersey Republicans wrote a Wednesday letter to President Trump citing issues with probationary job cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which have impacted the workforce and a program supporting 9/11 first responder survivors.
New York GOP Reps. Andrew Garbarino, Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota, Claudia Tenney, Nicole Malliotakis and Nick Langworthy, and New Jersey GOP Reps. Chris Smith and Tom Kean Jr. rebuked the president’s actions in an uncommon public move.
“While we commend your effort to hold our government’s workforce to a higher standard of conduct, we implore you to ensure that any overall workforce reduction at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is done in a targeted manner so as to not impact the vital functions of the [World Trade Center (WTC) Health] Program,” the group wrote.
Continue reading at The Hill
Judge declines to reinstate refugee resettlement program funding for now
A federal judge declined to direct the Trump administration to reinstate funding for refugee resettlement programs after Catholic bishops challenged the freeze, but signaled he might do so in the future.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, appointed by President Trump during his first term, said he would not grant the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) a temporary restraining order at this stage of litigation because they failed to prove irreparable harm.
However, he said he would consider on an expedited schedule authorizing an indefinite pause on the administration’s funding freeze, calling his ruling not “conclusive at all.”
“This is very tentative,” McFadden said, setting a preliminary injunction hearing for Feb. 28.
Continue reading at The Hill
‘Enormous fear’: Housing industry braces for Trump tariffs, workforce cuts
The fallout is already being felt. Homebuilder sentiment fell sharply in February on concern over tariffs and high mortgage rates.
The U.S. housing market was already struggling under the weight of high mortgage rates and a lack of supply. Now, President Donald Trump’s threats to impose punishing tariffs on lumber and potentially fire thousands of employees at housing agencies could deal a severe blow to the industry.
Trump late Wednesday said he is considering a 25 percent tariff on lumber and forest products that would take effect around April 2. The new levy would come amid steep cuts expected to the workforce at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which could shrink by as much as 50 percent.
The moves could increase the cost of construction and slow financing for affordable developments — contravening a White House executive order vowing to “drastically lower the cost of housing” and expand supply.
Continue reading at Politico
Grassley starts talks with White House on moving judicial nominees
The Trump administration wants to rapidly fill judicial vacancies as existing judges block his executive actions.
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley is starting talks with the White House about moving judicial nominees through his committee.
"The only discussion I've had is the process,” the Iowa Republican said in an interview this week. “Just with the White House Counsel.”
The update, however preliminary, signals the start of President Donald Trump’s relaunched efforts to transform the courts. Confirming hundreds of judges — including three Supreme Court justices — was a marquee achievement of Trump's first term that is poised to leave the federal judiciary with a conservative slant for decades.
This time around, there aren't many slots for Trump to fill: There are just 43 total vacancies in the federal judiciary, according to a database kept by the U.S. Court system.
Continue reading at Politico
Neera Tanden is returning to the Center for American Progress. She thinks Democrats have work to do.
The one-time Biden adviser is reclaiming her seat atop one of the most influential liberal think tanks.
Neera Tanden is reprising her role at the helm of the Center for American Progress, one of the Democratic Party’s most influential think tanks, as the party looks to regain its footing with voters and counter President Donald Trump.
It’s a homecoming for Tanden, who was named president and chief executive of CAP Thursday, resuming roles she held before serving in then-President Joe Biden’s administration.
Continue reading at Politico
Democrats launch probe into Musk’s White House role
House Oversight Democrats are launching a probe into Elon Musk’s status as a government employee, citing conflicting statements about his role in the Trump administration and power over the Department of Government Ethics (DOGE).
The administration has offered confusing statements about Musk’s role in the government as DOGE employees move from agency to agency looking through data sets and carrying out cuts.
In a court filing Monday, White House official Joshua Fisher said Musk was not the formal head of DOGE but rather a senior advisor, with “no greater authority than other senior White House advisors.”
But in speaking to reporters Wednesday, President Trump said the opposite.
