Things Musk (and Trump) Did('nt?)... Day 30 | Blog#42
It's all Biden and... a DOGE liability dodge
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Yesterday’s post
Yesterday’s news worth repeating
Who’s in charge of DOGE? Not Elon Musk, White House says
A Trump administration personnel official says Musk has “no actual or formal authority to make government decisions.”
Elon Musk is not the leader of DOGE — the mysterious Trump administration operation overseeing an effort to break and remake the federal bureaucracy. In fact, he’s not even technically part of it at all, the White House said in court papers Monday night.
In a three-page declaration, a top White House personnel official revealed that Musk’s title is “senior adviser to the president,” a role in which he has “no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.”
That explanation, provided to a federal court by Joshua Fisher, the director of the White House’s Office of Administration, seems to directly contradict the way President Donald Trump and Musk have spoken publicly about the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, widely seen as a Musk-driven project to shrink and dismantle key aspects of the federal government.
The sworn statement instead deepens the questions surrounding DOGE. Fisher confirmed that Musk is not the official administrator of the office, which was established by Trump as an office in the Executive Office of the President. But Fisher did not indicate who the administrator actually is.
Continue reading at Politico
Musk is not a DOGE employee and "has no actual or formal authority," WH says
Elon Musk is not the administrator of DOGE and nor is he an employee of the department that's overseeing massive cuts to the federal workforce and agencies, per a Monday night White House court filing.
Why it matters: President Trump described Musk as a leader of the operation when he announced the department in November, and the billionaire has become the face of the operation.
Driving the news: "Like other senior White House advisors, Mr Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself," per the filing, signed by Joshua Fisher, director of the Office of Administration at the White House and was filed in D.C. federal court.
Musk is a "Special Government Employee" and in that job he's a senior adviser to the president, said Fisher, per the declaration in the case, which the state of New Mexico brought against Musk and others.
The SpaceX owner "has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself, said Fisher, per the filing, Fisher said.
He said Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to former President Biden, was similarly "influential" in this role.
Continue reading at Axios
Scoop: Schumer looks to jam Republicans on Musk and billionaires
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to use this week's budget votes to force Republicans to choose between defending tax cuts for billionaires or defying President Trump and Elon Musk.
"It unifies Democrats from one end to the other. It is simple. It is easy to state. And it's true," Schumer told Axios.
Why it matters: After weeks of getting pummeled, Schumer is clearly relishing the prospect of changing the subject and forcing Republicans to play defense.
Schumer wants to turn the "vote-a-rama" on the Senate GOP's budget bill — expected Thursday or Friday — into a parade of tragic decisions by Trump and Musk — all in service of making the rich even richer.
Look for amendments on Trump's proposed tax cuts, the president's funding and hiring freezes and Musk's deep cuts to federal agencies.
Continue reading on Axios
Note from Rima: This is worth repeating from yesterday’s post as this is Musk and Trump’s way of shielding Musk from liability from all the things Musk is doing without Senate confirmation as an “advisor.”
Now, on to today’s news
Musk and Trump interviewed by Sean Hannity
Trump: Zelensky ‘has done a terrible job’
President Trump on Wednesday ratcheted up his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of taking advantage of the United States and saying he has done a “terrible job” leading his war-torn country.
Trump went after Zelensky and questioned U.S. support for Ukraine in its war against Russia a day after he appeared to blame the Ukrainian leader for starting the conflict. Zelensky responded to those earlier comments by saying Trump “lives in this disinformation space.”
“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle,” Trump posted Wednesday on Truth Social.
He questioned why the United States has spent billions of dollars in support of Ukraine and why the Biden administration did not demand Europe put in an equal amount, given its proximity to the conflict.
Continue reading at The Hill
Zelenskyy says Trump is ‘surrounded by disinformation’
U.S. leader’s claim that Zelenskyy’s approval rating is 4 percent is Russian disinfo, Ukrainian president says.
KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said United States President Donald Trump is “surrounded by disinformation” after Trump falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia.
“I wish there was more truth,” the Ukrainian leader told journalists at a meeting in Kyiv Wednesday morning. “I hope we can break through that cycle.”
The Ukrainian president also accused the U.S. administration of enabling Russia to emerge from its international isolation. “It got there because of the invasion of Ukraine. But now I see Russia treated as if it is a victim,” he said.
At a press conference Tuesday night, Trump blamed Ukraine for the war with Russia and argued that Kyiv should hold new elections, in his first public remarks following high-level U.S.-Russia talks in Riyadh earlier that day.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Trump blaming Ukraine for Putin’s war leaves Europe reeling
The U.S. president called out Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a diatribe against Kyiv.
Donald Trump's statement that Kyiv "started" the war Russia launched on Ukraine has left Europeans dumbstruck, with one British government aide simply responding, "Jesus."
On Tuesday night, the U.S. president claimed that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a poor negotiator, saying it's his fault that his country — which Russia has been attacking for a decade now, including a full-scale invasion in 2022 — is being left out of negotiations over a potential peace deal.
“Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it — three years. You should have never been there. You should have never started it. You should have made a deal,” Trump said. The U.S. president also reiterated his interest in forcing Ukraine to hold elections as part of a deal to end the war.
"We don't understand the American logic very well," French government spokesperson Sophie Primas told reporters Wednesday in reference to Trump’s comments, which she described as “varied and often incomprehensible.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Hawley calls for new inspector general to investigate Ukraine spending
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) pledged to introduce legislation to track U.S. dollars designated for Ukraine in its war against Russia, after citing the possibility of corrupt spending under the Biden administration.
“It’s time for a special inspector general dedicated to auditing EVERY PENNY spent on Ukraine,” Hawley, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wrote in a Tuesday post on the social platform X.
An hour later, the Missouri Republican promised to act on his proposal.
“I will again introduce on the floor of the Senate legislation to create a watchdog whose *sole responsibility* is auditing every dollar spent on Ukraine – and reporting back to the American people,” he wrote.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump crafted ‘win-win’ situation for US, Ukraine economic plan: Bessent
“President Trump designed a win-win situation. It’s win for the Ukraine people because the know-how, the ingenuity of the American people go in, and it’s a win for the American people. And what we went in — and it’s the opposite of what the Chinese do,” Bessent said during an interview on Fox News’s “Special Report,” which aired Tuesday.
“The Chinese go in, and they do these rapacious deals where they grab mineral rights. And what we suggested, and the document that I took, was a partnership,” he added.
Bessent, who visited Ukraine last week and met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the purported economic cooperation between Kyiv and Washington is based on the “revenues that come from minerals, from natural resources, from state-owned enterprises, and the more they make, the more we make.”
“So, the U.S., our side, would bring in know-how, we’d bring in capital, and we’d act as an accelerant,” he told host Bret Baier.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump says ‘inflation is back’: ‘I had nothing to do with it’
President Trump is seeking to distance himself from a rise in inflation, arguing the uptick had “nothing to do” with his return to the Oval Office.
Trump instead placed the blame on former President Biden in an interview Tuesday, decrying what he characterized as reckless spending during the previous administration.
“Inflation is back. No, think of it: Inflation’s back,” the president told Fox News’s Sean Hannity during an interview alongside tech billionaire Elon Musk that aired Tuesday night. “And they said, ‘Oh, Trump,’ and I had nothing to do with that.”
“These people have run the country. They spent money like nobody has ever spent. … They were given $9 trillion to throw out the window — 9 trillion,” he added.
Trump pointed to bills turned law during Biden’s four years in office, noting the government spent money on the “’Green New Scam,’ I call it.”
Continue reading at The Hill
USDA working to rescind terminations for fired officials working on bird flu efforts
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it was working to take back the termination notices sent over the weekend to several employees who aid in the federal response efforts to the bird flu (HPAI).
“Although several positions supporting HPAI were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” the USDA said in a statement to NewsNation.
“USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission,” the statement continued.
The statement made clear that the agency “continues to prioritize the response” to the bird flu.
Continue reading at The Hill
Department of Education contract cuts spur ‘chaos and confusion’
More than a billion dollars of government contracts at the Department of Education has been cut, a move the Trump administration argues gets rid of “woke” wasteful spending as others sound the alarm on educational research and learning outcomes for students.
Most of the cuts happened to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), which focuses on research and how schools can operate and teach kids better. In addition, on Monday, the department announced $600 million in cuts to what it called “divisive” teacher training grants.
