"Regime"

5:13 AM - Trump’s social media site Truth Social is blocked in Ukraine following his comments attacking Ukrainian President Zelensky and blaming Ukraine for Russia invading their country.

6:02 AM - Taiwanese Security Chief Joseph Wu says he thinks that US support for Taiwan is “very strong.”

8:01 AM - 40 news organizations ranging from NBC and WaPo to FOX and Newsmaxx sent a joint letter to the White House declaring their support for AP and asking that they be unbanned from the Oval Office and Airforce One.

8:04 AM - The US delegation to the G7 objects to issuing a joint declaration declaring Russia as an aggressor in their invasion of Ukraine. Envoys object to terms such as “Russian aggression” to describe the war.

8:06 AM - Romania claims that Russia asked the US for a complete withdrawal of NATO from Eastern Europe. This is the same demand that Russia wanted prior to invading Ukraine.

9:04 AM - New WaPo-Ipsos poll indicates that 57% of Americans believe Trump has exceeded his presidential authority.

9:36 AM - TSA begins firing hundreds of employees, the amount of people affected is currently unknown.

9:45 AM - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with US Special Envoy Keith Kellogg but cancels

10:00 AM - Trump says he called the US Hockey team this morning ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off final against Canada, who they beat in the round robin qualifiers 3-1 after Canadian fans booed the anthem. He also kept messaging Canada as the 51st state and called Canadian PM Justin Trudeau “Governor”.

10:42 AM - JD Vance speaks at CPAC, saying that “western civilization” cannot be rebuilt by letting immigrants into the country. “We cannot rebuild western civilization, we cannot rebuild the United States or Europe, by letting millions and millions of unvetted migrants come into our country. It has to stop. You have to allow European peoples, and of course the American people too, to raise issues about it.”

10:45 AM - NYT reporting (via UnusualWhales) that the Trump administration plans to fire 84% of the staff at the office that funds US disaster recovery (FEMA?).

10:52 AM - SSA probationary employees were given 8 hours to agree to reassignment to a field office, teleservice center, or payment center, in addition to waiving all rights to appeal reassignment, or face termination.

10:58 AM - Federal Judge Randolph Moss orders the Trump administration to not remove 8 foreign nationals facing persecution or death in their home countries, though he notes that at least one has already been removed.

11:35 AM - Elon Musk posts on Twitter that he’s working on Community Notes because it’s “increasingly being gamed by governments & legacy media.” This comes after Elon Musk’s attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the ISS’ Commander on Twitter were fact checked by Community Notes.

11:54 AM - Canada follows the US’ lead in designating multiple criminal organizations as FTOs, the same as the State Department designated yesterday.

11:54 AM - Senate invokes cloture 51-47 on Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI Director for a 10 year term, his vote will be held at a later date.

12:00 PM - The Pentagon has circulated a list of generals and flag officers SecDef Pete Hegseth is looking to replace or fire with Congressional GOP members. That includes Chairman of the Joint Chiefs CQ Brown. The list also includes Gen. Randy George, US Army Chief of Staff, and Gen. Ron Clark, Commanding Officer of US Army Pacific.

12:05 PM - Elon Musk calls for the decommissioning and deorbiting of the ISS after getting into an online scuffle with the ISS’ Commander after Musk said that the Starliner astronauts were left on the ISS for political reasons.

12:20 PM - Sen. Jacky Rosen [D-NV] when asked if the Democratic Party was doing enough to resist the Trump administration: “I think that we have to realize that we're in the minority. They have the White House, they have the House, and they have the Senate. So, the tools that are available to us here as legislators…they are limited.”

12:29 PM - IRS probationary employees receive termination letters from the OPM as expected.

12:36 PM - Marisa Kabas confirms that DOGE operatives have arrived at the SSA, per Social Security Works, a non-profit that advocates for the program.

12:39 PM - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after meeting with Special Envoy Keith Kellogg says that “Ukraine is ready for a strong, effective investment and security agreement with the President of the United States. We have proposed the fastest and most constructive way to achieve results. Our team is ready to work 24/7.”

12:43 PM - FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson announces an investigation into “Big Tech censorship” which he calls “un-American” and illegal.

12:46 PM - The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was evacuated following a bomb threat.

12:48 PM - Sen. Mitch McConnell [R-KY] says he will not seek reelection in 2026.

1:20 PM - Gov. Kathy Hochul [D-NY] opts to not remove NYC Mayor Eire Adams [D-NY] from his position. Instead, she’s issuing legal sanctions and increasing oversight of NYC. “The steps Ms. Hochul plans to propose include creating a new state deputy inspector general dedicated to New York City; establishing a fund for the city comptroller, public advocate and City Council speaker to hire outside counsel to sue the federal government if the mayor is unwilling to do so; and granting additional funds for the state’s comptroller to scrutinize city finances.”

1:25 PM - SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano says that people in their database with ages over 100 years old are not necessarily receiving benefits. Those people are missing a date of death on their records and have been used to claim massive fraud in the Social Security system.

1:28 PM - Unidentified attackers shot out the windows of a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon, and set fire to several cars. They left a sticker with the message “Kill Elon” on it.

1:37 PM - National Security Advisor Mike Waltz calls Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s insults towards Trump “Unacceptable. There needs to be a deep appreciation for what America has done for Ukraine.”

2:16 PM - The Trump administration offers Ukraine an “improved” draft for a mineral deal, per Axios.

2:33 PM - Kash Patel is confirmed as FBI Director 51-49 in the Senate.

2:34 PM - NYT reporting that the CIA is preparing to fire en mass officers working on recruiting and diversity, possibly one of the largest mass firings in the agency's history. The number of people affected is unknown.

2:55 PM - Rep. Robert Garcia [D-CA-42] reveals that he received a letter from US Attorney Edward Martin for comments he made on CNN for allegedly threatening Elon Musk by saying that people want the Democratic party to bring “actual guns” to the fight against Elon Musk and DOGE’s actions.

3:24 PM - The National Institute of Standards and Technology expects to lose 500 employees, including 3 lab directors promoted last year, as a part of the federal mass layoffs.

3:31 PM - The DHS cuts the duration of TPS for Haitians in the US. Haitians will lose TPS in August and then be subject to the risk of deportation, just like Venezuelans in America.

4:23 PM - The National Park Service takes down their web page on Marsha P. Johnson, a transgender LGBT rights activist who played a pivotal role in the Stonewall Uprising.

5:00 PM - Treasury Department agrees to block DOGE from accessing personal taxpayer information at the IRS, per WaPo.

5:25 PM - Per WaPo (via AZ_Intel), DOGE is seeking to gain access to the SSA’s datasets.

6:48 PM - Members of Elon Musk’s private security detail have been deputized by the US Marshals Service. Elon Musk was not eligible for Secret Service protection, and the deputization gives his security detail more flexibility, like the ability to carry weapons on federal property.