Continue reading at The Hill
Musk wields chainsaw onstage at CPAC, touting DOGE cuts
Tech billionaire Elon Musk joined the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) stage Thursday wielding a chainsaw, underscoring his efforts to slash the federal budget and workforce through President Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency panel.
Dressed in a black “Make America Great Again” hat and sunglasses and chain, Musk walked on stage and was joined shortly after by Argentine President Javier Milei, who gave him a black chainsaw that the DOGE leader held up as the crowd cheered.
When Musk held the chainsaw up, he screamed, “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.”
Continue reading at The Hill
How Clinton's "reinventing government" compares to DOGE's approach: "We cut fat and they cut muscle"
As President Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency push to slash spending, Republican allies have likened their efforts to a White House program from more than 30 years ago.
After entering the White House in 1993, Democratic President Bill Clinton tasked Vice President Al Gore with looking for ways to cut waste and red tape and streamline the federal bureaucracy to "create a government that works better and costs less."
The "reinventing government" program cut nearly half a million federal jobs and dispensed with a massive number of regulations. But according to the woman who ran the program under the Clinton administration, any similarities between that program and DOGE end there.
"We cut fat and they cut muscle. It's as simple as that," Elaine Kamarck, now a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, told CBS News. "We didn't have any meltdowns of agencies, we didn't have any dysfunction going on, and we obeyed the law. When we thought something was wrong, we sent it to Congress and asked them to change it."
Continue reading at CBS News
The Education Department waiting game
KILL ORDER — Millions in federal grants have been cut. Scores of probationary agency employees are being fired, while others are being put on leave. House Democrats are banging on the agency’s doors to get in without an appointment.
It’s a familiar slash-and-burn tale as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team sweeps through the Education Department, and there’s still one more shoe to drop: the formal executive order to dismantle the agency.
Those inside the department say it’s eerily quiet as staffers await the fulfillment of Donald Trump’s campaign trail promise to demolish the department in its entirety.
“‘I would love for all of this to go away — but I don’t have any hope that it will,” one probationary agency worker who was fired last week told POLITICO. “I anticipate that the department will be dismantled in the next month. And I know there will be a battle with Congress because it needs congressional approval, but I don’t see Congress being able to step up and fight that battle.”
Congress established the Education Department as a Cabinet level agency in 1980, so Trump can’t officially abolish the agency without buy-in from lawmakers. But his executive order would direct the agency to create a plan to hamstring its functions using its existing administrative authority and to figure out the laws needed to delegate the department’s powers to other agencies. The result? The department would then be forced to close.
The Education Department has just 4,200 employees, the smallest staff of any cabinet agency.
Continue reading at Politico Nightly
This is a newsletter and it is full of other items that are unrelated but just as vital
Trump expected to take control of USPS, fire postal board, officials say
President Donald Trump is preparing to dissolve the leadership of the U.S. Postal Service and absorb the independent mail agency into his administration, potentially throwing the 250-year-old mail provider and trillions of dollars of ecommerce transactions into turmoil.
Trump is expected to issue an executive order as soon as this week to fire the members of the Postal Service’s governing board and place the agency under the control of the Commerce Department and Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to six people familiar with the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals.
Continue reading at the Washington Post
Justice Department broadens Trump’s Jan. 6 clemency as it moves to drop gun cases
In court papers, DOJ revealed a newly expansive interpretation of the president’s Jan. 6 pardons.
The Justice Department now says that President Donald Trump’s clemency for Jan. 6 rioters covers unrelated crimes that were discovered during FBI searches stemming from the attack on the Capitol.
Federal prosecutors revealed the new legal position this week in court papers seeking to drop gun charges against two former Jan. 6 defendants. The guns in question were found at the two men’s homes during the Jan. 6 investigation, but the alleged gun crimes themselves were not connected to the riot.
Nonetheless, prosecutors moved to dismiss the gun cases by invoking Trump’s Day 1 executive order granting mass clemency to Jan. 6 defendants.
That order issued pardons to roughly 1,500 people who had been convicted of “offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol” on Jan. 6, 2021. It also directed the attorney general to dismiss all pending prosecutions for “conduct related to” those events.