“It’s devastating for, well, certainly the education research and development community. In my work, we do a fair amount of projects with education researchers, people who innovate and create new educational tools, and we are hearing from that community that this is just chaos and confusion,” said Tasha Hensley, policy director for The Learning Agency, an education research group.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump, Musk defend a month of DOGE
President Trump, appearing Tuesday on Fox News alongside billionaire adviser Elon Musk, defended his rush to gain control of the federal bureaucracy, bashed former President Biden and hailed the SpaceX CEO for implementing change.
“You write a beautiful executive [order] and you sign it, you assume it’s going to be done but it’s not,” the president told host Sean Hannity at the White House during a pre-taped discussion. “He gets it done. He’s a leader. He gets it done.”
The Hill: Trump said he ordered the firings of Biden-appointed U.S. attorneys within the Justice Department.
Trump, who was in Florida as the interview aired, said he believes Musk ultimately will find $1 trillion in federal savings after he and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team estimated reductions of $55 billion to date in the pursuit of what they describe as waste, fraud and abuse. The original target, publicly pared down in early January, had been $2 trillion in savings.
“If the bureaucracy is fighting the will of the people and preventing the president — the president — from implementing what the people want, then what we live in is a bureaucracy and not a democracy,” Musk added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump’s whirlwind first month leaves heads spinning
President Trump has done more to disrupt Washington norms in one month than what he touted on the campaign trail with a flood of executive orders and mass firings across the government taking his top priorities.
Trump moved at lightning speed when he came into power on Jan. 20, signing dozens of executive orders aimed at cracking down on immigration, leaning into culture wars, and freezing federal and foreign funding that upended programs and U.S. agencies worldwide.
The rate at which Trump is moving has left a head spinning trail of news in its wake. The strategy has flooded the public with out of the blue, and sometimes completely unexpected proposals such as when he suggested the U.S. takeover and rebuild the Gaza Strip.
There’s also the matter of Elon Musk, who Trump has put in charge of overhauling government agencies, which has led to mass firings, access to personal data, bulk buyouts and the near-complete shut down of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump looks to cement legacy on judicial bench
In politics, executive orders and legislative wins can be fleeting. But judicial appointments can resonate for decades.
President Trump and his team enter his second term fully aware of that fact and are prepared to cement his legacy when it comes to the judicial branch.
Trump in some ways owed his first victory in 2016 to a Supreme Court opening under former President Obama that nudged many voters into the GOP camp. In his first term, Trump nominated hundreds of federal judges and had the chance to appoint three Supreme Court justices, a rare feat for any president in under four years.
In his second term, Trump may not have as many federal vacancies to fill. But Trump and his team are highly motivated to put their imprint on the judiciary, particularly after spending the past year railing against judges they disagreed with as partisan.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump backs House GOP reconciliation bill over Senate version
President Trump on Wednesday threw his support behind the House GOP’s strategy to pass a single bill that combines his priorities, even as Senate Republicans moved ahead with their own budget resolution.
“The House and Senate are doing a SPECTACULAR job of working together as one unified, and unbeatable, TEAM, however, unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to ‘kickstart’ the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL,'” Trump continued.
Continue reading at The Hill
House to vote on budget resolution next week, Scalise says
The House is planning to vote on a budget resolution next week to get the ball rolling on its effort to pass President Trump’s legislative agenda, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) office confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday.
The news came shortly after Trump, in a post on Truth Social, endorsed the House GOP’s one-bill blueprint over the Senate’s two-track framework, taking a clear stance in the Republican debate over which strategy should be used to advance the president’s domestic policy priorities.
“The House and Senate are doing a SPECTACULAR job of working together as one unified, and unbeatable, TEAM, however, unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it! We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to ‘kickstart’ the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.’ It will, without question, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote.
Continue reading at The Hill
Senate still moving forward with budget, Thune says
The majority leader spoke after President Trump endorsed the rival House blueprint.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that Republicans are moving ahead — for now — with their budget blueprint, even after President Donald Trump endorsed the House’s competing plan on Wednesday.
“We're planning to proceed. But, you know, obviously we are interested in and hoping to hear with more clarity where the White House is coming from,” Thune told reporters after meeting with fellow GOP leaders.
Continue reading at Politico
Thune surprised by Trump backing House bill: ‘Did not see that one coming’
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters on Wednesday that he was surprised by President Trump’s support for the GOP-controlled House’s one-bill spending plan as Congress navigates crucial budget negotiations.
“Did not see that one coming,” Thune said of Trump’s post on Truth Social hours earlier.
Continue reading at The Hill
Democrats aim to maximize GOP pain in passing Trump agenda
Democrats on Capitol Hill have little power to prevent GOP leaders from moving President Trump’s ambitious policy agenda through Congress this year. But they’re going out of their way to make the process as painful as possible for vulnerable Republicans.
In the House this week, the Democrats’ top super PAC announced a new campaign to highlight the Medicaid cuts that are all but inevitable as part of the Republicans’ nascent effort to pay for an extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.
In the Senate, where GOP leaders are poised to move a budget wish list this week, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is urging his troops to push amendments to amplify the Democrats’ charges that GOP leaders want to slash working-class benefits to help the wealthiest taxpayers.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump: PBS, AP, CBS are ‘bad,’ MSNBC the ‘enemy’
President Trump ripped into media outlets he says are too critical of him and referred to one leading cable network as “the enemy” during an interview Tuesday.
“It’s a big con job. And they are so bad for the country, so dangerous and so bad. And the media is so bad,” Trump said during a joint appearance on Fox News with tech billionaire Elon Musk and host Sean Hannity. “When I watch MSNBC — which I don’t watch much, but you have to watch the enemy on occasion — the level of … arrogance and cheating, they are just horrible people.”
Hannity agreed with Trump, saying, “They lie and tell conspiracy theories.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Appeals courts blocks Biden student debt relief plan
An appeals court ruled Tuesday to block former President Biden’s Saving on Valuable Education (SAVE) income-driven repayment plan that lowered monthly payments for some borrowers and quickened the pace of student debt relief for others.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of seven Republican-led states that argue the Department of Education under Biden exceeded its authority with the implementation of SAVE.
U.S. Circuit Judge L. Steven Grasz said in the decision the authority given to the Education secretary to “to create repayment plans means the Secretary must design ICR plans leading to actual repayment of the loans.”
“The Secretary has gone well beyond this authority by designing a plan where loans are largely forgiven rather than repaid,” Grasz wrote in a decision supported by two other Republican-appointed judges on the case.
Continue reading at The Hill
JFK grandson on presidential library closure: Government ‘using propaganda to steal the past’
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President Kennedy, spoke out against the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal workforce, which led to the recent closure of the presidential library and museum dedicated to the 35th president.
The “[Department of Government Efficiency] and the White House shut down the JFK library. Hey, it’s Jack, I’m OK, but our country is not. It’s under attack from its own government,” Schlossberg said in a Tuesday video posted to the social platform X.
“They are using propaganda to steal the past away from the American [people],” he continued. “In my opinion, it has nothing to do with government efficiency. The workers who were fired today actually bring in revenue for the government.”
Continue reading at The Hill
RFK Jr. eyes childhood vaccine schedule review, says ‘nothing off limits’ in HHS meeting
A new presidential commission will scrutinize the childhood vaccine schedule as a potential cause of the country’s chronic disease epidemic, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told HHS staff during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.
“Nothing is going to be off limits,” Kennedy added of his push to “Make America Healthy Again,” according to a video viewed by The Hill.
President Trump launched a new MAHA commission last week with an executive order and put Kennedy at its helm. The commission was tasked with developing a strategy around children’s health within the next six months.
Kennedy urged his new staff to drop any preconceived notions of who he is, but also said he wouldn’t stop asking “difficult questions” that have led to “a lot of unpopular conclusions.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Redfield backs Kennedy’s efforts on vaccines
The former CDC director calls for more vaccine research, and also warns that a bird flu pandemic “is coming” and could be worse than Covid.
Robert Redfield, who headed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the first Trump administration, supports Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts on vaccines.
Kennedy’s nomination and eventual confirmation as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services was complicated by his decades-old vaccine skepticism. And he has alienated many public health officials who fear he could discourage the public from getting routine vaccinations long proven safe.
But Redfield is fully supporting Kennedy — even after Kennedy refused to say vaccines do not cause autism during his confirmation hearing — and is now calling for more vaccine research, too.
“I’m in clinical practice two half days a week right now, and largely doing Covid and long Covid, and I have a number of patients that have very serious long term consequences from the mRNA vaccines,” Redfield said during POLITICO’s First 100 Days: Health Care event Wednesday. “Let’s get that systematically reviewed by the experts.”
Continue reading at Politico
Former Social Security chief rips DOGE ‘nitwits’
Former Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley slammed employees at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for its sweeping budget cuts and recent attempts at probes of federal agencies in an effort to reform executive spending.
