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By Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, February 28.
- Surge in marine heatwaves costs lives and billions in storm damage – study (“Floods, whale strandings and coral bleaching all more likely, say researchers, as 10% of ocean hits record high temperatures in 2023-24”)
- U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World (A purely evil, sadistic, stupid move.)
- Harsh findings on Trump’s aid freeze kept secret by USAID watchdog
- Trump’s new world order: Strongmen make the rules
- “Uncomfortable” to hear Trump take Russia’s side: EU foreign policy chief
- How Zelensky learned the art of the deal and got to visit Trump
- After Insults and False Claims, Trump to Host Zelensky for Minerals Deal
- Trump tried to extort Zelenskyy and was impeached – now he may succeed
- A Ukrainian Family’s Three Years of War
- BREAKING: SEC halts fraud prosecution of Chinese national who sent Trump millions (Wildly corrupt!)
- China Vows ‘All Necessary Measures’ Against New US Tariffs
- China’s Military Puts Pacific on Notice as U.S. Priorities Shift
- Key takeaways from Starmer’s talks with Trump
- Trump is ‘no longer an ally,’ former French President Hollande says
- Elon Musk Is South African. It Explains a Lot.
- Elon Musk, Apartheid, and America’s New Boycott Movement
- Mexico extradites drug lord Caro Quintero and 28 others to U.S.
- Ice contractor plans for surveillance boom under Trump migrant crackdown
- Trump and GOP leaders discuss using tariffs to pay for agenda
- Trump’s Tariff Onslaught Is Coming Faster Than His Team Can Carry It Out
- Did the White House help end the Tate brothers travel ban?
- Andrew Tate, Accused Sex Trafficker, Is Trump’s Kind of Guy
- RFK Jr., America’s Leading Advocate for Getting Measles (“Contrary to what the health secretary says, the outbreak of disease in Texas is, in fact, unusual.”)
- Inside the Collapse at the NIH (Absolutely disastrous.)
- RFK Jr. Takes a Sledgehammer to Two Major Vaccine Developments (People are going to die because of crap like this.)
- ‘He’s Full Of S**t’: Pediatrician In Congress Blames RFK Jr. For Child’s Death From Measles
- With RFK Jr. at his side, a measles outbreak could prove ‘politically perilous’ for Trump
- Former defense chiefs denounce Trump’s ‘reckless’ Pentagon firings
- Former defense chiefs call for congressional hearings on Trump’s firing of senior military leaders
- Trump’s biggest power grab just reached the Supreme Court
- Judge orders Trump administration officials to give sworn testimony on DOGE
- Judge blocks Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers
- Judge orders Trump administration to rescind directives on probationary employee firings
- Judge Says Mass Firings Of Federal Workers Were Likely Illegal
- Social Security Administration could cut up to 50% of its workforce
- The states that could feel DOGE cuts the most (Virginia #3)
- Conservative calls to codify DOGE cuts complicate path to avoiding shutdown
- Republicans consider major budget change to obscure deficit impact of extending Trump’s tax cuts (“GOP leaders argue that extending Trump’s expiring 2017 tax cuts shouldn’t be treated as costing any money. Democrats compare the tactic to nuking the 60-vote filibuster rule.”)
- Why Aren’t We in the Streets? (“Trump is power-tripping like never before, and Democrats in Washington seem to have agreed on the strategic response of doing nothing”)
- Democrats Expect a 2026 Comeback. But Will Free Elections Even Exist? (“Growing anger with the Trump-Musk alliance could signal a 2026 blue wave, but that assumes MAGA won’t mess with elections before then. Unfortunately, they’ve already begun to do so.”)
- OPM tells court it never ordered mass firings, contradicting prior claims
- Inside DOGE’s Clash With the Federal Workforce
- How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy
- Donald Trump’s Cabinet Is Incompetent. Worse, It’s at the Whim of Elon Musk (“The president clearly expects his secretaries to yield to the unelected billionaire, even as they reportedly express private frustrations with his haphazard government cuts.”)
- MAGA Loses It as DOGE Staffer Identities Revealed
- Elon Musk says upgrade of FAA’s air traffic control system is failing and SpaceX needs to take over Verizon’s contract (Self dealing, corruption at massive levels.)