Continue reading at Politico
‘Looks like that’s that.’ Trump may have just ended the Florida governor’s race.
Trump’s endorsement helped propel Ron DeSantis in the 2018 Republican gubernatorial primary.
President Donald Trump brought an early end Thursday to the speculation around his favorite for the 2026 Florida governor’s race in a post on Truth Social, endorsing loyalist Rep. Byron Donalds for the job.
The president’s backing of Donalds is likely to have a chilling effect on the race in Florida, a state Trump won by 13 points in November and that he has called home since 2019. Trump over Truth Social urged Donalds to run and called him a “highly respected congressman” and a “TOTAL WINNER” who’d been “tested at the highest and most difficult levels.”
Continue reading at Politico
Mexico to reform constitution in wake of US terrorism designations
The move by the Trump administration has stirred worry that it could be a preliminary step toward U.S. military intervention on Mexican territory.
MEXICO CITY — Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday she will propose constitutional reforms aimed at protecting Mexico’s sovereignty after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration designated six Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
The U.S. designations have stirred worry in Mexico that it could be a preliminary step toward U.S. military intervention on Mexican territory in pursuit of the cartels, something Mexico sharply rejects.
“The Mexican people will not accept under any circumstances interventions, interference or any other act from abroad that could be harmful to the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the nation,” Sheinbaum said.
On Thursday, the designation of eight Latin America-based criminal organizations was published in the U.S. Federal Register, carrying out a Jan. 20 executive order by Trump. The U.S. hopes the designation, something usually reserved for terrorist groups with political rather than economic objectives, will increase pressure on the groups.
Sheinbaum said during her daily press briefing Thursday that Mexico also wouldn’t allow outside involvement in investigations or prosecutions without authorization and collaboration of the Mexican government.
Continue reading at Politico
Mexico targets American gun smugglers in response to naming cartels terrorists
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that she will propose constitutional reforms to crack down on foreigners involved in gun smuggling in the country.
Why it matters: The move came after the U.S. State Department formally announced it has designated eight drug cartels — including six in Mexico — as global terrorist organizations that pose a threat to national security.
The designations prompted worries in Mexico about the U.S. military crossing the border to target the cartels, AP reported.
Trump allies prior to his inauguration reportedly discussed a "soft invasion" of Mexico to target cartels with cross-border special forces operations or drone strikes.
Driving the news: Sheinbaum said at a press conference Thursday that the proposed reforms would shore up Mexico's sovereignty by ensuring foreign agents can't operate in Mexico without the permission and collaboration of the Mexican government, per AP.
Continue reading at Axios
Mexico to reform constitution in wake of US terrorism designations
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday she will propose constitutional reforms aimed at protecting Mexico’s sovereignty after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration designated six Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
The U.S. designations have stirred worry in Mexico that it could be a preliminary step toward U.S. military intervention on Mexican territory in pursuit of the cartels, something Mexico sharply rejects.
“The Mexican people will not accept under any circumstances interventions, interference or any other act from abroad that could be harmful to the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the nation,” Sheinbaum said.
On Thursday, the designation of eight Latin America-based criminal organizations was published in the U.S. Federal Register, carrying out a Jan. 20 executive order by Trump. The U.S. hopes the designation, something usually reserved for terrorist groups with political rather than economic objectives, will increase pressure on the groups.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Buttigieg weighs a decision with huge implications for Democrats: Run for Senate or president?
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Some believe the Democratic Party’s next savior is living here, huddled with family, in the relative obscurity of a small city on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Pete Buttigieg has yet to decide if that’s a responsibility he wants.
For now, Buttigieg, the 43-year-old former U.S. transportation secretary, is discussing his future with party officials, labor leaders and top strategists. He must decide soon whether he wants to return to the national spotlight as a candidate in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race or step aside to instead seek a much bigger role as his party’s next presidential nominee.
Prominent allies believe Buttigieg cannot feasibly do both, even as others raise the comparison to Barack Obama, who was elected president just four years after becoming a U.S. senator.
