Today's Liberal News

Trump Guts EPA’s Environmental Justice Office, Putting Poorest Communities of Color at More Risk

The Trump administration is planning to shutter the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights at the Environmental Protection Agency and has placed nearly 170 employees on administrative leave. “I’m very concerned about the deregulation and the focus on corporate profits,” says Mustafa Santiago Ali, the former head of the environmental justice program at the EPA.

“Authoritarian Rampage”: Trump/Musk Sued to Block DOGE Access to Confidential Info of Millions

A lawsuit by a coalition of labor unions Thursday prompted the Labor Department to agree not to release any sensitive economic and privacy data to DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Trump donor Elon Musk. Musk’s group has already gained access to sensitive files and computer systems across other key agencies as part of a push to restructure much of the federal government.

Holding Musk Accountable: Rep. Ro Khanna on Stopping DOGE’s “Unconstitutional” Power Grab

We speak with Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna of California about the Trump administration’s ongoing assault on the federal bureaucracy and the gutting of various agencies, led by the president’s unelected billionaire adviser Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
“No DOGE employee should have access to any of Americans’ sensitive, confidential information, and they should not have access to be able to stop payments,” he says.

“Educational Arson”: Trump Moves to Abolish Dept. of Education Amid Broader Attack on Public Schools

As the Trump administration, led in part by his unelected adviser Elon Musk, sets its sights on cutting the Department of Education, we speak to longtime educator Jesse Hagopian about what he calls an “extremist, authoritarian power grab to dismantle public education and enforce ideological conformity.” Hagopian, whose new book, Teach Truth: The Struggle for Antiracist Education, traces the history of racist educational censorship, adds, “This isn’t about protecting children.

Trump’s Conquest of the Kennedy Center Is Accelerating

Donald Trump’s hostile takeover of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is moving quickly.
On Friday night, Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter informed board members that some of their colleagues had already received termination notices from the administration. And she said that Trump appears to have the legal authority to take the unprecedented step of firing them before their six-year terms expire.

What an ‘America First’ Diet Would Really Look Like

For a moment, the threat of guac-ocalypse loomed over America. Had President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada gone into effect, the prices of avocados and tomatoes would have skyrocketed in the approach to Super Bowl Sunday. Trump may be bluffing about his willingness to start a trade war, but the grace period he negotiated with those nations lasts just 30 days. Yesterday he said that he would announce tariffs on even more countries—he didn’t specify which—in the coming week.

Sun and Wood Can Be a Powerful Combination

Along a busy four-lane road in Kaga, Japan, situated between strip malls and rice fields, is a firewood business called Kuberu, meaning “to stoke a fire.” On many weekends, when the weather is pleasant, I join a group of four or five people to chop wood and stack it beneath rows of solar panels. In exchange, I get to fill the back of my pickup with firewood for heating my own house.

Trump’s Federal Purge

Editor’s Note: Washington Week With The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings, watch full episodes here, or listen to the weekly podcast here.
Elon Musk is targeting federal agencies, slashing workforces, and crippling programs that support millions of people around the world.

The Thrill of the Quest

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
“The quest” is a well-worn literary trope: Characters travel long distances and face obstacles in hopes of finding justice, or revenge, or forgiveness. But when real people go on quests, their goals can be a little more eclectic.