“There is abuse going on, and it’s all been committed by the 19-year-old nitwits at DOGE who are empowered by the co-presidents Elon Musk and Donald Trump,” O’Malley, a recent contender for chair of the Democratic National Committee, said during a Tuesday appearance on CNN.
Musk has faced backlash for his role in the new agency, lauding cuts and employee dismissals in recent social media posts. The White House clarified Monday that the tech giant is not a part of DOGE but a senior adviser to the president.
Continue reading at The Hill
Senate confirms Kelly Loeffler to lead Small Business Administration
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) to lead the Small Business Administration (SBA), keeping up a frantic pace to cement President Trump’s team in place.
Senators voted 52-46 on Loeffler’s nomination.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump administration rescinds approval of New York’s congestion pricing plan
The Trump administration rescinded the Biden-era approval of New York’s plan to charge a $9 toll for drivers who want to enter part of Manhattan.
The move is a blow to officials in New York City and New York state, including Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who touted the toll program as reducing both traffic congestion and air pollution.
Some proponents also say the plan will have climate benefits.
Continue reading at The Hill
Wall Street frets as Trump policies stoke uncertainty
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that manufacturers are considerably less optimistic about future business conditions than they were a month ago.
Corporate America is generally enthusiastic about President Donald Trump’s new administration, but the unbridled expectations that powered the post-election surge in stocks and sentiment are starting to fade.
The breathtaking pace of Trump’s moves to drive up tariffs, curtail immigration, reduce the federal workforce and slash the budget — along with the subsequent reversals, court battles and mixed signals on future actions — has sparked uncertainty that could threaten investment and hiring, said David Kelly, chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
“Much has been said about the potential for the new administration’s policies to add to inflation pressures,” Kelly wrote in his weekly note. “Investors should also consider how these actions, and the uncertainty surrounding them, could slow economic growth.”
[…]
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Tuesday reported that manufacturers are considerably less optimistic about future business conditions than they were a month ago. Capital spending plans are “soft,” and there’s an expectation that supplies will contract in the coming months. The National Association of Home Builders monthly sentiment tracker fell sharply in February, with the group’s chair, Carl Harris, citing tariffs, cost factors and elevated interest rates as headwinds that forced a “reset” of expectations.
Continue reading at Politico
‘You would see lawsuits’: Susan Collins fires new warning shot at Trump on spending
The chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee is warning the president and his team not to claw back spending from Congress or face legal consequences.
The senior Republican senator negotiating a deal to avoid a government shutdown in less than one month says the Trump administration might be breaking the law — and flouting the U.S. Constitution.
As Elon Musk and the White House budget office seek to block spending that has already been approved by Congress, "I think it's pretty clear that this violates Article One of the Constitution," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in an interview.
Continue reading at Politico
How the world might retaliate against Elon Musk
By Felix Salmon
As the world seeks ways to retaliate against U.S. tariffs, so-called "first buddy" Elon Musk appears to be high on the list of targets.
Why it matters: Targeted retaliation is designed to give supporters of Donald Trump an incentive to try to persuade him to deescalate any trade war.
No Trump supporter is closer to the president than Musk.
Driving the news: China is slow-walking approval of Tesla's autonomous driving technology, the FT reported on Monday, with authorities seeking to use that approval "as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with Trump."
The White House, in response to state lawsuits, has said Musk has "no actual or formal authority" to make decisions himself.
The big picture: A key aspect of negotiating with Trump is being able to influence him directly.
It helps explain why a Brookings Institution analysis found that Chinese retaliatory tariffs will affect more than twice as many workers in counties that voted for Trump in 2024 as workers in counties that voted for Kamala Harris.
Continue reading at Axios
Cuts raise questions about science's future in U.S.
Cuts hit the National Science Foundation on Tuesday, the latest in a string of terminations at top U.S. science agencies that conduct or support climate research.
Why it matters: Fears are growing within the scientific community that arbitrary firings of government scientists will set back U.S. leadership in a slew of fields.
This includes climate research and weather forecasting, as well as public health, space exploration and basic research and development.
Zoom in: On Tuesday, 168 employees were dismissed at NSF, or about 10% of the agency's staff. This may be the start of a further curtailed budget and staff at that science funding agency.
"In an era driven by rapid scientific advancement, this action, along with the numerous other attacks on science from the Trump administration, will hinder innovation and threaten our nation's global competitiveness," Rep. Bill Foster, an Illinois Democrat and physicist, said in a post on Bluesky.
At NASA, according to media reports, probationary employees — mainly newer staff members, but also people who had transferred agencies or recently been promoted — were cut at offices nationwide, though some staff reductions may still be to come.
This may leave the aeronautics and space agency with "upwards of 1,000" fewer employees than it had on Monday, the Planetary Society said in a statement.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump's media group sues Brazilian judge after Bolsonaro indictment
President Trump's media group on Wednesday sued a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, alleging that he censored right-wing voices on social media platforms.
Why it matters: The lawsuit came just hours after charges against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, were sent to Brazil's highest court.
Driving the news: The Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social and Rumble, accused Judge Alexandre de Moraes of violating the free speech rights of U.S.-based conservative commentators, according to the lawsuit filed in a U.S. federal court in Tampa.
The plaintiffs argued that Moraes' orders to remove Rumble accounts amounted to censorship, and that the accounts would be "lawful" under U.S. law.
"The Gag Orders demand that Rumble, from its Florida-based headquarters and without any Brazil operations, enforce a universal ban on the targeted accounts—imposing a total blackout that extends even to U.S. users," the suit reads.
Truth Social — which relies on Rumble technology for cloud hosting, video streaming and other back-end services — risks "operational challenges" in the U.S. as a result, the suit argues.
Continue reading at Axios
Elon Musk looks beyond Washington toward Wisconsin
Not satisfied with massively remaking Washington, the tech mogul’s allies look to exert his influence in the states.
A group with ties to Elon Musk is pouring more than $1 million into Wisconsin’s upcoming Supreme Court race — a sign that even as Musk races to overhaul Washington, his influence extends beyond it.
Musk has directly boosted the Republican-backed candidate in the Wisconsin race on his powerful X platform. And a Republican-aligned group, Building America’s Future, is spending at least $1.5 million in the state, with ads set to start running later this week. Musk has donated to the group in the past, and it has backed some of President Donald Trump’s controversial Cabinet picks.
The new rush of money comes as Democrats put up strong performances in small-bore special elections since Trump took office. The high-stakes Wisconsin bellwether race will be the biggest test yet for both parties — and for Musk, who spent millions of dollars to help Trump win the election and is now looking to influence politics in the states. It’s officially a nonpartisan race, but the Supreme Court weighs in on major questions including redistricting, abortion and labor rights. Democrat-aligned Susan Crawford faces GOP-backed Brad Schimel, and the outcome will determine whether liberals or conservatives control the state’s highest court.
“It feels like a very clear sign that he knows what we know, which is that this is the most important election of the new Trump era,” said Yasmin Radjy, executive director of Swing Left, a Democratic-aligned group working on volunteer efforts targeting the Wisconsin race.
Continue reading at Politico
U.S. military tests nuclear missile in Southern California
If you were outside around 1 a.m. Wednesday on the West Coast, you may have seen or heard the U.S. military test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile.
A joint team of Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen and Vandenberg Space Force Base Guardians launched an unmanned Minuteman III ICBM equipped with a “single telemetered joint test assembly re-entry vehicle” from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, according to a media release from the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force.
Vandenberg serves as the primary testing ground for the Air Force Global Strike Command’s ICBM deterrent infrastructure. Wednesday morning’s test was part of what federal officials call “routine and periodic activities” that ensure the United States’ nuclear deterrent “remains safe, secure, reliable and effective in deterring 21st century threats and reassuring our allies.”
Continue reading at KTLA
5 Things To Know About The Overnight SoCal Nuclear Missile Test
President Donald Trump has the sole power to launch the 15,0000-mph missile when it's armed, according to the military.
CALIFORNIA — The U.S. Air Force launched an unarmed nuclear missile from Santa Barbara County early Wednesday morning.
Here are five things to know about the launch:
1. It Was A Routine Test
The launch of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base was part of a program to "demonstrate the readiness of U.S. nuclear forces and provide confidence in the lethality and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent," military officials said.
The 1 a.m. launch was similar to 300 other past launches and "not a response to current global events," according to the Air Force.
The military gave advance public notice of the launch last week. The last routine test took place on Nov. 5 from Vandenberg.