“I don’t think you can run for Senate in 2026 and run for president in 2028 ... I would think that would be very, very hard,” said Obama’s former chief strategist David Axelrod, who met briefly with Buttigieg last week ahead of a joint appearance at the University of Chicago.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
California Playbook PM
Reparations by another name
NEW NOMENCLATURE: California’s Black lawmakers will continue their fight for policies confronting the state’s legacy of discrimination — but this time, they’re largely steering clear of the word “reparations.”
The bill package announced today by Legislative Black Caucus members includes proposals to create a new state agency, end all forms of slavery and help those affected by eminent domain. It’s titled “Road to Repair 2025.”
The tactical change — nearly five years after state lawmakers agreed to study how to address harms perpetrated against Black Californians — shows the formidable challenges of adopting such policies. This is especially true now, with diversity programs under attack nationally and a volatile budget outlook.
California lawmakers have yet to advance any legislation that includes cash reparations to descendants of enslaved people, the most common understanding of the reparations effort — and it doesn’t appear to be on the agenda anytime soon.
“To many of us, reparations, in the truest sense, is cash transfers or direct financial assistance,” Caucus Vice Chair Isaac Bryan said. “If we are not in the place where we can facilitate that as a state yet — because we need to pass several legal hurdles and build state infrastructure — then we're going to use language that is less charged and less easy for others to use to divide folks.”
Bryan, a Los Angeles Democrat, said the term “reparations” can be divisive because it “means so many things to different people.” His observation hearkens back to problems the caucus faced last year, when members attempted to pass legislation enacting recommendations from the Reparations Task Force that Gov. Gavin Newsom formed in 2020.
Continue reading at Politico California Playbook PM
This is a newsletter and so there are more topics covered.
Trump admin removes migrants from Guantanamo Bay
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have removed deported migrants from a facility on the U.S. military base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where the Trump administration brought them as part of an effort to remove certain immigrants from the U.S.
“ICE Air Operations transported 177 Venezuelan illegal aliens from Guantanamo Bay to Honduras today for pickup by the Venezuelan government, which returned them to their home country,” ICE wrote in a Thursday post on the social platform X confirming reports of transfers.
The Trump administration has aggressively moved to remove individuals who entered the U.S. illegally, setting up agreements with Colombia, Venezuela and El Salvador for those countries to accept deported immigrants.
Continue reading at The Hill
House Democrat says DC’s top federal prosecutor is trying to silence critics of Elon Musk
“No reasonable person would view my comments as a threat,” Rep. Robert Garcia said.
Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia vowed Thursday that he would not be “silenced” after receiving a letter from the Department of Justice demanding he explain remarks critical of Elon Musk.
In a post on X, Garcia shared the letter he received from Ed Martin, the top federal prosecutor in Washington, who has repeatedly threatened to investigate President Donald Trump’s opponents and critics.
The correspondence on DOJ letterhead, dated Feb. 17, points to comments Garcia made in a fiery interview with CNN earlier this month in which he called Musk — a close ally of President Donald Trump — a “dick” and urged Democrats “to bring actual weapons to this bar fight.”
Garcia, who represents a blue California congressional district, was speaking about how Democrats should approach a contentious subcommittee hearing on Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative.
Continue reading at Politico
Clips from CPAC
Justice Department deletes database tracking federal police misconduct
The first nationwide database tracking misconduct by federal police officers has been shut down by President Donald Trump, the Justice Department confirmed, deleting a resource that experts said improved public safety by helping to prevent bad cops from jumping to new agencies and starting over with clean records.
The database was first proposed by Trump in 2020 in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. But it wasn’t created until two years later when an executive order from President Joe Biden launched the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database. Trump issued an order last month revoking Biden’s orders, and the database.
The national database encompassed nearly 150,000 federal officers and agents, from the FBI and IRS down to the Railroad Retirement Board. And though it launched only in December 2023, by the end of last year all 90 executive branch agencies with law enforcement officers had provided thousands of disciplinary records dating to 2017, a report issued by the Justice Department in December said.
Continue reading at the Washington Post
DHS Scraps Ban on Surveillance Based on Sexual Orientation
A Department of Homeland Security unit eliminated policies prohibiting personnel from conducting intelligence activities based solely on a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation.
