Today's Liberal News
Trump’s spending freeze spreads chaos across US
Supporters of climate, infrastructure, mortgage, tech, health, veterans’ and other projects expressed alarm as tens of thousands of programs appeared possibly at risk.
Lael Brainard’s ‘Crisis Management Agency’ — and Her Warning For Trump
Joe Biden’s top economic adviser opens up on harrowing moments from her time in the White House, and what makes her nervous about the Trump agenda.
Stephen Miran is Trump’s pick to lead Council of Economic Advisers
Miran has called for a sweeping overhaul of the Fed to ensure greater political control over the central bank, including giving the president the power to fire board members at will.
Trump Advisers Stopped Musk From Hiring a Noncitizen at DOGE
As Elon Musk set out to upend the federal bureaucracy on behalf of Donald Trump, he reached out to Trump’s team with an unusual request: U.S. law generally prohibits noncitizens from working for the federal government, but Musk was hoping to make an exception for Baris Akis, a Turkish-born venture capitalist with a green card who had become a close ally.
The answer, delivered privately by Trump’s advisers, was an unequivocal no, two people familiar with the decision told us.
Trump’s Wild Plan for Gaza
President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise to put America first, just proposed the wildest and most improbable intervention by the United States in overseas affairs since the invasion and occupation of Iraq, more than 20 years ago.
At a joint press conference with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump promised that the U.S. would become the occupier of Gaza.
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we’ll do a job with it, too. We’ll own it,” Trump said.
America Can’t Just Unpause USAID
It took the Trump administration—and, really, Elon Musk—all of 10 days to dismantle USAID, the world’s single largest humanitarian donor. On January 24, a memo from the State Department ordered virtually every foreign-assistance program funded by the United States government to halt work for 90 days. Four days later, the State Department said that lifesaving humanitarian assistance should continue, and that special waivers could be granted to select programs.
The Tariffs Were Never Real
Some presidents spend their first few weeks in office trying to make good on their central campaign promise; Donald Trump has instead done everything he can to avoid having to follow through on his. A controversial campaign pledge to enact big, universal tariffs that would transform the global-trade system and usher in American prosperity has been whittled down to a set of hollow threats designed to extract mostly symbolic concessions from America’s neighbors.
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Trump Is Deleting the Data That Keeps This Country Running
The gutting of government statistics is a recipe for chaos.
Health agencies sued after taking down data following Trump order
It’s the latest lawsuit pushing back on the Trump administration’s shakeup of the federal government.
How Bill Cassidy got to ‘yes’ on RFK Jr.
The Louisiana Republican said he hoped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be “a partner” in promoting good health.
“Fascism Is at the Door”: Trump Threatens to Deport Pro-Palestinian International Student Protesters
An executive order that purports to combat antisemitism on university campuses is likely to chill free speech and target students for pro-Palestine, antiwar and anti-racist views. The order, signed by President Trump, threatens to deport noncitizen college students and other international visitors who take part in protests considered antisemitic under a broad and contested definition of the term.
Trump’s Mass Detention Plan for Guantánamo Harkens Back to U.S. Detention of Haitian Asylum Seekers
Before Guantánamo became what it’s known for — the “forever prison in the war on terror” — its “ambiguous sovereignty” as a U.S. military base was long utilized to incarcerate Caribbean asylum seekers to the U.S. We speak to scholar Miriam Pensack, who researches the history of Guantánamo, in light of President Trump’s recent proposal to once again imprison asylum seekers at the base’s prison complex.
Trump-Bukele Alliance Grows as El Salvador Offers to Imprison U.S. Citizens & Deported Migrants
As Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits Latin America on his first foreign trip in his new post, we look at the Trump administration’s policy orientation toward the right-wing government of El Salvador and the left-wing government of Guatemala with journalist Roman Gressier. Rubio is visiting both countries during his trip, which is expected to cement Trump’s ties to Salvadoran strongman enthusiast Nayib Bukele and to the conservative opposition in Guatemala.
“Troubling”: Panama Agrees to Anti-Migrant Collaboration After Trump Threatens to Retake Canal
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is visiting Latin America on his first foreign trip in his new post. One of his stops is Panama, where President Trump has threatened to invade and take over control of the critical trade route of the Panama Canal in response to its growing ties to China. It is a deeply unpopular proposition in Panama, seen as a “reversion to the mid-20th century imperial encroachment that Panama so intentionally confronted over the course of the Canal transition.
Money Talks: Is Silicon Valley Coming for Our Democracy?
Historian Quinn Slobodian joins Felix Salmon to discuss how his book on market radicals is more relevant than ever.
The Federal Employee ‘Buyout’ Sounds Bogus
There’s not a lot of evidence that the resignation offer will be honored.
They’re Everywhere. They Can Sell You Anything. Is This the Future of Retail?
Vending machines are a harbinger of what’s to come.
Why Would Anyone Who Runs a Successful Business Fall for Republicans’ DEI Trap?
America has officially lost the plot on corporate DEI.
Trump Isn’t Going to Like the Fallout From His Fight With Colombia
The tariffs standoff might just be the start of a very pricey mess.
Finance Committee to vote on RFK Jr. Tuesday
Kennedy’s approval by the committee is far from certain.
Pro-RFK Jr. letter to the Senate includes names of doctors whose licenses were revoked or suspended
The letter was meant to lend credibility to Kennedy’s nomination.
Public health information pulled offline in response to Trump orders
Massive amounts of information about HIV, LGBTQ+ health were pulled from cdc.gov Friday night.
Trump is wreaking havoc at USAID. Is the goal to shut it down?
The president’s failure to name a USAID administrator and other steps seem to suggest that, at the very least, he’ll fold USAID into the State Department.
Is Aziz Ansari Sorry?
The Waves also discusses the Riverside Church controversy and the case of Sarah Milov.
Your Opinions on Her Wardrobe Are Probably Unwelcome
What we say matters, especially depending on whom we say it to.
What Role Does HR Play in the #MeToo Era?
The Waves also discusses the case against Jeffrey Epstein and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble.