Friday News: “Catastrophic” Cuts to USAID; “Trump’s blitz to expand his power is direct threat to democracy”; “Musk’s Revolutionary Terror”; “Trump’s ‘Puppet Master’, Russ Vought, Confirmed to Lead OMB”; “DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Racist Posts”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, February 7.

• Jeff Bezos fund ends support for climate group amid fears billionaires ‘bowing down’ to Trump (“Concerns raised as $10bn Bezos Earth Fund halts funding for Science Based Targets initiative, which monitors companies’ decarbonisation”)
• Trump imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court over Israel probe
• ICC condemns sanctions by Trump administration and pledges to continue its work
• Recall of USAID’s global workforce causes upheaval and distress
• Abandoned in the Middle of Clinical Trials, Because of a Trump Order (“The stop-work order on U.S.A.I.D.-funded research has left thousands of people with experimental drugs and devices in their bodies, with no access to monitoring or care.”)
• Trump’s Assault on USAID Makes Project 2025 Look Like Child’s Play (“I have never seen a government action have such an immediate impact.”)
• How Elon Musk boosted false USAID conspiracy theories to shut down global aid (“Musk drove fringe viewpoints on USAID into the mainstream on X as the Trump administration halted the humanitarian relief agency’s work.”)
• Trump, Again, Complaining About China While Dismantling American ‘Soft Power’ (“In 2017, it was withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Today, it’s gutting America’s main foreign aid agency.”)
• Is Elon Musk Serving Two Masters? (“Elon Musk’s efforts to slash the U.S. government could be a huge boon to China—a country to which Musk has significant financial ties.” No question, China is LOVING this!)
• Russia withdraws North Korean troops in Kursk after losses, Seoul says
• It’s Russian Men Against Ukrainian Machines on the Battlefields in Ukraine
• Trump administration disbands task force targeting Russian oligarchs (Putin has got to be SO happy right now with Trump destroying the United States – doing Putin’s work for him!)
• Iran supreme leader says US talks ‘not intelligent, wise or honorable,’ upending push to negotiation
• Netanyahu gives Trump ‘golden pager’ in apparent reference to Lebanon attack (“Photos show gift, reportedly nod to Israel’s deadly attack on Hezbollah, during which devices simultaneously detonated”)
• Trump’s Gaza plan suggests his pro-settler advisers are in the ascendant
• Egypt lobbies against Trump plan to empty Gaza of Palestinians as Israel prepares for it
• Trump’s Gaza Takeover Plan May Sound Death Knell for the Two-State Solution
• Trump’s Gaza plan shocks the world but finds support in Israel (“Jewish Israeli politicians across the spectrum either embraced the idea wholeheartedly or expressed openness to it.”)
• Trump’s Gaza Deal: War Crimes in Exchange for Beachfront Property
• Trump’s Gaza Proposal Puts Wrinkle in Hoped-for Saudi-Israeli Deal (“Wrinkle?” The NY Times is so bizarre.)
• ‘The Devil Will Bite You,’ Environmentalists Tell Japan’s Prime Minister on Eve of Trump Summit
• Rwandan troops ‘dying in large numbers in DRC’, despite official denials of role
• C.D.C. Posts, Then Deletes, Data on Bird Flu Spread Between Cats and People
• Feds Halt the National Electric Vehicle Charging Program (WTF???)
• Elon Musk’s journey from climate champion to backing EV-bashing Trump (“Musk believes Tesla’s rivals are more vulnerable to Trump’s moves against electric vehicles”)
• Investors Gear Up for First Jobs Report of 2025
• Democrats escalate attacks as Trump EPA holds back climate spending
• Sotomayor hits presidential immunity decision in first public comments since new Trump admin
• Why the courts may be the last constraint on Trump but may not contain his power grabs
• Trump’s blitz to expand his power is direct threat to democracy, experts say
• Can the courts — can anyone — stop Trump?
• House GOP pleads for time after “intense” White House meeting
• Trump Tax Priorities Total $5 to $11 Trillion
• Trump Administration Live Updates: Judge Delays Program Offering Federal Workers Incentives to Quit
• Trump Administration to Lay Off Nearly All of U.S. Aid Agency’s Staff (Completely illegal!)
• Trump administration to keep only 294 USAID staff out of over 10,000 globally, sources say
• I Ran U.S.A.I.D. Killing It Is a Win for Autocrats Everywhere.
• USAID unions sue Trump administration to halt ‘unconstitutional and illegal’ cuts
• Elon Musk’s Revolutionary Terror (“The evisceration of U.S.A.I.D. isn’t a policy fight—it’s an execution designed to strike fear in our own government.”)
• White House Preparing Order to Cut Thousands of Federal Health Workers (Bonkers.)
• Trump and Musk Are Strangling the Government (“HIV prevention is hampered. The social safety net is falling apart. Federal employees fear for their safety. And it’s only week three.”)