2. Its Destination Was 4,200 Miles Away
The missile was launched from Vandenberg and shot over the Pacific Ocean, where it traveled more than 4,200 miles to a test range in the Marshall Islands, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Continue reading at Patch.com
What to know about measles
As a measles outbreak causes dozens of illnesses in West Texas, it’s important to know how to identify signs of the illness – especially in young children.
Measles, one of the world’s most contagious infectious diseases, can cause serious complications – such as blindness, pneumonia or encephalitis, swelling of the brain – and even turn deadly, especially in children younger than 5.
Related articleWest Texas measles outbreak grows to 58 cases, including some people who said they were vaccinated
“About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people in the US with measles will be hospitalized, and as many as 1 in 20 children with measles will get pneumonia, which is the most common cause of death from measles in young children,” Dr. Melissa Stockwell, a professor of pediatrics at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, said in an email.
Overall, she said, it’s estimated that up to 3 out of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications.
Continue reading at CNN
United Nations denounces 'biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded' in Sudan • FRANCE 24 English
Macron to visit Washington next week, Waltz says
It comes on the heels of Trump’s escalating attacks on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
French President Emmanuel Macron is coming to Washington next week, national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Wednesday.
Macron called for an emergency “informal” meeting with world leaders just days ago in Paris to discuss European security and the challenges posed by President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump and Macron had a “friendly” but brief conversation just prior to the summit, POLITICO reported on Monday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also set to visit next week, Waltz said on Fox News. Starmer’s office confirmed the visit earlier this week.
This trip comes on the heels of Trump’s increasing jabs at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for not doing more to end the war in Ukraine earlier. Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” on Wednesday, as European leaders are growing fearful that Trump will side with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the interests of longtime European allies.
Continue reading at Politico
What is Zelensky’s actual approval rating in Ukraine?
“I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at a 4 percent approval rating,” the president said from his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort during the signing of several executive orders.
Recent polling of Zelensky’s approval rating does not match up with Trump’s claims; The Hill has reached out to the White House to comment on the discrepancy.
About 57 percent of Ukrainians trust the country’s president, according to a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) survey that was released Wednesday, while 37 percent don’t.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump’s America is Putin’s ally now
Europe and Ukraine are learning how little the U.S. cares, as the new president aligns himself with their greatest enemy.
LONDON — The thing about a war is it forces people to pick a side. And Donald Trump, it seems to many in Europe, is siding with Vladimir Putin.
Seven days of presidential interventions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have made real the nightmares of Ukrainians and many of their allies, upending the transatlantic relationship that has underpinned European security since 1945.
Europe’s politicians are beginning to grasp how profoundly their world has changed: They must now deal with an America that is at best skeptical and at worst hostile to the old world they represent.
If there were any lingering doubts about the extent of Trump’s willingness to make enemies in Europe, he ended it Tuesday night when he blamed Ukraine for having “started” the war with Russia. Such blatant defiance of the fact of Putin’s unprovoked invasion three years ago shocked even America’s most loyal friends in the region.
“Jesus,” one British government official said privately in response to the president’s outburst.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
55 percent say Musk has too much power in making decisions affecting US: Poll
A majority of voters say they think tech billionaire Elon Musk has too much power in making decisions that affect the country, according to a survey released Wednesday.
The Quinnipiac University poll, conducted four weeks into President Trump’s second term, 55 percent of self-identified registered voters say Musk has too much power, 36 percent say he has about the right amount and 3 percent say he has too little.
The results show a clear partisan divide: 96 percent of Democrats say Musk has too much power, compared to 56 percent of independents and 16 percent of Republicans.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump administration halts legal representation for 26,000 immigrant children
The Trump administration has halted a program that provided lawyers to nearly 26,000 immigrant children, some too young to read or speak, who are or were under the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
The children — about 4,000 of whom live in California — face deportation, and many don’t have parents or legal guardians in the country.
The Interior Department on Tuesday ordered the Acacia Center for Justice, which coordinates the federally funded program that paid the attorneys, “to stop work.” In its letter, the agency cited contracting rules to justify the program pause, but did not offer clear reasons why.
“The stop work order is being implemented due to causes outside of your control and should not be misconstrued as an indication of poor performance by your firm,” the letter said.
The departments of Interior and Health and Human Services, which oversees the Office of Refugee Resettlement, did not respond to a request for comment.
Continue reading at the Los Angeles Times
Group that defended undocumented migrants cuts dozens of attorneys and staff
Now, with Trump back in the White House after having promised during the campaign to unleash “the largest deportation operation in American history,” the cadre of attorneys at SPLC who amounted to a first line of legal defense for undocumented immigrants is no more.
This past summer, in a move that inflamed already raw tensions at the storied civil rights institution, the SPLC laid off all 35 staffers – 23 of them lawyers of various specialties – in its Immigrant Justice Project, former employees said. (SPLC confirmed that the program was terminated but declined to provide specific figures.) That immigration division, in the words of the organization, took on “cases that few private lawyers will accept, seeking systemic reforms and representing victims of injustice.” The layoff was part of a larger restructuring effort at the well-funded organization.
A CNN review of the work of SPLC’s immigration program found that it played a key role in holding ICE, privately run detention centers, and employers of undocumented immigrants accountable, particularly in the southeast region, which is home to some of the nation’s largest and most troubled detention facilities.
SPLC’s now-disbanded Immigrant Justice Project also had a large subsidiary unit – called the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative (known internally as “SIFI”) – that provided free legal representation to undocumented immigrants held in detention. That unit of immigration attorneys enabled hundreds of detainees to be released on bond while their immigration or asylum cases were tried, thereby enhancing their chances of success, former employees and SPLC officials told CNN.
Above all, immigration advocates say, the attorneys had a watchdog effect on a system of confinement that can be walled off from public view.
Continue reading at CNN
DOGE team's "wall of receipts" shows errors in tallying billions in savings
After repeated delays, the Department of Government Efficiency on Monday released a "wall of receipts" — what it characterized as documentation of the money saved by the slashing cuts to jobs and contracts pushed by Elon Musk's team at DOGE over the past several weeks.
The initial accounting was overstated by billions of dollars, a review by CBS News found.
Among the errors were contracts that DOGE identified for cuts, saying the move could save billions for taxpayers. But they were actually standard government funding vehicles called "indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity" contracts. The DOGE team misread these specialized contracts, experts told CBS News, and as a result overstated their push for savings by as much as $1.96 billion.
A closer inspection of another big so-called savings: the cancellation of a contract DOGE identified as worth $8 billion was in fact worth only $8 million. This single mistake slashed the receipts of savings DOGE said it had identified in half — to $8.4 billion.
That error involved an award for Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Equal Opportunity Employment Office, and the contract described the project as "Program and Technical Support Services for Office of Diversity and Civil Rights." In his first days in office, President Trump signed executive orders to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government.
Continue reading at CBS News
Elon’s DOGE Claimed It Saved $8 Billion. The Real Figure Was $8 Million.
Elon Musk's government "efficiency" initiative continues to be inefficient and stupid.
Despite recently claiming that it had already saved Americans $55 billion, the information on DOGE’s website only accounts for $16 billion, onlookers have noted. Worse, about half of those savings appear to have been attributable to an accounting error. Indeed, amongst the so-called “savings” that DOGE recently posted about on its site was an alleged $8 billion contract for a diversity program being operated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. However, the New York Times has now reported that the actual cost of the program was $8 million. In other words, it was a thousand times smaller than DOGE had initially claimed it was. The DOGE website was subsequently edited several times, in a series of comical, floundering changes, that sought to correct the record—but only after the discrepancy was reported by the press.
It appears that the original error may not have been DOGE’s, as the federal contracting database in which the diversity program appeared originally listed it as an $8 billion program. However, a savvy observer would have known this was an error, given the fact that most government agencies have budgets that are nearly equivalent to such a figure. DOGE appears to have duplicated the error on its site, before repeatedly editing the information. The New York Times breaks down DOGE’s subsequent website edits like so:
The DOGE website initially included a screenshot from the federal contracting database showing that the contract’s value was $8 million, even as the DOGE site listed $8 billion in savings. On Tuesday night, around the time this article was published, DOGE removed the screenshot that showed the mismatch, but continued to claim $8 billion in savings. It added a link to the original, outdated version of the contract worth $8 billion.
Continue reading at Gizmodo
West’s ‘crisis’ coalition grows as Trump rails against Zelenskyy
Forget about NATO and the EU. Western leaders are building a new diplomatic framework to deal with the White House’s alignment with Moscow.
PARIS — Forget NATO. Forget the EU.