7:14 PM - Steve Bannon caps off his speech at CPAC 2025 by raising his hand for a Nazi salute. His speech teased Trump potentially pursuing a third term as president in 2028. The event also had a poster advertising the “Third ‘Term Project” advocating for Trump to run again; “For Trump 2028…And Beyond!”, and distributed stickers to attendees advertising the same.

7:30 PM - Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order to strip the USPS of its independence and fire the agency’s governing board. The agency will be placed under the control of the Commerce Department and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

7:34 PM - Sen. Josh Hawley [R-MO] filed an amendment to block any cuts to Medicaid in the Senate GOP budget proposal and says he’s willing to vote for similar Democrat amendments. He and Sen. Susan Collins [R-ME] are also backing an amendment from Senate cuts for wealthy Americans if Medicaid is cut.

39 PM - The DOJ cuts the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, taking down its website. The NLEAD tracks misconduct committed by federal law enforcement agencies.

8:15 PM - The 4 Nations Face-Off Final between the US and Canadian national teams begins. The game goes to overtime with the Canadian national team winning 3-2.

9:28 PM - The current GOP budget resolution on the Senate floor has had over 1,000 amendments filed by Senators.

10:01 PM - Twitter allegedly censors Atlanta Journal Constitution reporter Greg Bluestein’s posts showing Rep. Rich McCormick [R-GA-7] being booed for defending DOGE at a town hall.

12:00 AM - Romania has come under US pressure to allow far-right candidate Calin Georgescu to run unimpeded in the May 2025 elections. Georgescu is a eurosceptic with pro-Russian tendencies.

12:40 AM - Pete Marocco, State Department Director of Foreign Assistance and Acting Deputy USAID Administrator, says in a court briefing that the Trump administration will continue to freeze foreign aid in defiance of court orders by Federal Judge Amir Ali.

6:00 AM - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to Trump’s comments about his country and his performance overnight. He says Trump lives in a disinformation bubble created by Russia, and that his country was not for sale re: the mineral deal.

7:03 AM - Donald Trump’s media company sues Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes for violating EO 14203 (Sanctions on the ICC) for being involved in the prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, now residing in the US and an avid Trump ally.

9:17 PM - State Department orders all employees to cancel subscriptions for The Economist, New York Times, Politico, Bloomberg, AP, and Reuters. All have reported negatively on the Trump administration.

9:27 AM - Donald Trump posts on his Truth Social to support the House’s version of the reconciliation bill. “the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it! We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to ‘kickstart’ the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.’ It will, without question, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” The House's proposal includes steep cuts to Medicaid, which Trump promised would not be touched. It also includes billions in additional border security funding.

9:28 AM - The Trump administration issues a pause on all immigration applications filed by migrants from Latin America and Ukraine, citing fraud and national security concerns.

10:24 AM - Trump is looking at a trade deal with China to make the country buy more US goods and make more investments in the United States. Trump previously negotiated a trade deal with China in 2020, but China failed to uphold a promise to purchase an additional $200b of American goods. He wants the agreement to tackle issues such as nuclear weapons security as well.

10:28 AM - Per WaPo, GOP Senators have been begging the Trump administration to resume the distribution of funds that would have gone to their states. The cutting and freezing of aid has blocked billions in agricultural and infrastructure investments to red states.

10:36 AM - An unpublished federal register public notice from the State Department confirms that the following criminal organizations will be designated as foreign terrorist organizations tomorrow: Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Cartel de Sinaloa (Sinaloa Cartel), Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), Carteles Unidos (United Cartels); Cartel del Noreste (Los Zetas); Cartel del Golfo (Gulf Cartel), and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.

10:47 AM - Donald Trump attacks Ukraine and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Truth Social. “Volodymyr Zelenskyy... talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP, will never be able to settle.” He calls Zelensky a “Dictator without Elections”, and accuses him of prolonging the war and destroying his country.

11:20 AM - Donald Trump expresses frustration over Boeing's delay relating to the delivery of new Air Force Ones, empowering Elon Musk to take measures to make the company move faster, which could include relaxing security standards on new planes or retrofitting a new jet. He also expressed his view that Boeing is a “lost cause”.

11:35 AM - JD Vance warns that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will regret disparaging Trump, calling his response to peace negotiations “atrocious”.

11:51. AM - Donald Trump is expected to issue a public health order to limit immigration at the southern border based on the idea that immigrants at the southern border are risky disease vectors for things such as Measles and Tuberculosis. It’s similar to Title 42 under the first Trump administration, implemented during the COVID Pandemic.

12:05 PM - Nonprofit organizations sue the Trump administration over anti-trans and anti-DEI executive orders. They claim the orders violate the first amendment and equal protection guarantees, are too vague, exceed presidential authority, and violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

12:20 PM - Gallup poll conducted from February 3 to February 16 shows that Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 45% in favor to 51% against. A Quinnipiac poll from February 13 to February 17 showed that congressional democrats are at an approval rating of 21% in favor and 68% against.

12:38 PM - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will skip the G20 conference in South Africa.

12:45 PM - Rumors that preparations are ongoing in Italy for the US to withdraw troops from Kosovo.

12:56 PM - Department of Transportation rescinds approval for NYC congestion pricing. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy [R-WI] says that the federal government has authority over highways going into Manhattan and that the tolls created an unfair burden for drivers living outside of the zone.

1:00 PM - The Metropolitan Transportation Agency sues the federal government to keep congestion pricing in Lower Manhattan. “It’s mystifying that after four years and 4,000 pages of federally-supervised environmental review — and barely three months after giving final approval to the Congestion Relief Program — USDOT would seek to totally reverse course.”

1:58 PM - Donald Trump issues a statement on Truth Social on the revoking of congestion pricing. “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”

2:23 PM - Gov. Kathy Hochul [D-NY] issues a statement on the DOT rescinding their approval for congestion pricing. She highlights benefits of the program, such as reduced traffic, improved transit ridership, more economic activity, and school buses arriving on time. “We are a nation of laws. Not ruled by a king... We'll see you in court.”

2:24 PM - Four top NASA officials are expected to leave the agency, per Reuters. The officials were all closely tied to NASA’s manned lunar program Artemis, which was planned to land humans on the moon again by 2027. That includes Associate Administrator Jim Free, who was a defender of the program.

2:36 PM - YouGoy poll of 1,603 people show that 25% of respondents want DOGE to be abolished, the most out of any agency mentioned.

2:49 PM - SecDef Pete Hegseth orders senior Pentagon officials to draft a plan to cut 8% from the defense budget every year for the next 5 years, with programs relating to border security, nuclear weaponry, missile defense, and munitions procurement. Hegseth wants to receive the proposal by February 24. Pentagon officials confirmed that the cuts are conceived to fund other projects such as Trump’s American Iron Dome.