• All the ways Elon Musk is breaking the law, explained by a law professor (“There are a lot of them.”)
• A setback for Elon Musk’s plan to gut the federal workforce
• Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew —
• The US Treasury Claimed DOGE Technologist Didn’t Have ‘Write Access’ When He Actually Did
• Exclusive | DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Racist Posts (“A staffer for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency whose access to U.S. Treasury payment systems was approved by a federal judge on Thursday has links to a deleted social-media account that advocated for racism and eugenics.” This Trump administration isn’t really much different than if we’d had President George Wallace, President Strom Thurmond, President Jesse Helms or President David Duke.)
• DOGE follows longtime Musk pattern — and turns attention to Social Security Administration
• Elon Musk’s DOGE is feeding sensitive federal data into AI to target cuts
• DOGE Emails Went Out to Federal Judges by Mistake
• Trump’s “Puppet Master,” Russ Vought, Confirmed to Lead OMB (“He will be the quarterback of White House policy.”)
• Senate Confirms Russell Vought as Office of Management and Budget Director
• Senate confirms Project 2025 architect Russell Vought to lead powerful White House budget office (Senate Republicans are WORTHLESS.)
• These Republicans should be ashamed of themselves (Republicans like Susan Collins and many others have no shame.
• Vought wants to dismantle the ‘deep state.’ As he takes office, it’s already happening.
• Scoop: Trump orders key government agency to cancel all media contracts
• What a wild conspiracy theory about Politico tells us about how Trump governs (“Twitter is real life now.”)
• What will Trump do without Politico Pro?
• Trump taps televangelist kook to run new White House ‘faith’ office
• Department of Health and Holy Sh-t: RFK Jr.’s MAHA Movement and What It Means for America (“Vanity Fair editors unpack the Democratic royal’s unlikely merger with the MAGA movement, how he’ll put his ‘conspiratorial views into action,’ and why he might be the most logical heir to Donald Trump.”)
• Why the “President Elon Musk” mockery doesn’t seem to bother Donald Trump (“Trump’s fragile ego meets Elon Musk’s hostile takeover”)
• Do Democrats Have a Plan? (“Senator Brian Schatz on how the Party should be responding to Donald Trump’s breakneck assault on the government.”)
• When the arsonist demands praise for his firefighting skills (“Donald Trump is great at creating problems — and then pretending to fix them.” And then sniveling bootlickers like Glenn Youngkin actually PRAISE Trump for that!))
• Trump makes enemies of his most likely Democratic allies
• N.C.A.A., Following Trump’s Order, Excludes Transgender Athletes From Women’s Sports
• Trump energy secretary allowed 23-year-old DOGE rep to access IT systems over objections from general counsel (No Democratic Senator should have voted to confirm this scumbag.)
• Trump Fires Head of Federal Election Panel, But She Won’t Leave
• Bessent Projects Normalcy While ‘Completely Aligned’ With Musk (No Senate Democrat should have voted for this guy.)
• Whole Foods says Trump’s actions make union win moot
• After Trump’s remarks on Gaza, some in Dearborn, Michigan ‘think we screwed up’ (Uh, ya think???)
• Casey DeSantis considers running for Florida governor amid push from top donors
• For the Love of God, Stop Profiling This Couple! (“The couple wants the world to have more babies. This prompts the question: Who the hell cares?” Exactly! Why the F*** did the WaPo write a lengthy story on these two random kooks???)
• Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Says “How far this Grand Old Party has come from the lofty and noble sentiments of its founder, when it is putting at the head of the federal workforce somebody whose desire is to traumatize federal workers!”
• Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08) Publishes Open Letter To Federal Employees Weighing “Deferred Resignation” (“This is a hard moment, and what is happening to you is frightening and unfair.”)
• Va. General Assembly advances budget bills that cut taxes, fund schools
• Virginia House, Senate counter Youngkin budget amendment proposals
• Virginia weighs response to potential Medicaid rollbacks affecting 630,000
• Pope & Schapiro: Crossover, casinos and skill games
• The General Assembly is in a heated debate over immigration enforcement
• Virginia lawmakers are already working to respond to funding decisions in Washington
• Three interesting bills: swastikas, free water at restaurants and a cigarette sale loophole
• Virginia Democrats look to lift funding cap on school support staff
• Virginia bill would allow traffic cameras to police stop signs and crosswalks
• Virginia House, Senate move to fast-track CTE teachers
• Democrats rebuke Miyares for his DEI letter to Costco (Miyares is a disgrace.)
• Virginia 8th grader’s anti-Trump protest draws hundreds in Richmond
• Suffolk is Virginia’s fifth fastest growing locality since the pandemic
• CWG Live updates: Breezy but sunnier today; wintry weather risks tomorrow and Tuesday (“Some light wintry mix tomorrow. Tuesday has better potential for accumulating snow.”)