It’s Thursday. Happy almost Mardi Gras weekend! 💚👑💜. Today’s forecast in DC: ⛅ 57° (Find your weather here).
In today’s edition: |
- 🚨 AG Bondi may release the Jeffrey Epstein list
- Senate GOP vents Elon Musk frustrations
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Canada, Mexico tariffs set for March 4
- Gene Hackman, Michelle Trachtenberg die
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Keep an eye out for potential Jeffrey Epstein news today: |
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Oh, to be a fly on the wall:
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Republican senators had a private meeting with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday where they vented their frustrations about tech billionaire Elon Musk’s aggressive approach to gutting the federal government. “Every day’s another surprise,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said, calling his strategy a “sledgehammer approach.”
Another senator is worried about how Musk’s funding freezes and firings have impacted their constituents.
Not helping things: Musk dominated President Trump’s first Cabinet meeting Wednesday despite not actually being a part of his Cabinet. At one point, Trump cut in and told Musk, “Elon, let the Cabinet speak just a second,” before turning to the rest of the room to ask, “Is anyone unhappy with Elon? If so, we’ll throw them out right now. Is anybody unhappy?”
Read Alexander Bolton’s reporting on Republicans’ venting session: ‘GOP senators vent Musk frustrations at closed-door meeting’ |
➤ HOW ARE DOGE’S CUTS ACTUALLY MEASURED?: |
Musk’s team has posted a “wall of receipts” online to publicly display for the federal government cuts.
^ Yes, but: This list included several errors that were pointed out by news outlets. Subsequently, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has deleted the five biggest “savings” on that list.
An example of an error: “Three $655 million cuts at the U.S. Agency for International Development. This was actually a single cut that was erroneously counted three times, as first reported by CBS News. That mistake also seemed to reflect a misunderstanding of the way government contracts work; they sometimes have ‘ceiling values’ far in excess of what will be spent,” The New York Times wrote.
Why this matters: “The ‘wall of receipts’ is the only public ledger the organization has produced to document its work. The scale of that ledger’s errors — and the misunderstandings and poor quality control that seemed to underlie them — has raised questions about the effort’s broader work, which has led to mass firings and cutbacks across the federal government.” Read more: ‘DOGE Quietly Deletes the 5 Biggest Spending Cuts It Celebrated Last Week’ |
➤ WHO’S ON MUSK’S DOGE TEAM?: |
Wow, this month went by quickly:
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Remember how President Trump delayed threatened Feb. 1 tariffs against Canada and Mexico for a month? Well, that month is almost over. Trump confirmed this morning that the Canada and Mexico tariffs will go into effect on March 4. Trump posted on Truth Social: “Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels. A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China.”
Plus: Trump is increasing the China tariffs by 10 percent. |
A court imposed a midnight deadline for the Trump administration to release nearly $2 billion in foreign aid. But Chief Justice John Roberts stepped in Wednesday night and temporarily delayed that deadline. Keep in mind: The Trump administration said it logistically could not unfreeze those funds that quickly.
What happens now?: The order will pause until the court decides whether the ruling stands. |
The Trump administration is planning to eliminate more than 90 percent of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s foreign contracts. Read more |
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NBC News: Dozens of DOGE ‘receipts’ saved no money and killed contracts meant to boost efficiency
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The Washington Post: She hoped Trump’s victory would change her life, but not like this
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The Atlantic: The Democrats’ Working-Class Problem Gets Its Close-Up
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The Hill: How RFK Jr. could restrict abortion medication access
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Axios: The inside story of how the Bezos-Trump alliance began
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Analysis in The New York Times: Republicans Gamble on a Regressive Economic Agenda
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OK, so the House and the Senate are competing to pass President Trump’s agenda with separate strategies. President Trump had mostly stayed out of the dispute but then gave his nod toward the House’s strategy. The House successfully advanced that plan earlier this week, so you’d think the Senate would back off … right?
Nope! Senate Republicans are trying to make major changes to the House-passed bill. What does the Senate GOP dislike: They don’t like that Trump’s 2017 tax cuts (which are set to expire at the end of the year) aren’t made permanent. They also don’t want the major cuts to Medicaid that would be necessary to offset the tax cuts.
What happens now?: The Hill’s Al Weaver put it well: “Now, the effort to advance Trump’s priorities enters a new stage with both sides attempting something they’ve been unable to do since late last year: get on the same page.”
Read Weaver’s reporting: ‘Senate Republicans seek major changes to House-passed Trump budget bill’ |
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RFK Jr. may restrict abortion medication: |
“Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suggested that he is open to restricting access to abortion medication, the primary method used for abortions across the U.S.,” reports The Hill’s Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech.
What this could mean: “If the administration does seek to restrict access to the drug, health policy experts do not think Kennedy will attempt to remove it from the market, but say he could instead try to direct agencies within HHS to limit who can take mifepristone and how it can be administered.” Read more
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Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead: |
Actor Gene Hackman, 95, his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were found dead at their home in New Mexico.
Keep in mind: Authorities said foul play is not suspected. They were found when deputies did a welfare check, per AP.
Ugh, deaths really do come in threes: Actor Michelle Trachtenberg was found dead Wednesday morning at the age of 39. The cause of death has not been determined, but she recently had a liver transplant. She was best known for her roles in “Gossip Girl,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Harriet the Spy” and others.
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- 12:15 p.m.: Trump meets with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
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1:45 p.m.: The Senate holds a roll call vote. 📆 Today’s agenda
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2 p.m.: Trump and Starmer hold a joint press conference. 💻 Livestream
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3:30 p.m.: NASA officials hold a news conference. 💻 Livestream
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6:30 p.m.: Starmer and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will both appear on NBC’s “Nightly News.”
- March 9: Clocks change for daylight saving time.
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Canceled — March 13: The Food and Drug Administration abruptly canceled a meeting to choose the new flu vaccine strain.
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Just announced — April 21: The annual White House Easter Egg Roll.
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