3:20 PM - National Security Advisor Mike Waltz says that Trump’s relationship soured with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky due to his refusal to sign the mineral deal. Note: Ukraine might not even have the mineral reserves necessary to uphold the deal.

3:21 PM - Rep. Eli Crane [R-AZ-2] reveals the articles of impeachment for Federal Judge Paul Engelmayer he will file on Friday, accusing Engelmayer of using his position for personal and political gain.

3:28 PM - Trump administration freezes funding to the Palestinian Authority Security Services, in line with the broader freeze to foreign aid programs.

3:32 PM - Leaked memo from SecDef Pete Hegseth reveals 17 exemptions from the planned DOD budget cuts, the F-35 program, frequently criticized by Elon Musk, is not protected by the exemptions.

3:35 PM - European Parliament member Mika Aaltola from Finland: “The United States has given us three weeks to agree on terms for Ukraine's surrender. If we don't, the United States will withdraw from Europe.”

3:50 PM - WIRED reporting that SpaceX employees have already begun work at the FAA. Previous statements from the DOT and Elon Musk indicated that they were just visiting, while some were being onboarded into positions via Schedule A.

4:06 PM - The SP500 closes at a new record high of $6,144.15.

4:12 PM - Acting Deputy AG Emil Bove visited the NYC offices of the DOJ to assert his commitment to “ending weaponized government, stopping the invasion of criminal illegal aliens, and eliminating drug cartels and transnational gangs from our homeland.” He said that there are resignation templates available for people who do not support the administration's mission.

4:17 PM - USAID contractors and aid recipients in a new court filing say that Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] and Acting Deputy USAID Administrator Peter Marocco should be held in civil contempt for violating court orders on lifting the aid freeze.

4:28 PM - The State Department formally declares the aforementioned criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations.

4:33 PM - Federal judge delays a decision on whether or not to dismiss the charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY].

4:54 PM - IRS probationary employees started receiving an email telling them to return to offices tomorrow with all government-issued equipment. A separate termination email from the OPM will come later.

4:55 PM - MSNBC reporting that SecDef Pete Hegseth is considering firing a slate of military generals and flag officers as early as this week.

4:57 PM - The NYT (via Newswire) reports that the Trump administration will start to fire 6,000 IRS employees starting tomorrow.

5:02 PM - ICE Assistant Chief Counsel in Dallas, James Rodden, is identified as the owner of the racist Twitter account “GlomarResponder”. Rodden posted comments such as “Migrants are all criminals” and “America is a White nation, founded by Whites. ... Our country should favor us.”

5:20 PM - Per FOX correspondent Bill Melugin, Trump will sign an executive order to “direct every federal agency & department to identify all federally funded programs currently providing any financial benefits to illegal aliens, and ‘take corrective action’, ensuring that any federal funds to states and localities ‘will not be used to support sanctuary policies or assist illegal immigration.’ Additionally, the executive order will mandate improvements in eligibility verification to prevent federal benefits from going to anyone in the US illegally.”

5:37 PM - Trump administration officials cite other legal authorities instead of directly citing Trump’s executive orders to avoid court orders to stop blocking funding, per the NYT. “...administration officials are paying lip service to complying with the letter of the court orders while violating their spirit. The tactic shows how aggressively and nimbly the Trump administration is working to keep funds jammed up, and the complexity judges face if they want to compel the administration to unblock the money.”

6:00 PM - Donald Trump speaks at an investor conference in Miami, claiming massive fraud in Social Security that will be “one of the great potential scandals in history.” He also praised his administration's efforts to shut down USAID and CFPB. He also reaffirmed that he would announce tariffs on cars, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, AND lumber in the next month at the latest.

On peace talks about Ukraine, Trump praised Saudi Arabia as a country with “smart people”. He also said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could have shown up if he wanted to, but didn’t. He continued his standard attacks about Zelensky’s election suspension and for continuing the war.

6:15 PM - Sources within CISA confirm that DOGE operative Edward Coristine now has digital access to the agency.

6:23 PM - Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [D-NY-14] rallied with thousands of federal employees in NYC at the “Save Our Services” event protesting the mass layoffs and funding freezes, reportedly electrifying the crowd.

6:31 PM - Reuters reports that DOGE has only managed $8.5b in cuts via contract cancellation.

6:44 PM - Trump will sign a new executive order tonight to shrink or cut the following agencies: Presidio Trust, Inter-American Foundation, U.S. African Development Foundation, Federal Executive Boards, Presidential Management Fellows Program, and United States Institute for Peace.

6:52 PM - WIRED reporting that the Director of Data Science and Engineering for the USDS (rebranded DOGE) resigns. “I do not believe that DOGE can continue to deliver the work of USDS, based on their actions so far.”

7:12 PM - Vanity Fair reports that Republicans are privately expressing their fear of speaking out against Donald Trump’s policies. Their concern is having Trump-backed primary opponents run against them and fears of political violence directed by Trump.

8:28 PM - Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says that Donald Trump’s ultimate goal is to abolish the IRS in a FOX News interview.

8:30 PM - Donald Trump officially signs the executive order directing agencies to eliminate illegal immigrants’ access to welfare.

9:02 PM - Another round of mass layoffs hits CISA, possibly affecting an additional 130 employees atop the 130 employees affected last week during the federal mass layoffs.

9:09 PM - oth Circuit Court denies the Trump administration’s bid for emergency relief from the TRO blocking the birthright citizenship executive order.

10:08 PM - Trump says the federal government should take over direct governance of Washington DC. “I think we should take over Washington, D.C. — make it safe... I think that we should govern the District of Columbia.” DC has limited home rule, with Congress able to vet and overturn any DC laws, and any change would put it back under direct rule from Congress.

2:46 AM - Negotiations began between the Russian and American delegations in Riyadh.

5:02 AM - Per NYT, the US has stepped up secret drone flights over Mexico, looking for the location of fentanyl labs. The covert flights began under the Biden administration.

6:00 AM - The GSA hired Frank Schuler IV as an advisor. Schuler is known for his tax deduction schemes using inflated land values to shield over $4b in deductions for thousands of clients.

8:03 AM - 105 Marines were relocated out of Okinawa, part of a deal that could eventually result in 9,000 personnel being withdrawn from the island, per NYT.

8:09 AM - Postmaster General Louis DeJoy notifies the Postal Service Board of Governors to begin identifying his successor.

8:15 AM - The US and Russia agreed to multiple points today at the Riyadh conference.

“We agreed to: Establish a consultation mechanism to address irritants to our bilateral relationship with the objective of taking steps necessary to normalize the operation of our respective diplomatic missions. (read: sanctions relief)

Appoint respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides.

Lay the groundwork for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historic economic and investment opportunities which will emerge from a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine.

The parties to today’s meetings pledge to remain engaged to make sure the process moves forward in a timely and productive manner.”