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis posted an updated policy manual late last week that removes references to those characteristics in sections that set guardrails on gathering intelligence.
The revisions follow President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 directive to scrap policies and protections focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion across federal agencies. I&A’s work has attracted close scrutiny for years because of its domestic focus, with intelligence often involving US citizens and others in the country.
Continue reading at Bloomberg
Trump says he’s going to Fort Knox to inspect gold reserves
“I’m actually going on this one. All my life I’ve heard about Fort Knox. That’s where the gold is kept,” Trump told Republican governors at a reception in Washington.
“We’re getting a little bit shaky. We’re getting the yips on this stuff. Like I want to find out,” Trump said. “We’re going to open up the doors. I’m going to see if we have gold there. Did anybody steal the gold in Fort Knox?”
Musk, with the encouragement of Republicans like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), has pushed for a review of Fort Knox and spread unfounded claims that gold reserves are missing from the facility.
Continue reading at The Hill
China says it backs new US and Russian ‘consensus’ on Ukraine war
Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Johannesburg.
China supports the “recent consensus” the U.S. and Russia have reached on ending the war in Ukraine, the country’s top diplomat said Thursday.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a Group of 20 summit in South Africa that Beijing “hopes that the parties concerned can find a sustainable and lasting solution that takes into account each other’s concerns,” according to a statement put out early Friday by China’s foreign ministry.
“China supports all efforts dedicated to peace, including the recent consensus reached by the United States and Russia,” and was willing to play a “constructive role” in peace talks, the statement added.
Wang met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Wang’s remarks come after American and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia this week, without Kyiv’s involvement, to discuss ending the conflict.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Elon Musk’s private security detail gets deputized by US Marshals Service
The US Marshals Service has deputized members of Elon Musk’s private security detail, giving them certain rights and protections of federal law enforcement agents, three law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told CNN.
It was not immediately clear how many members of Musk’s security team were made special deputies.
Musk, the tech billionaire and ally of President Donald Trump, is not eligible to have a US Secret Service detail – meaning members of his personal security detail were limited in what they could do in Washington, DC.
Now that members have been deputized, they have more rights and could be authorized to carry weapons on federal grounds. It also means that if something went awry with the detail, the Marshals Service could be held legally liable, one law enforcement source said.
CNN has reached out to the Justice Department and the US Marshals Service for comment.
Continue reading at CNN
Judge warns Trump administration not to dodge court order unfreezing foreign aid
Officials avoid contempt of court, but can’t implement any broad holds on payments, a judge ruled.
A federal judge delivered a stern warning to the Trump administration that it must abide by a court order to unfreeze foreign-aid funding, but he stopped short Thursday of holding administration officials in contempt of court for continuing to hold up some of the money.
In a seven-page order, U.S. District Court Judge Amir Ali seemed troubled by complaints from aid groups that much of the funding remained on hold despite his Feb. 13 order suspending the blanket freeze put in place by the Trump administration.
An official overseeing the administration’s foreign-aid revamp, Peter Marocco, filed a declaration with the court Tuesday that seemed to confirm the bulk of payments remained suspended. Marocco said, however, that the administration was not invoking the across-the-board freeze to suspend those payments; rather, he insisted, officials had separate authority stemming from the aid contracts or federal law to halt those payments.
That prompted aid groups to seek to hold Marocco and his boss, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in contempt for what the groups called the officials’ “brazen defiance” of the court’s order.
Continue reading at Politico
Schumer battles Thune in Senate "vote-a-rama" all-nighter
Schumer sees the budget "vote-a-rama" as his shot to convince voters that President Trump's GOP serves billionaires, not the working-class people who make up the new MAGA coalition. Axios scooped Schumer's thinking earlier this week.
Democrats are expected to offer about 40 amendments as part of the debate over the Senate GOP's $300 billion budget reconciliation package.
The amendments — which aren't expected to pass — are designed to pin Republicans between what's good for their reelections and what could infuriate Trump.
🔑 Schumer's two key targets are Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who each face reelection in 2026.