A new coalition of nations is emerging to deal with the greatest security crisis to hit Europe in decades, as President Donald Trump on Wednesday squarely aligned U.S. interests with the Kremlin's by unleashing excoriating tirades against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he branded a "dictator."
The new grouping is made up of all the countries that once saw themselves as indefectible allies of the United States, but are now questioning the very foundations of that relationship as Washington embraces Russia and ramps up its attacks against NATO allies.
The group started taking shape this week in the wake of the Munich Security Conference when French President Emmanuel Macron invited a small number of like-minded countries to Paris on Monday to discuss the implications of Washington's embrace of Russia over Ukraine.
By Wednesday, that initial group — composed of the leaders of France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, plus the heads of NATO, the European Commission and Council — had more than doubled, widening to 19 nations including Canada. Non-EU countries such as Norway and Iceland attended as well.
Continue reading at Politico
Elon Musk expresses interest in sending out DOGE checks
The proposal calls for sending 20 percent of savings back to taxpayers.
Elon Musk said he will bring to President Donald Trump a proposal to send Americans rebate checks representing a portion of the money they save by slashing the federal government.
On Tuesday, Musk posted on X that he “will check with the president” on Azoria CEO and co-founder James Fishback’s idea to send out “DOGE dividend” checks. The plan calls for returning 20 percent of the savings generated by the Department of Government Efficiency back to taxpayers in the form of direct payments.
“We wanted to help make DOGE real for millions of Americans. They deserve a portion of the savings DOGE will deliver under President Trump’s leadership,” Fishback said.
Fishback, the founder of a self-styled “free thinking” investment firm, recently launched a fund backing companies that reject diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and has been a vocal supporter of Trump and Musk’s agenda.
Continue reading at Politico
Most in new poll say system of checks and balances not working well
Most in a new poll said the system of checks and balances in the U.S. government is not working well.
When asked about the functioning of “the system of checks and balances between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government,” 54 percent of registered voters in a Quinnipiac University poll described it as doing “not so well” and “not well at all.”
Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed described the system of checks and balances as functioning “very well” and “somewhat well.”
Continue reading at The Hill
8 in 10 say Putin should not be trusted: Survey
The vast majority of American voters think the U.S. should not trust Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a new poll, as the Trump administration attempts to broker a peace deal to end the deadly years-long conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The Quinnipiac University Poll released Wednesday found 81 percent of respondents said Putin should not be trusted, including 73 percent of Republicans surveyed and 93 percent of Democrats.
Just 9 percent of the voters surveyed said Putin, a former KGB officer who has been in power in Russia for decades, should be trusted.
Continue reading at The Hill
Target retreated on DEI. Then came the backlash
Almost a month after Target said it was ending some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, the company is facing backlash from customers, the heirs to one of its founders and civil rights activists.
On January 24, days into the Trump presidency, Target announced it was eliminating hiring goals for minority employees, ending an executive committee focused on racial justice and making other changes to its diversity initiatives. Target said it had a new strategy called “Belonging at the Bullseye,” which it first introduced last year, and the company remained committed to “creating a sense of belonging for our team, guests and communities.” Target also stressed the need for “staying in step with the evolving external landscape.”
Target is one of dozens of Fortune 500 companies that have backtracked on DEIin response to conservative court decisions, pressure from activists and right-wing legal groups, and, more recently, the Trump administration’s threats to investigate what it characterizes as “illegal DEI,” including potential criminal cases against companies.
Continue reading at CNN
EU ready to negotiate on car tariffs with Trump, trade commissioner says
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said the bloc is “ready to discuss” reducing its 10 percent tariff as part of broader negotiations.
The European Union is prepared to talk with the United States about reducing its 10 percent tariff on cars as part of a broader negotiation aimed at avoiding a transatlantic trade war, a top European Union official said Wednesday.
“This would be something we are ready to discuss,” EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said at an event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., just before he was scheduled to meet with top Trump administration officials.
Šefčovič also said the EU is prepared to consider a much bigger deal with Trump that could potentially include tech regulatory issues and certain non-trade concerns, such as EU member states increasing their spending on defense.
“I know that President Trump is a big dealmaker, and there was an idea to have a kind of impressive ‘Grand Bargain’ package. So let’s discuss all these things … because I am a true believer in the transatlantic relationship,” Šefčovič said.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Judge says Trump administration made a ‘mess’ of plans for overseas USAID workers
The judge said the Trump administration’s latest statement contradicted a “crystal clear” understanding about how overseas government workers would be treated.
A federal judge on Wednesday said the Trump administration had created a “mess” for overseas employees in the U.S. Agency for International Development by appearing to contradict its plans for those who opt to remain abroad rather than return to the United States amid efforts to dismantle the agency.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols noted that Peter Marocco, the Trump appointee leading day-to-day operations at USAID, said in a Feb. 10 sworn statement that employees overseas would be given a “choice” and “option” to remain at their overseas posts and be entitled to their existing benefits, even after being placed on paid administrative leave.
But in a follow-up statement to the court on Feb. 14, Marocco appeared to change his tune. Rather than casting it as a choice, Marocco said an employee “who is directed to depart post and fails to do so” would no longer be “officially stationed overseas” and could lose access to benefits afforded to foreign service workers.
“This is a mess,” Nichols, a Trump appointee, said during a telephone hearing Wednesday. He suggested Marocco’s latest statement contradicted the “crystal clear” understanding from earlier court proceedings about how overseas government workers would be treated.
Continue reading at Politico
Judge signals he’s taking time to decide on dropping Adams charges
Judge Dale Ho said at the conclusion of the hearing that he didn’t want to “shoot from the hip” and make a ruling right from the bench, wanting to take into account what he heard from Adams and acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who directed that the case be dropped.
But he indicated that he also doesn’t want the case to continue indefinitely, though he didn’t indicate when he might issue a ruling.
Continue reading at The Hill
Judge homes in on DOGE staffer duties in privacy lawsuit
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman questioned the Justice Department over the specific “purposes or tasks” assigned to DOGE workers, attempting to determine whether their far-reaching access is warranted.
“This is so new — I don’t know what the DOGE people’s purposes or tasks are,” Boardman said. “I’m trying to figure that out.”
President Trump established DOGE in a Jan. 20 executive order. Though billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk is said to be leading its sweeping cost-cutting efforts, the White House said in court filings that Musk is technically not part of DOGE, instead serving as a senior advisor to the president.
Emily Hall, a Justice Department lawyer, contended that Trump’s order directing DOGE to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity” essentially amounts to a job description.
Continue reading at the Hill
Trump’s IVF order: Democrats allege ‘PR stunt’ as anti-abortion groups bristle
Trump issued an executive order Tuesday directing the assistant to the president for domestic policy to give him a list of policy recommendations on protecting IVF access and “aggressively” lowering out-of-pocket and health plan costs for the procedure.
Democrats called on him to do more, perhaps looking to call his bluff.
“If he is actually serious about taking real action to accomplish his own campaign promise to make IVF free for everyone, there’s a simple way he can prove it: He can call on Senate Republicans to immediately back my Right to IVF Act that would require insurance plans to cover IVF,” said Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) in a statement.
“Otherwise, it’s all just lip-service from a known liar.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Over 3,500 IRS employees in one division expected to be terminated by end of week
Over 3,500 Internal Revenue Service employees are expected to be terminated by the end of this week, according to the text of an email obtained by CBS News and shared by an IRS employee.
The email was sent to managers of the IRS Small Business/Self-Employed Division Wednesday, and it says that the affected SBSE employees will be notified Thursday by the IRS Human Capital Office.
Continue reading at CBS News
Trump targets U.S. Institute of Peace and other federal boards
President Trump plans to sign an executive order on Wednesday to eliminate, or dramatically diminish, a handful of federal advisory committees, according to administration officials.
Why it matters: The executive order, which the president plans to sign on Air Force One, will target organizations like the United States Institute of Peace and the Inter-American Foundation.
The order is similar to his assertion Tuesday night that he has direct authority over boards and commissions like the FDIC, SEC and CFTC.
The move will mark Trump's latest assault on a federal bureaucracy that he is convinced is hostile to his agenda.
Like he has with Elon Musk's DOGE effort, Trump will also cite his concerns about the millions of dollars some of the committees cost taxpayers, officials said.
Driving the news: Trump will also require his Cabinet to scrub their departments and submit a list of additional committees and boards for termination within 30 days.
Continue reading at Axios
Fed says Trump trade, immigration stance might "hinder" lower inflation
Federal Reserve officials said shifts in trade and immigration policy are among the factors that could derail inflation progress, according to minutes from the central bank's latest policy meeting released on Wednesday.