8:31 AM - Bloomberg reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman wanted Ukraine to be represented at the peace talks in Riyadh, but both the American and Russian delegations insisted otherwise.

9:00 AM - The US arrested 29,000 migrants at the southern border in January, the lowest monthly total since May 2020 during the pandemic. The low number is likely due to discouragement in border crossers due to the new Trump administration taking a harsher stance on illegal immigration.

9:52 AM - Ars Technica reports that NASA’s workforce will be reduced by 10% by the end of the day. In addition to the 750 NASA employees that took the deferred resignation option, a further 1000 probationary employees will be purged as a part of the mass layoffs.

10:41 AM - Building America’s Future, a group affiliated with Elon Musk, has invested $1.5m into the Wisconsin Supreme Court race between Susan Crawford [D-WI] and Brad Schimel [R-WI].

11:27 AM - Head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, Denise Cheung, resigns. She cites a so-called “improper demand” by the Trump administration to launch a criminal probe into a government contract awarded during the Biden administration.

11:52 AM - Joe Rogan loses his position as the most downloaded and listened to podcast to anti-Trump podcast MediasTouch, per Newsweek. “His podcast was downloaded and played 48.6 million times, a 32 percent decrease from the previous month. The MeidasTouch Podcast took top spot with 56 million downloads and plays, increasing in reach by 101 percent this month.”

12:12 PM - Actor Zachary Levi, avid MAGA supporter, went on FOX News to ask Elon Musk to save federal workers that voted for Trump but are now facing cuts.

12:14 PM - CNN filed a FOIA request for records relating to Elon Musk’s and DOGE security clearances. The email the OPM sent back read “Good luck with that, they just fired the whole privacy team.” The OPM quietly fired their privacy team, in addition to employees and communication staff that handled FOIA requests. An OPM official denied that the entire team was fired, but refused to elaborate further.

1:09 PM - Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says that Elon Musk’s role is to oversee DOGE, despite not officially being a part of the agency.

1:14 PM - The Trump administration plans to fire 40% of the employees at the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA provides mortgage insurance loans for lenders dealing with homebuyers that can’t afford a down payment or have low credit scores. The HUD is planning to cut 50% of their total department employees.

1:45 PM - The White House posts an ASMR video of illegal immigrants being deported on Twitter.

2:03 PM - Steve Bannon calls Elon Musk a “parasitic illegal immigrant”, another chapter to the long break between MAGAs Bannon and Musk.

2:20 PM - A GSA employee resigned after the Musk-affiliated Technology Transformation Services head requested admin/root access to the Notify.gov system. Notify.gov contains the personal phone number of millions of Americans, in addition to information such as if someone is enrolled in Medicaid.

2:37 PM - Senate Majority Leader John Thune [R-SD] says the Senate plans to move forward with their budget resolution this week.

2:44 PM - HHS Secretary RFK jr. told health officials that he would launch an investigation into ties between childhood vaccination schedules in addition to anti-depression medication to chronic diseases in the US., per ABC. The article also noted that 700 CDC employees were fired last week.

3:00 PM - DOGE operatives visited DOD officials at the Pentagon last Friday, according to CBS. SecDef Pete Hegseth welcomed their arrival in comments with the press last week. “There are waste, redundancies and headcounts in headquarters that need to be addressed.”

3:56 PM - Donald Trump signs an executive order to help expand access to IVF. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the EO directs policy recommendations to protect access and “aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs.” (actual good news?)

3:57 PM - Probationary employees at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) received termination notices today.

4:00 PM - DOGE claims to have saved $8b by cancelling immigration enforcement contracts with D&G Support Services LLC, a logistics contractor. The actual contract was for $8m. DOGE has claimed to have achieved $55b in savings.

4:20 - Donald Trump makes comments at his Mar-a-lago estate after signing executive orders. He says that it's ok for Europe to deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine, and that not all US troops will be withdrawn from Europe (good news).

On Ukrainian frustrations with not having a seat at peace negotiations: “I hear they're upset about not having a seat. Well, they've had a seat for three years.”, and that Ukraine should have had a peace deal long ago. He also talked about Ukraine not having elections while engaged in the war, and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s approval rating is at 4% (his October 2024 approval was 70%). He also blamed Ukraine for starting the war.

On trade policy, Trump says that there will be 25% tariffs on cars, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors beginning in April. These figures were already previously known.

Trump also took time to attack AP for not calling the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”.

Donald Trump called the corrupt, claiming that millions of people are taking advantage of social security. “... if you take all of those millions of people off social security, all of the sudden we have a very powerful social security.”

Trump said he had no concerns about the mass layoffs happening, after being asked about his concerns due to NNSA employees being fired.

Trump said that he wouldn’t let Elon Musk partake in anything relating to space while working for the federal government. He also said that he wasn’t aware of any conflicts of interest re: Musk and his people working on the FAA and DOD.

4:31 PM - The Trump administration orders defense agencies to turn over a list of their civilian probationary employees by the end of Tuesday. Most of those people will likely be fired by the end of the day. There will be exemption requests for personnel deemed necessary for national security.

§:22 PM - DHS budgets $200m for their new ad campaign announced yesterday to deter illegal immigration.

5:25 PM - White House considers naming Alice Johnson, who had her life sentence commuted in 2018 by Donald Trump, to be “Pardon Czar”. The role will likely advise the president on who to consider for pardons or commuted sentences.

5:42 PM - Federal Judge Anthony Trenga issues a TRO on the firing of 11 CIA officers forced to either resign or get fired for being involved in the agency’s DEI and accessibility programs.

5:48 PM - Donald Trump signs an executive order to give himself the sole authority to interpret laws on the behalf of the executive branch, removing the discretion of independent agencies. “...they will no longer impose rules on the American people without oversight or accountability.” The AG can also interpret laws, but is subject to presidential supervision and control.

5:53 PM - USDA acknowledges that they “accidentally” fired employees that were working on the federal government's response to the Bird Flu outbreak, and is working to reverse the firings.

6:45 PM - Elon Musk considers giving American households a “DOGE Dividend” in 2026 worth $5,000. The number comes from 20% of the claimed $2t in cuts that DOGE has set as its goal by 2026.

6:45 PM - Howard Lutnick is confirmed 51-45 in the Senate as Secretary of Commerce.

6:49 PM - Russian Direct Investment Fund Chief Kirill Dmitriev says the US and Russia should have joint projects in the Arctic region. ExxonMobil and Rosneft cooperated on hydrocarbon exploration in the Arctic until 2018 when sanctions finally ended that partnership.

6:58 PM - Trump orders the DOJ to fire all remaining Biden-era US Attorneys, citing politicization. “We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence. America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System - THAT BEGINS TODAY.”

8:48 PM - The $ value of the D&G Support Services LLC contract has been modified to show $8b in the Federal Procurement Data System rather than $8m it originally was, in line with DOGE’s claim that the contract termination cut $8b by cancelling the contract.