- Elon Musk’s Takeover Is Being Aided by a Trumpworld Power Couple (“Stephen and Katie Miller—he’s “the prime minister,” sources say; she’s DOGE’s comms guru—liaise between the White House and Elon Musk, and are centrally involved as he tears the government apart.”)
- Hundreds of weather forecasters fired in latest wave of DOGE cuts (People are going to die because of this.)
- NOAA fires about 800 employees, with more possible Friday (Insanity.)
- ‘Cruel and thoughtless’: Trump fires hundreds at US climate agency Noaa (“Employees informed by email that their jobs would be cut off at end of day in move a worker called ‘wrong all around’ “)
- FBI investigating Trump EPA claims of fraud in $20B Biden grant fund (WTF? It’s the TRUMP administration that’s the kleptocracy!)
- Inside Kash Patel’s Whirlwind Start at the FBI
- 23 Dem AGs think they’ve cracked the code to fighting Trump
- Pentagon directs removal of trans service members from military (Cruel and stupid.)
- Republicans fear their big budget win is a 2026 time bomb
- Federal workers could get a second email Saturday. It might require a response.
- Everyone Is Laughing at Pam Bondi’s ‘Epstein Files’ Flop
- Behind the scenes, GOP senators challenge legality of Trump’s aid cuts (“Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who lauded the USAID cuts, quietly joined Democrats in expressing alarm.”)
- Trump administration quietly shutters online form for student debt repayment (“Removal comes after court decision pausing Joe Biden’s Save program, leaving millions of Americans in the lurch”)
- Trump Education Department Opens Snitch Line Against Diversity (Just like Youngkin!)
- Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were dead for some time, warrant shows
- If federal agencies move away, what happens to the DC economy? (“By April 14, agencies must submit proposals for “any proposed relocations of agency bureaus and offices from Washington, D.C., and the National Capital Region to less-costly parts of the country,” according to a memo from senior officials released Wednesday.”)
- Trump nominates Hung Cao, who challenged Kaine’s Senate seat, for Under Secretary of the Navy
- Photos: In Waynesboro, Staffers of Far-Right Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) – Who Refuses to Hold a Town Hall – “left without answering any questions. Booed as they left” (Also: “several hundred concerned citizens and Homeland Security!! No local police, just Homeland Security”)
- Ben Cline won’t hold a town hall: So, his constituents held one for him
- Mark Warner’s second act: Fighting his instincts, leading the fight against Trump
- Hundreds attend town hall as Rep. Subramanyam addresses federal layoffs in Virginia
- Constituents Flooded a Democratic Lawmaker’s Town Hall in Virginia to Vent About the Trump Administration
- McGuire introduces bill that could open door to uranium mining in Virginia
- A poll gives Spanberger an early edge, but Musk and Trump may be her surest allies
- Far-right GOP candidate for Virginia Gov. not pro-Trump enough, draws far-right challengers
- Video: On Rachel Maddow Show, Abigail Spanberger Stands Up for Virginia Workers, Calls on Youngkin-Sears Administration to Do Its Job & Protect Virginians
- Rep. Bobby Scott hints he’s not running for governor (There’s just about no time at this point anyway to collect 10,000 signatures, etc.)
- Former VA State Sen. Amanda Chase Announces Candidacy for the 2025 VA GOP Governor’s Nomination, Says “We want a Trump candidate for governor” and “Trump supporters said they will stay home if [Winsome Earle-Sears is] on the ballot”
- Virginia governor orders state police, prisons to cooperate with ICE
- Youngkin directs Virginia State Police to help with immigration enforcement
- Youngkin issues immigration enforcement order (“The order directs Virginia State Police, corrections officers statewide to cooperate with ICE.”)
- Youngkin appointee to lead state police was suspended for flipping cruiser after drinking
- Can one stairwell help solve Virginia’s housing crisis? Lawmakers think so
- As VMI weighs Black superintendent’s future, tensions boil on and off campus
- FOIA Friday: Court prohibits police names from being omitted, board members miss prep meetings
- Anger and questions after sex offender accessed gym, school locker rooms
(“The case of Richard Cox, who faces 22 criminal counts, has raised questions about the effectiveness of current policies.”) - CWG Live updates: Cooler but still mild today and Saturday ahead of a brief cold snap