Why it matters: After two years fighting inflation, progress on cooling prices has stalled. The policies at the heart of President Trump's economic agenda — high tariffs and a crackdown on undocumented immigration — could risk a more bleak inflation outlook.
What they're saying: At the Fed's policy meeting, held Jan. 28-29, some officials called out factors that have "the potential to hinder the disinflation process, including the effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy, as well as strong consumer demand," the minutes show.
The minutes acknowledge that a number of businesses had indicated to some Fed officials that they "would attempt to pass on to consumers higher input costs arising from potential tariffs."
The big picture: President Trump has threatened (and in the case of China, put into place) across-the-board tariffs on imports from countries the administration determines has unfair trade practices.
Continue reading at Axios
USAID contractors ask judge to hold Trump admin in civil contempt for violating order to lift spending freeze
A coalition of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contractors and nonprofits who claim President Trump’s executive order to freeze foreign aid could irreparably harm their operations have asked a federal judge to hold the Trump administration in civil contempt.
The request comes after the administration said in court filings that it is not paying out funds for thousands of foreign aid grants and contracts despite the judge’s order to lift the sweeping freeze.
“This Court should not brook such brazen defiance of the express terms of its order,” wrote Lauren Bateman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
Continue reading at The Hill
DHS fires roughly 400 probationary employees
The Department of Homeland Security has fired approximately 400 probationary employees across the department, pledging to remove more.
The firings came after the Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to fire probationary employees, typically those who have been on the job for up to one year.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making sweeping cuts and reform across the federal government to eliminate egregious waste and incompetence that has been happening for decades at the expense of the American taxpayer. Today’s Department of Homeland Security personnel action will result in roughly $50 million in savings for American taxpayers and incalculable value toward accountability and cutting red tape,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
“DHS component leads identified non-mission critical personnel in probationary status. We are actively identifying other wasteful positions and offices that do not fulfill DHS’ mission.”
The $50 million in savings is just a fraction — 0.16 percent — of FEMA’s total $29.5 billion budget.
Continue reading at The Hill
Musk’s DOGE, SpaceX both land at FAA
DOGE plans to expand its footprint at the agency as they work on solutions that “keep the airspace open and safe,” according to the email.
The cost-cutters from Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency have arrived at the Federal Aviation Administration and visited its air traffic control facilities over the weekend, according to an email obtained by POLITICO — just days after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said people from Musk’s for-profit space company SpaceX were doing the same.
DOGE plans to expand its footprint at the agency as they work on solutions that “keep the airspace open and safe,” according to the email from FAA acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau to employees sent Wednesday. It says DOGE and teams of “special government employees” will be looking to solve challenges, add more tools and support the safe operation of the national aviation system.
Rocheleau’s email did not explain whether DOGE’s personnel would be working or communicating with SpaceX’s employees, who Duffy has said are also looking for ways to improve the air traffic control system.
The email doesn’t explain what systems or processes are being examined, how these teams propose to solve problems they encounter or who will be doing the examining — though previously Duffy posted to social media that SpaceX engineers would be touring a Virginia air traffic control facility last weekend to help “envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system.”
Continue reading at Politico
Trump floats using DOGE savings to pay Americans, pay down debt
Trump addressed attendees at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute gathering in Miami, where he touted efforts led by Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to root out “government waste, fraud and abuse.”
“There’s even under consideration a new concept where we give 20 percent of the DOGE savings to American citizens, and 20 percent goes to paying down debt, because the numbers are incredible,” Trump said.
DOGE, which is not a formal government agency, claimed earlier this week that it had identified spending cuts that amounted to $55 billion in savings. But it’s not clear where all of those savings have come from. DOGE posted on its website a list of federal contracts it said it had canceled, but those contracts total about $8.6 billion** in savings, according to ABC News.
Continue reading at The Hill
**Note from Rima: This must be an error. CBS News, Gizmodo and others are reporting that the contracts total $8.6 million and not billion. See clipped articles above.
Also see: Musk says he'd look into DOGE stimulus checks
Trump Slams Lindsey Graham Budget Bill, Setting Off Chaotic Fight
Donald Trump felt his goals weren’t represented in Graham’s bill.
Lawmakers were taken aback Wednesday by the president’s clear stance on budget negotiations, seemingly shocked that Donald Trump had endorsed a House GOP bill that prioritizes his agenda over the Senate’s alternative resolution.
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump directly called out Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham for daring to tackle the president’s ambitious 2017 tax plan extension in a separate bill.
“The House and Senate are doing a SPECTACULAR job of working together as one unified, and unbeatable, TEAM, however, unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!” Trump posted. “We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to ‘kickstart’ the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.’”
“It will, without question, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he added.
With the House in recess, Senate Republican leadership took the lead on drafting a potential salve—though it was apparently slimmer than Trump had hoped.
Continue reading at The New Republic
Key GOP votes withhold support from House plan despite Trump’s backing
Three key House moderates told The Hill on Wednesday that they are still not on board with the chamber’s budget resolution, even after President Trump endorsed it earlier in the day.
Reps. David Valadao (R-Calif.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said they still have concerns about potential cuts to Medicaid, which some GOP lawmakers are eyeing to pay for the cost of tax cuts and other provisions in the massive package.
It’s a concerning sign for GOP leaders as they try to corral the conference around the measure ahead of next week’s vote. Republicans can only afford to lose one vote if all members are present and the entire Democratic caucus votes “no,” which is expected.
“I’m leaning no on the resolution as-is, minus getting clarity on my concerns,” Malliotakis said shortly after Trump endorsed the House GOP’s single-bill plan over a rival Senate GOP two-bill plan.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump administration nixes legal representation for thousands of migrant children
The Trump administration has issued a stop-work order to a firm that provides legal representation to thousands of unaccompanied migrant children.
In a memo, obtained by The Hill, the Department of the Interior informed the Acacia Center for Justice that “the Government hereby directs your firm to stop all work associated with the scope of Contract 140D0422C0009,” which provides “Legal Services for Unaccompanied Children.”
The letter also directed Acacia to “cease all services and the ordering of supplies” and to immediately inform subcontractors of the stop-work order.
The Department of the Interior did not cite a specific reason for the order but said it was “being implemented due to causes outside of your control and should not be misconstrued as an indication of poor performance by your firm.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump says he plans to meet with some Democrats next week
President Trump said Wednesday he will meet with Democrats next week for lunch, though it was not immediately clear who would be invited.
[…]
One of the few Democrats who has shown a willingness to speak with Trump is Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who met with the president at Mar-a-Lago prior to Inauguration Day.
Continue reading at The Hill
Senate Commerce Committee still weighing whether to give Ted Cruz broad subpoena authority
Even Republicans might have concerns about giving Sen. Ted Cruz too much power in his new role as Commerce Committee chair.
After nearly a month of uncertainty, GOP members of the Senate Commerce Committee met last week to discuss whether to give their chair unilateral authority to haul Big Tech CEOs before the panel, according to two people familiar with the private meeting.
Sen. Ted Cruz’s bid for broad subpoena powers has predictably frustrated Democrats, who fear it could undermine the committee’s tradition of bipartisanship. The Trump administration also made a surprise play to stop the Texas lawmaker from moving forward with his plans, anxious about his plans to go after industry with which many top government officials are quite cozy.
But one person, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the situation, indicated there is consternation even among some Republicans about giving their colleague so much control.
“There were a variety of opinions,” the person said. “It was to take input.”
Continue reading at Politico
Republicans in Hispanic-heavy districts push Johnson not to slash Medicaid or SNAP
Eight House Republicans sent a letter to the speaker Wednesday, escalating concerns as Mike Johnson pushes for a vote on his budget plan next week.
Eight House Republicans who are members of the Hispanic conference or represent large Hispanic populations are publicly pressing Speaker Mike Johnson to not slash Medicaid, food assistance and Pell Grants in his budget plan.
The group’s new letter to Johnson Wednesday is a serious escalation of private concerns lawmakers have been airing in recent days. House GOP leaders are pressing for rank-and-file lawmakers to back the latest budget plan on the House floor next week — the next step to unlock their massive, party-line bill that spans energy, border and tax policy.
GOP Reps. Tony Gonzales (Texas), Monica De La Cruz (Texas), David Valadao (Calif.), Juan Ciscomani (Ariz.) Rob Bresnahan (Pa.), Nicole Malliotakis (N.Y.), along with Dels. James Moylan of Guam and Kimberlyn King-Hinds of the Northern Mariana Islands, sent the letter to Johnson Wednesday. That means six voting members are further complicating Johnson’s plans.