9:00 PM - Donald Trump and Elon Musk appear in a joint interview on FOX News. Musk asserted that the president can use executive orders to impound funds (made illegal in 1974). Trump admitted most of his executive orders needed to be backed up with legislation, but that he had 4 years to do it.

Musk said that the bureaucracy is serving as an obstacle to enforcing the president's will. “If the will of the president is not implemented and the president is representative of the people that means the will of the people is not being implemented and that means we don't live in a democracy, we live in a bureaucracy.”

On his relationship with Musk, Trump said “I've always respected him... We watched the rocket ships, and we watched Tesla. You know, something that had an effect on me was when I saw the rocket ship come back and get grabbed like you grab a beautiful little baby.” He also called DOGE “100 geniuses”.

Elon Musk says that SpaceX will rescue astronauts stranded on the ISS by the malfunction of the Boeing Starliner in 4 weeks. Both he and Trump claimed that they were left up there for political reasons by the Biden administration.

On the $10m court settlement to Donald Trump via Twitter, Elon said that he left it up to his lawyers, while Trump said Musk got a discount because he was asking for a lot more money.

Regarding Elon Musk’s conflicts of interests, Trump says that he’s empowered Musk to regulate his own conflicts of interests. He also said Musk can’t get an advantage with DOGE because he’s targeting EV subsidies, which Elon would oppose since he owns Tesla (Musk has also attacked the subsidies). Elon Musk himself says he would recuse himself if a conflict of interest arose, and that he hasn't asked the president for anything.

2:00 AM - Park ranger and online celebrity Alex Wild reports that he and 800 other National Park employees were fired, the post has since then been deleted. “My supervisors and park leadership have made it clear that I am a valued and essential part of the team. This decision came from the top, DOGE and the new federal administration. I honestly can’t imagine how the parks will operate without my position. I mean, they just can’t. Tam the only EMT at my park and the first responder for any emergency. This is flat-out reckless.”

3:35 AM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] arrives in Riyadh ahead of US-Russia talks to end the Russo-Ukrainian War.

4:08 AM - Chinese Foreign Ministry warns that the US has “gravely backpedaled” after the State Department deleted language on the Taiwan fact sheet that said the US opposed Taiwanese independence. “We urge the U.S. to ... stop emboldening and supporting Taiwan independence and avoid further damaging China-U.S. relations and the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.”

8:04 AM - The Trump administration is pressuring the Romanian government to lift travel restrictions on the Tate brothers. The brothers are right-wing media darlings facing charges of human trafficking.

8:19 AM - Public Information reports that OSHA ordered the total destruction of 18 publications related to workplace safety practices, including physical copies. This comes as a part of the purge of DEI elements of the government, in this case the usage of DEI keywords in non-DEI contexts triggered the order to destroy the records.

8:20 AM - DOGE missed both deadlines it set for itself to publish a detailed list of “savings” they made.

8:56 AM - Twitter begins blocking links from Signal, an encrypted messaging site being used to leak information to media journalists. Trying to link to Signal on Twitter results in an error message, per The Verge.

9:21 AM - Sen. Ruben Gallego [D-AZ] indicates his support for the “Protecting Sensitive Locations Act”, which would prohibit immigration enforcement from launching actions within 1,000 feet of “sensitive locations” like schools and churches. The bill was

introduced by 21 Senate Democrats last week.

9:26 AM - Since the beginning of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, US support for Ukraine has fallen significantly. The percentage of people that say the US is doing too much for Ukraine is up to 41% from 7%, the percentage of people who have confidence in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has fallen from 72% to 50%.

9:52 AM - Financial Times reporting that European officials believe that Donald Trump would agree to withdraw troops from the Baltic States and further west if asked by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

11:18 AM - One FAA employee purged as a part of the federal mass layoffs claims he was being targeted for his views on Tesla and Twitter. “The official DOGE Facebook page started harassing me on my personal Facebook account..Less than a week later I was fired, despite my position allegedly being exempted due to national security.” FAA probationary employees working in radar, landing, and navigational aid maintenance were also fired as part of the mass layoffs.

11:58 AM - Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan during a court hearing today indicates her favor towards the plaintiffs’ views in the case regarding the constitutionality of DOGE. However, she will not grant a TRO on DOGE’s actions.

12:53 PM - Thousands of protestors gathered outside of the US Capitol in DC, protesting the overhaul of the federal government and mass layoffs of federal employees.

1:00 PM - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says Mexico will sue Google if they keep showing the entire Gulf as the “Gulf of America” to American users.

1:11PM - Four NYC deputy mayors are expected to resign within the next few days, per Politico. Those will be First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer [D-NY], Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Chauncey Parker. They all cite Eric Adams’ [D-NY] quid pro quo with the Trump administration as the reason why.

1:57PM - SecDef Pete Hegseth accuses the Biden administration of rushing an IRS tax audit to harm his image. “The party of ‘norms’ and ‘decency’ strikes again. We will never back down.” By extension he exposed that he owed the IRS $33,558.16.

2:15 PM - Delta Connection Flight 4819, carrying 80 people, crashed while landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport while flying from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. No passengers died in the crash.

2:35 PM - Trump posts on Twitter explaining why countries with a VAT, industrial subsidies, and non-tariff trade barriers will be subject to reciprocal tariffs. He claims all of these policies are unfairly taking advantage of America and unfair to American businesses.

3:22 PM - Retired General Wesley Clark on NEWSMAX says that Trump’s approach towards Russian President Vladimir Putin is to pull Russia out of the Axis of Upheaval, away from China.

3:43 PM - NYC Comptroller Brad Lander issued a letter to NYC Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY] after receiving the resignations of the 4 deputy mayors. He says that recent events could be considered an inability to govern, suggesting he could call an inability committee to remove Adams.

4:21 PM - NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams [D-NY] calls upon Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY] to resign. “This administration no longer has the ability to effectively govern with Eric Adams as mayor... the mayor’s actions and decisions... have led to months of instability and now compromise the City’s sovereignty.”

5:22 PM - FOX News host Jesse Watters on the outlet’s role in ring wing media: “We are waging a 21st century info warfare campaign against the left... Someone says something on social media, Musk retweets it, Rogan podcasts it, Fox broadcasts it...”

5:48 PM - Elbridge Collins, nominee for Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, faces opposition by GOP Senators, especially for his views on China. He suggested that the US shouldn't provoke China too much re Taiwan, and that the US should instead pressure Taiwan to spend more on the military. On the flip side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] and other Trump administration officials came to his defense.

7:09 PM - Michelle King, Acting Commissioner of the SSA, leaves the federal government following a dispute with DOGE over access to sensitive information, per WaPo.

7:15 PM - DOGE updates their website’s Savings page, showing that they've saved $55b in savings. THeir wall of receipts also includes the cancellation of the GSA office lease for late president Jimmy Carter's office within the Carter Center, cancelled by the government upon his death. “This example is silly, but it calls into question how many of these cuts are attributable to DOGE and how many are attributable to rote government action.”