As Schumer told Axios this week: "In 2026, these amendments are going to play a valuable role."
🎉 Zoom in: The festivities won't end until each side votes the other to exhaustion.
Amendments are unlimited and the median age of senators is 65, per Pew Research Center.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump orders database on federal police misconduct to close
President Trump has ordered the shutdown of the first nationwide database tracking misconduct by federal police officers.
Zoom in: The closure, first reported by the Washington Post on Thursday, ends the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database — a resource experts said improved public safety by preventing bad officers from jumping from agency to agency.
A note on the database on the Department of Justice's website says Trump revoked an executive order signed by then-President Biden and the database will be decommissioned.
The big picture: The move by Trump fulfills a campaign promise to reserve police reforms that came out of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd.
Trump reserved Biden's order creating the database, even though he had proposed it himself.
Continue reading at Axios
Attorney wants Malcolm X FBI/CIA files to be declassified
A civil rights attorney is asking the Trump administration to declassify the FBI and CIA files linked to Malcolm X on the 60th anniversary of his assassination.
Why it matters: The plea comes on the heels of President Trump ordering the declassifying of FBI files connected to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Zoom in: Civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump is scheduled Friday to make a public demand for the files of Malcolm X, later known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, at the New York City site where he was assassinated.
Crump, who has represented several Black families of victims of high-profile police shootings, will be accompanied by Malcolm X's family.
Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment in the evening.
Continue reading at Axios
Two more staffers quit John Fetterman's office as the senator carves his own lane with Trump
Two of Sen. John Fetterman’s longest-serving staff members are leaving his team as the senator takes a more open approach to President Donald Trump than many of his Democratic colleagues are.
Charlie Hills, Fetterman’s communications director, and Tré Easton, his legislative director, are set to soon depart the Pennsylvania Democrat’s office.
Both men worked on Fetterman’s 2022 campaign and have been with him during his two-year Senate career.
[…]
The departures come one month after Carrie Adams left as Fetterman's communications director. She had garnered attention when she was quoted in a Free Press article disagreeing with the senator on Israel and the war in Gaza. That followed Fetterman losing three of his top communications staffers last March, before his chief-of-staff, Adam Jentleson, stepped down.
Continue reading at AOL
Trump takes aim at Pelosi’s hometown legacy
The former House speaker on Thursday accused Trump of creating a distraction to draw attention from an unpopular Republican Medicaid proposal.
SAN FRANCISCO — President Donald Trump is taking aim at a crown jewel of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s legacy with an order to cut funding for an agency that operates a 1,500-acre national park on the site of a former Army base overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.
But at an event in the city on Thursday, Pelosi said the agency was protected under an act of Congress — and she accused Trump of creating a flurry of distractions to draw attention from an unpopular Republican proposal to cut social safety-net programs.
“I’m saying this to say, ‘We’re here to talk about Medicaid, Mr. President,” Pelosi said as she slapped a paper on the table. “We will not be distracted with other things. He called himself a king the other day. Really? King of what? Anyway, the emperor has no clothes as far as I’m concerned.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Continue reading at Politico
Recall alert
Trader Joe’s recalls frozen item that ‘may contain’ plastic, removes product from shelves
Trader Joe’s has issued a recall of its Organic Acai Bowls over the potential that the product may contain plastic, the company announced late last week.
[…]
The recall of Trader Joe’s Acai Bowls was announced only days after several brands of canned tuna — including varieties sold at Costco and Trader Joe’s locations in multiple states — were recalled over a manufacturing defect. The defect, which concerned the pull tab on the tuna cans, was said to potentially “compromise the integrity of the product seal (especially over time), causing it to leak, or worse, be contaminated with clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning,” according to Tri-Union Seafoods of El Segundo, California, which initiated the recall.
Continue reading at KTLA
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Musical Interlude
Lee Ritenour & Dave Grusin Jazz festival Montreux 2011
Lee Ritenour: Guitarist, Dave Grusin: Pianist and keyboardist, Melvin Davis: Bassist, Sonny Emory: Drummer