Continue reading at Politico
IRS layoffs expected to begin tomorrow, union official says
The DOGE-driven job cuts are coming in the midst of the tax filing season, and some tax industry professionals fear disruptions.
The IRS is expected to begin laying off employees tomorrow as part of the job cuts slicing through the federal government, a union official told workers Wednesday.
Though it could potentially disrupt tax-filing season, Shannon Ellis, a local union official, said in a video message that an indeterminate number of newer hires at the agency’s Kansas City facility will be let go.
Layoffs are also expected at other IRS facilities.
“We received notification today that employees in SB/SE who are on probation are scheduled for termination,” she said in a video message, referring to the agency’s Small Business/Self Employed Division.
Continue reading at Politico
Thousands of layoffs expected to start hitting the IRS on Thursday
The DOGE-driven job cuts are coming in the midst of the tax filing season, and some tax industry professionals fear disruptions.
The IRS intends to begin laying off 6,000 employees, starting Thursday, as part of the job cuts slicing through the federal government.
Though it comes in the thick of tax-filing season, managers across the tax agency have been alerted to cuts targeting newer hires. That means people who have been in their jobs for less than one year or, in some cases, two years, depending on their position.
The reductions are expected to disproportionately hit those working in enforcement, partly because they represent a large share of those recently brought on board, which could hurt tax collections. The agency is also wary of reducing taxpayer-service personnel as millions of Americans started filing their taxes last month, and will continue to do so through April 15.
It’s unclear whether there will be additional waves of layoffs, a person familiar with the agency’s plans said.
In a video message to employees at the agency’s Kansas City facility, a union official said an indeterminate number of people there will be let go.
Continue reading at Politico
Commerce Secretary Lutnick: Trump's goal is to abolish the IRS
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday evening President Trump's goal is to "abolish" the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The big picture: Lutnick's remarks on Fox News, which come as the IRS is reportedly poised to lay off thousands of workers, build on a pledge Trump made to create an "External Revenue Service" to oversee tariffs and other potential foreign revenue.
Driving the news: Lutnick said on Jesse Watters Primetime that Elon Musk, in his capacity as a senior White House adviser leading DOGE, was "going to cut" $1 trillion "and then we're going to get rid of all these tax scams that hammer against America, and we're going to raise a trillion dollars of revenue."
Continue reading at Axios
Musk underwater in public opinion, 2 polls show
Both Quinnipiac and Pew Research Center reported a majority of voters hold an unfavorable view of Musk’s role in the Trump administration.
Elon Musk is underwater in public opinion, according to polls published Wednesday.
The surveys by Quinnipiac University and Pew Research Center show that a majority of Americans have an unfavorable view of President Donald Trump’s senior adviser — and the richest man in the world.
Pew’s findings put Musk 12 points under, with 54 percent of respondents reporting an unfavorable view of the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, compared to 42 percent with a favorable view. More specifically, 36 percent reported a very unfavorable view of Musk, and 11% reported a very favorable opinion.
[…]
Quinnipiac’s poll results Monday paint a similar picture, but with different questions. 55 percent of voters polled believe Musk has too big a role in the government, compared to 36 percent who think he’s got just enough power and a small minority of 3 percent who said they think he has too little power. This also breaks down by party lines, with 78 percent of Republicans surveyed saying Musk’s power is just right versus 96 percent of Democrats who said they think he has too much.
Continue reading at Politico
Note from Rima: Anytime you see […], it means that there is a break in the text quoted.
FEMA email: Firings will affect ‘majority of our staff’
After firing 200 probationary employees this weekend, FEMA was directed “to make a list” of anyone who worked on climate or equity.
The Trump administration is laying the groundwork to fire Federal Emergency Management Agency staff who have worked on addressing climate change or promoting equity and diversity, according to interviews and emails obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News — on top of the hundreds of probationary employees it removed during Presidents Day weekend.
The already-strapped disaster agency is being directed to “come up with employee reductions far beyond the probationary list,” a top FEMA official wrote in an internal email sent recently to senior agency staff.
Continue reading at Politico
Russia rejoices as Trump goes full Kremlin
“He understands our position,” beams Moscow’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov.
Champagne corks were popping in Moscow after U.S. President Donald Trump verbally flogged Ukraine and its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday.
Russian officials delighted publicly at Trump’s attacks on Zelenskyy, relishing America’s about-turn in what had previously been a close relationship with Kyiv as Ukraine attempts to fend off Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s yearslong full-scale invasion.
[…]
“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump warned, accusing the Ukraine leader of “talking” the U.S. into spending billions to support its defense.
The Kremlin seemed barely to believe its luck, as Trump was essentially parroting many of Moscow’s talking points about Ukraine.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council and the country’s former president, endorsed Trump’s anti-Ukraine tirade: “If you’d told me just three months ago that these were the words of the U.S. president, I would have laughed out loud. @realDonaldTrump is 200 percent right. Bankrupt clown … ”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Trump’s Zelenskyy tirade proves too much for European leaders to stomach
Opposition builds against U.S. president for embracing Russian narrative on Ukraine war.
European leaders have tried to avoid getting into arguments with U.S. President Donald Trump since his reelection. That approach is being tested following his verbal attack on Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The U.K. and EU countries, save for a few stragglers, have been united in their military, financial and rhetorical support of Ukraine and its leader since Russian tanks rolled over the border three years ago. There’s no sign that will change, even if it now means confrontation with Trump, who is embracing Russia, berating Zelenskyy and trying to force him to hold an election.
“It is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelenskyy’s democratic legitimacy,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday night.
While Scholz didn’t call out the U.S. leader by name, there’s no doubt who he was slapping down when he said: “Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the elected head of state of Ukraine. The inability to hold regular elections in the midst of war is in line with the Ukrainian constitution and electoral laws. No one should claim otherwise.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has had almost nothing but warm words for Trump since he reentered the White House, to try keep the so-called special relationship alive.
But Ukraine is something of a red line. Starmer called Zelenskyy on Wednesday night and, according to a readout released by Downing Street, told the Ukrainian president that he supports him “as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader and said that it was perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during war time as the U.K. did during World War II.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Trudeau: ‘Canada will always stand up for Ukraine’
In video remarks posted to social media, Trudeau made clear that “Canada and our allies” are united in support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Canada and our allies are unequivocal on standing up against Vladimir Putin’s illegal, immoral, unjust violations of the international order,” Trudeau said in his remarks.
“I’m looking forward to sitting down with my European partners in a couple of hours to talk about how we will continue to stand, unequivocally, in defense of Ukraine, but also in defense of the rules that keep us all safe,” he continued.
Trudeau fiercely defended the “rules-based order” that he said has kept the world safe for the last near-century.
Continue reading at The Hill
Jeffries' plan to dampen Trump's first big speech
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is telling his members to bring guests to President Trump's address to Congress next month who have been negatively impacted by the administration, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The March 4 address will be the first Trump has given to Congress since taking office — and it could make or break is efforts to pass a major fiscal package.
Trump is encountering early headwinds as some in his party bristle at DOGE's efforts to upend the federal government and at his recent comments on Ukraine.
With a roughly one-seat margin in the House, he will have little room for error.
Driving the news: On a virtual caucus call on Wednesday, swing-district Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) asked for messaging guidance for the speech, according to three members who were on the call.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump supports House budget plan that could cut Medicaid
President Trump expressed his support Wednesday for the House budget strategy to pass a single bill that combines all his priorities, which may require pairing down Medicaid, a service that provides health care for millions of Americans.
“The House and Senate are doing a SPECTACULAR job of working together as one unified, and unbeatable, TEAM, however, unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social.
“We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to ‘kickstart’ the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.’ It will, without question, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump’s endorsement comes less than a day after he said he would leave some social safety net programs including Medicaid intact during an interview with Fox News.
Continue reading the Health Newsletter at The Hill
Andrew Cuomo supporter prepares reception ahead of likely mayoral bid
A “save the date” notice for a March 4 event is being planned for the ex-governor as he weighs a run for mayor.
NEW YORK — Supporters of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo are mobilizing to boost him as he prepares to run for New York City mayor.
Charles Myers, an investment banker and consultant, sent a “save the date” invitation for a March 4 Manhattan event billed as a “reception” for the former governor — the clearest indication yet Cuomo is readying a mayoral bid.
Continue reading at Politico
Note from Rima for New York-based readers. Politico has a section dedicated to all things New York.
Another Adams is being recruited to run for NYC mayor in attempt to thwart Andrew Cuomo
Power players like Attorney General Letitia James believe the New York City Council speaker could block a Cuomo victory.