7:35 PM - FDA employees tasked with reviewing Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain implants were fired as a part of the mass layoffs.

8:23 PM - The Food Head at the FDA, Jim Jones, resigns. He cites the firing of 89 of his employees, which he calls “reckless”, saying that it would be ‘fruitless’ to remain in his post.

8:32 PM - A court affidavit reveals a USAID employee stationed overseas could not medevac his pregnant wife suffering from medical issues due to the foreign funding freeze also blocking funding for overseas medevacs. The wife was instead hospitalized in-country until her due date. The employee also says he’s in contact with 25 other pregnant foreign aid workers that are fearful of losing their care when the agency shuts down fully on March 8. Another USAID employee in an affidavit said that the -funded Li Africa i isk of losi

8:44 PM - DHS Secretary Kristi Noem [R-SD] announces a nationwide and international ad campaign to warn “illegal aliens to leave our country NOW or face deportation with the inability to return to the US.” and serve as a deterrent for “criminal illegal aliens to not come to America. If they do, they will be hunted down and deported.”

8:56 PM - The White House confirms that Elon Musk isn’t an official part of DOGE, but is instead considered a senior advisor to the President.

9:09 PM - Gov. Kathy Hochul [D-NY] calls for a meeting with NYC officials in her Manhattan offices to discuss what to do re Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY]. Hochul has the power to remove Adams from his position if she so chooses.

9:58 PM - Eric Daugherty reports that Trump will sign executive orders at Mar-a-lago tomorrow.

10:40 PM - Federal Judge Randall Moss turns down a motion to block DOGE from accessing student loan data at the Department of Education. Moss says there is not enough indication of imminent danger of a public release of data.

4:00 AM - CNN article reports on the lack of Democratic Party initiative to oppose Trump. “Every day is an existential tug-of-war between worrying about sounding like shrill paranoiacs and worrying that they are not saying or doing nearly enough. They don’t know what the next three-and-a-half years are supposed to be when they already hit ‘Constitutional crisis’ in the first three-and-a-half weeks.” Some activist leaders are also afraid that protests may eventually be used as pretext for martial law.

4:59 AM - Rumors from Shashank Joshi, defence editor for The Economist, that Trump threatened Canada with “revisions to the border” and getting kicked out of the Five Eyes. Canada for their part responded by threatening American energy imports.

7:03 AM - The DOJ fired multiple judges handling immigration cases. The union representing the judges says that at least two dozen immigration officials working in the immigration court system have been fired since January 20. They also say it “makes no sense” to cut immigration court officials when they need to process the cases of everyone affected by the mass deportation program.

7:03 AM - At least one person from the EPA’s Office of Water, whose purpose is to ensure clean drinking water for the American population, was fired (if their angry reddit post is to be believed).

7:34 AM - Israeli MOD says they received shipments of 2,000 pound bombs from the United States. Trump lifted the ban on exporting 2,000 pound bombs to Israel that was enacted under Joe Biden.

7:43 AM - A US Court of Appeals rules 2-1 against the Trump administration in their appeal of Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger’s case. The appeals court decided that Dellinger could stay in his position as Special Counsel because the reinstatement was temporary as litigation plays out, and that the government often cannot appeal those temporary orders.

8:13 AM - Trump administration layoffs result in the firing of 25% of the 14 employees in the USDA’s National Animal Health Laboratory Network. The agency plays a critical role in the monitoring of animal-borne diseases nationwide.

8:29 AM - Survivors of Hurricane Helene express discontent with the slow response of FEMA to provide aid for affected residents, a long bureaucratic process that can delay aid by weeks or months. Some embrace Trump’s idea of getting rid of FEMA altogether to give disaster response and relief to the states to manage.

9:11 AM - Border Czar Tom Homan implies that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [D-NY-14] is committing obstruction of justice. AOC has been informing migrants of their constitutional rights and what they should do if being faced with immigration enforcement.

9:56 AM - Global Economic Policy Uncertainty Index hits an all-time high in January 2025, surpassing May 2020 during the peak of the COVID pandemic.

11:02 AM - French President Emmanuel Macron called for an emergency summit on Monday between “the heads of government from Germany, Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark. The presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, as well as the NATO chief”. The summit will discuss the future of European security as it seems more apparent that Europe can no longer rely on American protection, as SecDef Pete Hegseth indicated that troops would be withdrawn.

11:06 AM - NEC Director Kevin Hassett on the Trump administration’s Bird Flu plan: “What we need to do is have better ways with bio-security and medication and so on to make sure that the perimeter doesn't have to kill the chickens. To have a better, smarter, perimeter...they're killing chickens to stop the spread, but chickens don't really fly.”

12:03 PM - Bloomberg reporting that employees at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have also been affected by mass layoffs, in addition to the FDA and cbc.

12:03 PM - US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz says that the US deserves a “return” from Ukraine for all the aid given to them. He says that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be “very wise” to accept the mineral deal.

12:30 PM - The HHS ordered the CDC to take down all materials on their website relating to flu vaccine campaigns. At the same time, the US is experiencing the worst flu season it's had in 15 years.

12:39 PM - Bank of America strategists think that higher inflation in the US will be better for financial markets as it will force the Trump administration to implement lower tariffs.

12:42 PM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] says that both Ukraine and Europe should both be a part of negotiations to end the Russo-Ukrainian War.

1:06 PM - Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris appeals to the Supreme Court the Hampton Dellinger ruling that reinstated him to the position of Special Counsel, the first case related to the Trump administration that has made it to the Supreme Court.

1:14 PM - Parents under the Department of Education program “Charting My Path for Future Success Project”, which supported special-ed initiatives, were notified that their funding would be cut off via an email.

1:27PM - Trump is in Daytona, Florida, for the Daytona 500. His presidential motorcade made a lap around the lap to the loud cheers of the attending fans. He also radioed in to give a statement to the NASCAR drivers: “You are talented people, and are great people, and are great Americans.”

3:14 PM - Hundreds of FAA technicians and engineers were fired as a part of the mass layoffs, per an email sent to a Senator by commercial airline pilot Dylan Sullivan. “FAA technicians undergo years of specialized training to maintain mission critical systems and cannot be replaced quickly.

3:41 PM - The NWS is struggling to get a public safety exemption from the Trump administration for the purposes of the federal hiring freeze. Without the exemption from the hiring freeze, the NWS could face steep cuts. Meteorologists in the US Forest Service have been able to get an exemption.

4:10 PM - Donald Trump in regards to egg prices reaching an all-time high: “Well, there's the flu. Before I ever got here it was at an all-time high.” He also said that he would allow the EU to ban food imports from the US if they wanted.

5:00 PM - British PM Keir Starmer says that he’s willing to deploy Royal Army troops to Ukraine in order to enforce a peace deal. The decision places pressure on other European nations to back the idea of a European army in Ukraine.

5:04 PM - The DOJ’s decision to halt funding to “sanctuary cities” puts the funding of local law enforcement and public safety programs at risk. The city of Los Angeles says the following funding could be impacted: $9.5m to support hiring and paying 20 officers from 2024-2027, $2m to fund DNA testing, $1.1m for the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, and $500k from the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women.

6:12 PM - Trump indicates he’s open to allowing European nations to purchase US weapons to give to Ukraine.

6:46 PM - Washington Post withdraws “Fire Elon Musk” ad orders by advocacy group Common Cause. The paper ad would have been delivered to subscribers in Congress, the Pentagon, and White House.

7:04 PM - The Trump administration manages to reverse the firings of all but 28 NNSA employees that were fired on Thursday.

7:09 PM - 25% of the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office, which has invested $43.9b in green energy and EV manufacturing projects, has been cut as a part of the federal mass layoffs.

7:28 PM - DOGE operatives request access to the IRS’ Integrated Data Retrieval System, which contains the personal tax information of millions of Americans. As of the ABC report, the access has not been granted.

7:40 PM - Federal Judge Lauren King, who previously blocked Trump’s executive order targeting gender-affirming care for people under 18, says that the EO is unconstitutional in multiple ways. She claims it usurps Congress’ power of the purse, and violates the 14th amendment's equal protection clause. She says it creates a situation where a cisgender person can access puberty blockers for cancer treatments, but a transgender person could not.

7:49 PM - DOGE creates Twitter pages for over a dozen federal departments and agencies, for people to give suggestions for “reducing waste, fraud, and abuse”. The GSA, State Department, SBA, Department of the Interior, HUD, National Park Service, Social Security Administration, OMB, Department of Education, OPM, DOJ, NASA, VA, USDA, FAA, DOT, EPA, and DOD all have a DOGE account.

8:11 PM - The Jewish Family Service in San Diego, which ran a migrant shelter, shuts down the shelter after receiving no new migrants since the shutdown of the CBP One asylum app on January 20.

9:15 PM - Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy [R-WI] says that members of Musk’s SPaceX team will access the ATC System Command Center tomorrow. Per Duffy, the team will “get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system.”

9:51 PM - NBC reports that a DOGE operative has gained access to the IRS’ Integrated Data Retrieval System.

9:58 PM - Rep. Claudia Tenney [R-NY-24] introduces a bill to make Donald Trump’s birthday, June 14, a federal holiday. She compared Trump to George Washington in level of importance.

1:04 AM - JD Vance says that the US could implement sanctions and possibly commit to military action against Russia if Russian President Vladimir Putin did not agree to a peace deal that guaranteed Ukrainian independence.

1:42 AM - The DOGE website is apparently connected to an unsecure database, allowing anyone with the technical skills to push updates to the website. One message on the front page of DOGE reads: “THESE ‘EXPERTS’ LEFT THEIR DATABASE OPEN - roro”.

2:00 AM - A Russian military drone strikes Chernobyl’s radiation shield, marking the first time Russia struck a nuclear power plant.

8:43 AM - Border Czar Tom Homan and Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY] appear jointly on FOX News. Homan verbatim describes quid pro quo with Adams. “If he doesn’t come through ... I'll be in his office, up his butt, saying, ‘Where the hell is the agreement we came to?”

8:56 AM - While speaking at the Munich Security Conference, JD Vance compares Greta Thunberg to Elon Musk. “If Americans can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”

Regarding Russian election interference in Romania: You can believe it’s wrong for Russia to buy social media advertisements to influence your elections.. but if your democracy can be destroyed by a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising then it wasn’t very strong to begin with.” Vance also criticized Europe for their immigration and speech policies. He claims that immigration in Europe is out of control, and that European leaders were not listening to their voters. He also criticized Europe's policies of policing hate speech and misinformation.

“The threat that I worry about the most vis-à-vis Europe, it’s not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.”

9:58 AM - Missouri AG Andrew Bailey [R-MO] launches a lawsuit against Starbucks. He claims that because Starbuck has become “less white” and “more female”, Missouri's consumers are paying higher prices and waiting longer because of their workforce being less qualified.

10:20 AM - The Treasury's Inspector General has started an audit of the US government payment system’s security following DOGE gaining access.

10:30 AM - DOGE targets the FOIA at the agencies they're currently working on. As a part of the Executive Office of the President, they're normally not subject to FOIA, however FOIA requests can be filed under the agencies that DOGE is working on. For example, DOGE tells the CFPB to notify them of any FOIA request relating to their work and any inquiries from Congress, Inspectors Generals, and the GAO.

10:51 AM - 1,135 USCG members had their direct deposit routing information compromised due to a data breach from someone with unauthorized access.

11:01 AM - DOJ Public Integrity Unit lawyers were put into a room and made to decide if they will dismiss Mayor Eric Adams’ [D-NY] charges or else they'd all be fired, per NBC legal analyst Barb McQuade. There are 22 people in the room.

11:02 AM - Assistant US Attorney Hagan Scotten’s resignation letter is publicized. “No system of ordered liberty can allow the government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives.

11:02 AM - Trump administration officials will not meet with the Russian delegation in Munich, despite the fact that Trump said that “Russia is going to be there with our people.” JD Vance will instead meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later today.

11:40 AM - NPR reporting that DOGE is planning to cut 8% from next year’s defense budget.

11:56 AM - Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Tom Krause, an affiliate of DOGE and Elon Musk, is still holding his job as CEO of Cloud Software Group.

12:03 PM - More than 5,000 HHS employees from the NIH, CDC, and other agencies, will be fired this afternoon. This will primarily target federal employees hired in the past 1-2 years.

12:18 PM - The US delegation at Munich presented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with a document that would have handed the US 50% rights to Ukraine’s future mineral reserves. Zelensky refused to sign the deal.

12:22 PM - After being named Chair of the House DOGE Committee, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene [R-GA-14] bought stock in Tesla, a company owned by DOGE Executive Elon Musk.

12:30 PM - Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich says that AP will be barred from Oval Office and Air Force One access due to their continued usage of the name “Gulf of Mexico” instead of “Gulf of America”. Calling the AP’s decision “divisive” and “misinformation”.

12:39 PM - Career federal prosecutors will move to dismiss Mayor Eric Adams’ [D-NY] case under pressure from Acting Deputy AG Emil Bove. The only signature on the actual paper is Emil Bove’s, he couldn't find anyone in the Southern District of New York to sign it.

12:42 PM - The Trump administration issued new guidance to limit PEPFAR-funded PrEP injections, used to reduce the risk of HIV infection to pregnant and breastfeeding women, excluding homosexuals and transgenders from receiving preventative care for HIV/AIDS.