NEW YORK — New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams was on her way to a quiet retirement. Now the low-key politician is being drafted to run for mayor in a last-ditch effort by some of the state’s biggest political power players to block former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The possible late entrance into the race to oust the indicted Eric Adams speaks to the depth of frustration and anxiety New Yorkers are feeling about their choices.
The effort to recruit the 64-year-old council speaker, a Black woman from Queens who bears no relation to Mayor Eric Adams, is picking up steam. As POLITICO first reported, Attorney General Letitia James — a Democrat who has warred with Cuomo — is among those making phone calls promoting the council speaker’s potential candidacy, according to nine people familiar with the outreach.
James declined to comment, as did Adrienne Adams.
Continue reading at Politico
Senate GOP dismayed by Trump, Zelensky war of words
Trump’s escalating war of words with the Ukrainian leader comes as hawks in both parties plead with the president not to give Moscow a free pass in talks to end the bitter three-year conflict.
“I’m concerned with anything that would ultimately allow there to be a moral equivalency between Zelensky and Putin,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who visited Ukraine alongside a pair of Senate Democrats over the weekend and toured parts of suburban Kyiv that have been ravaged by fighting.
He also pushed back on Trump’s criticism of Zelensky on Wednesday, when he took to Truth Social and called the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections” who was doing a “terrible job.”
“Zelensky is frustrated, but he’s also been the right head of state for the time. He’s kept a nation together focused on Russian occupiers, and I think we should give them a fair amount of credit for that work,” Tillis said.
Continue reading at The Hill
Senior Pentagon official acknowledges budget cuts under consideration
A senior Pentagon official on Wednesday acknowledged the agency was considering major budget cuts to the tune of 8 percent every year for the next five years.
In a statement, Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses said the cuts were being conceived to pay for other Trump administration defense priorities, including a desired “Iron Dome for America” missile defense system and border security.
He added that DOD looks to “cease unnecessary spending that set our military back” such as on climate change programs and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
“The Department will develop a list of potential offsets that could be used to fund these priorities, as well as to refocus the Department on its core mission of deterring and winning wars,” Salesses said. “The offsets are targeted at 8% of the Biden Administration’s FY26 budget, totaling around $50 billion.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Pentagon ordered to make $50B in budget cuts to spend on Trump priorities
Why it matters: The review to identify offsets from the Biden administration's FY26 budget is set to overhaul Defense Department priorities, with a Pentagon official noting its mandate is border security, ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and building Trump's planned Iron Dome missile defense shield.
By the numbers: Robert Salesses, performing the duties of the deputy defense secretary, said these offsets are targeted at 8% (about $50 billion) of the Biden administration's budget, "which will then be spent on programs aligned" with Trump's priorities.
What they're saying: "The Department of Defense is conducting this review to ensure we are making the best use of the taxpayers' dollars in a way that delivers on the President Trump's defense priorities efficiently and effectively," Salesses said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
"Through our budgets, the Department of Defense will once again resource warfighting and cease unnecessary spending that set our military back under the previous administration, including through so-called 'climate change' and other woke programs, as well as excessi
Continue reading at Axios
Rahm Emanuel: Trump helping achieve Stalin’s dream with Russia-Ukraine comments
Emanuel joined Tuesday’s “Hooks on Tap” podcast with Democratic strategists David Axelrod and Mike Murphy to discuss Trump’s handling of peace talks and the concern spreading through Europe as he blames the war on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Murphy argued that Russians are currently doing “funny dances” because they are happy that Secretary of State Marco Rubio engaged in negotiations with Russia while Ukraine was largely sidelined in recent days.
“Their number one goal since the … second World War is to split up NATO and screw up the Atlantic alliance, which of course Trump is a huge asset for,” Murphy said.
Emanuel interjected and agreed with Murphy.
“Since Joseph Stalin, that has been the singular goal, and an American president achieved Joseph Stalin’s wet dream,” he said.
Continue reading at The Hill
What to know about Trump's executive order on IVF
Why it matters: The order shows the issue is still on the president's radar. It also could reopen a debate within his party over how expanding access to IVF squares with some anti-abortion advocates' beliefs.
Trump on Tuesday ordered his domestic policy assistant to make recommendations by mid-May to reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment.
Trump has "long advocated for more babies and expanding American families," a White House fact sheet on the order notes, while adding the U.S. fertility rate hit a historic low.
The announcement somewhat renews a GOP-led focus on declining birth rates in the U.S., though it's far from clear that more IVF would solve that problem.
State of play: The order doesn't address Trump's campaign promise to mandate that the government or insurance companies cover the cost of IVF for "all Americans that need it." But making the government pay for IVF would be costly.
Continue reading at Axios
The math questions behind DOGE's $55 billion savings claim
The Elon Musk-led DOGE's latest update on an accounting of its cost-cutting measures to date raises more questions than answers: It didn't take long before at least one major error was identified in its receipts.
Why it matters: There is uncertainty about the accuracy of the self-reported audit that could, in theory, make DOGE's moves across the federal government more transparent.
There are already concerns about the agency's access to databases and private data typically reserved for career staffers.
The big picture: The DOGE website said it canceled a contract for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency — for "program and technical support for the office of diversity and civil rights" — that was purportedly worth $8 billion.
That is a big contract that alone would all but use up ICE's $9 billion budget.
The contract was actually worth $8 million, as the New York Times and other publications have pointed out.
The intrigue: DOGE claims that its "total estimated savings" to date are roughly $55 billion. But there are questions about whether that sum is inflated. Bloomberg says the website lists $16.6 billion in savings.
Continue reading at Axios
HHS redefines sex as "immutable" in new guidance
The Department of Health and Human Services will define sex as an "immutable biological classification" and only recognize males and females, officials said on Wednesday.
Why it matters: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his first full day on the job released guidance building on on President Trump's executive order seeking to stop recognizing the concept of gender identity.
State of play: The guidance included definitions HHS will use, including defining "father" as a male parent and "mother" as a female parent.
The definition of female is "a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova)," while a male is "a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm."
A woman is "an adult human female," and a man is "an adult human male."
Reality check: There are about 1.6 million people older than age 13 that identify as transgender in the United States.
Continue reading at Axios
Why the White House insists Elon Musk is merely an ‘employee’
Elon Musk is all over X, and in the Oval Office, touting the DOGE revamp of the government. The White House is downplaying his power.
It’s the Elon Musk paradox.
On X, he’s a noble gladiator with a mission direct from President Donald Trump. He brags at length about using his “Department of Government Efficiency” to dismantle federal bureaucracies, cancel taxpayer-funded programs and transform Washington’s institutions.
But in court — and increasingly in public messaging — the White House claims he’s really just a run-of-the-mill adviser. Musk is an “employee” with no direct connection to the DOGE operation and no decision-making power, a White House official swore this week in response to one of the many lawsuits challenging what Musk and DOGE are doing.
Officially downplaying Musk’s authority — even as the ultra-wealthy CEO himself amplifies it — may have both legal and political benefits. After all, Musk’s consolidation of power might not just run afoul of the Constitution; it also could undermine some of the populist rhetoric that propelled Trump to victory in 2024.
The political pitfalls are already emerging in a new poll out Wednesday that shows 55 percent of voters think Musk has accumulated too much power.
Continue reading at Politico
The view from abroad
Baltic region prepares for war as Russia and US debate Ukraine's fate
As Russia and the US debate Ukraine’s future, countries on the Baltic Sea are ramping up preparations for a military conflict amid fears that Russia is preparing for a future war with NATO.
As Russia and the US held talks in Saudi Arabia this week over the future of the conflict in Ukraine, countries on the Baltic Sea released a flurry of intelligence reports warning of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans to expand military conflict further into Europe.
Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service warned that Russia is expanding its armed forces in a way that “prepares for a potential future war with NATO”. Danish intelligence, meanwhile, have forecast that Russia would be ready to wage a "large-scale war" in Europe within five years, if it perceived NATO as weak.
A weakening of the trans-Atlantic alliance now feels inevitable. Following a withering attack on Europe delivered by US Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference last week, and Russia-US talks on Ukraine in Saudi Arabia this week, rumours swirled that the US under new President Donald Trump planned to pull its NATO troops from the Baltic States.
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are all former Soviet States and share a land border with Russia.
“There is a feeling that, if the trans-Atlantic bridge is not falling apart, it has been seriously damaged,” says Dr. Māris Andžāns, director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies Riga, Latvia. “Biden travelled to Kyiv during the war and now Trump is ready to travel to Moscow. It’s quite a turn-around.”
‘Large-scale war’?
The Nordic-Baltic 8 (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden) have been some of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters since the full-scale Russian invasion began in 2022.
Continue reading at France 24 in English
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