1:05 PM - Over $151m taken by the Army from soldier's paychecks to cover food costs in barracks, $460 per month per soldier, known as BAS, has been taken for purposes other than food costs. That is well over half the $225m taken as part of the BAS.

1:10 PM - Every government web page restored via court order related to gender contains an extensive disclaimer at the top of the page. In part; “Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female.”

1:22 PM - DOGE operatives arrived at the HUD and began reviewing the department’s budget and work structure to identify cuts. HUD Secretary Scott Turner [R-TX] says DOGE has identified at least $260m in potential cuts already.

1:44 PM - Donald Trump will sign an executive order today to block federal funding from schools that mandate COVID 19 vaccines. Iris Tao’s breakdown: Bars federal funding for K-12 & colleges requiring COVID vaccines, directs Education & HHS to issue compliance rules, mandates a report on non-compliant schools & funding cuts, aims to protect “medical freedom”.

2:11 PM - Donald Trump is officially nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in returning Israeli hostages from Gaza, and efforts to free ongoing hostages.

2:25 PM - DOGE published the budget and headcount of the National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO) on their website, both of which were classified information. The NRO is an intelligence agency that designs, builds, and maintains the nation’s intelligence satellites.

2:48 PM - NTSB says that the Blackhawk involved in the AA5342 disaster might not have received the ATC transmission telling them to pass behind the passenger plane’s landing route.

2:56 PM - The US Army officially bars transgenders from enlisting in the Army will stop providing gender-affirming care for servicemembers.

2:58 PM - The CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service, some 1,260 employees, have been laid off effective immediately. The Trump administration calls this “Phase 1”.

3:38 PM - Per NewsWire parroting the NYT, the IRS is preparing to lay off thousands of employees.

3:45 PM - Some House GOP are planning to impeach judges standing in the way of Donald Trump’s policies. Articles of Impeachment against Paul Engelmayer and John McConnell are both being prepared by Rep. Eli Crane [R-AZ-2] and Andrew Clyde [R-GA-9] respectively.

3:47 PM - JD Vance meets with leaders of the four major German political parties. This includes far-right party AfD, a party also being backed by Elon Musk.

3:50 PM - Trump in the Oval Office says that the US will no longer provide military protection for Canada unless it becomes the 51st state.

3:57 PM - Federal Judge Lauren King orders a block to Trump's executive order targeting gender-affirming care for people under 18, a day after a Baltimore judge temporarily halted the order from going into effect.

4:04 PM - The USGS’ update to change the name of the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America” introduced errors to the world map. Half of the Netherlands is flooded, Israel is labelled as “no man’s land”, the Atlantic Ocean is the “Pacific Ocean”, and Northumbria has been split from the south of England by a giant channel.

4:07 PM - Federal judge extends the temporary block on Elon Musk and DOGE from accessing the Treasury payment systems.

4:19 PM - Trump administration denies Gov. Brian Kemp’s [R-GA] request to give local governments more time to request federal disaster aid post-Helene.

4:31 PM - OpenAl’s board unanimously rejects Elon Musk’s bid to buy the company for $97.4b, calling it an attempt to disrupt the competition.

5:14 PM - Ina Twitter post, DOGE accidentally published the names, addresses, signatures, and tax ID numbers of government contractors on behalf of two companies that were serving mortgage loans funded by the HUD. The tweet was edited and new redacted screenshots replaced the old ones, but the edit history still shows their information.

5:20 PM - Former Head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Jill Hruby says that the termination of hundreds of NNSA employees will delay the country’s nuclear modernization program, which costs $1.7t. The NNSA employees were terminated last night, but hose havi n being rescin he administration. The Trump administration reportedly did not realize that the agency oversaw the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, per CNN.

5:26 PM - Trump considers replacing the grass in the Rose Garden with a limestone or hardwood patio, like the one he has in his Mar-a-lago estate, per NYT.

5:52 PM - Federal Judge Amy Jackson issues a temporary restraining order on mass firings at the CFPB and prevents the removal or impairment of any data or CFPB records.

6:15 PM - FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson issues a statement declaring that all FTC political appointees will be banned from holding leadership positions at the American Bar Association (ABA), attending or participating in ABA events, or renewing membership with the ABA. This comes after the ABA issued a statement denouncing the Trump administration for violating the rule of law.

7:08 PM - The VA fires 1,000 new employees effective immediately, part of a move that would save the department $100m. Most of those fired were medical personnel, positions facing shortages already.

7:24 PM - The Department of Energy is seeking to bring back nuclear energy specialists after laying off hundreds of workers as part of the mass layoffs that began yesterday.

8:32 PM - Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [D-NY] claims that the Trump administration may be cutting staff at the World Trade Center Health Program, which services people affected by 9/11 such as first responders or people who lived in Lower Manhattan during the attacks.

8:38 PM - NASA work centers will issue termination notices for all probationary employees on February 18.

8:49 PM - CBP issued a memorandum to not use body cameras, citing a risk of IEDs (???). "Effective Immediately until further notice, agents will cease the use of body worn cameras, Border Patrol has been made aware of a potential safety risk concerning body worn cameras relating to improvised explosive devices..."

9:16 PM - The Measles outbreak in West Texas has doubled the case count to 48 and spread to New Mexico where 3 new cases have been reported. This is the largest Measles outbreak in the region since 1996.

10:07 PM - CISA has frozen all work regarding election security and will review the past 8 years of efforts to help state and local officials secure their elections. CISA became a target for the right wing for not affirming their election conspiracies in the 2020 election.

9:00 AM - Per WaPo, a team of DOGE operatives have been developing plans to systematically eliminate DEI from the federal government. However, they will also target people in non-DEI roles that they deem to be DEI related, including firing people in offices relating to protecting employee civil rights and investigating employee discrimination.

10:35 AM - Per WaPo reporter Jeff Stein, mass layoffs are affecting areas across the country. Energy Department staff that handled some homeowners’ electrical bills are no longer there. All but 2 employees in one state’s USDA program that assisted poor communities are gone. A Forest Service office that provided support to hikers, Christmas tree permits, and firewood for the elderly for a small Wyoming community has been shuttered.

11:14 AM - Senior officials from the US and Russia will meet in Saudi Arabia next week to pave the way for a potential meeting between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

12:00 PM - State Department removes the statement “we do not support Taiwan independence” from their Taiwan factsheet. In return they added the statement “We expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait.”

12:22 PM - Trump administration runs into issues trying to rehire NNSA employees they fired on Thursday. “The termination letters for some NNSA probationary employees are being rescinded, but we do not have a good way to get in touch with those personnel.”

1:32 PM - Donald Trump tweets a quote from Napoleon Boneparte used to justify his seizure of power. “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

2:28 PM - Senior Ukrainian officials say that Ukraine was neither informed of nor invited to the Russo-American talks in Saudi Arabia next week.

2:30 PM - Trump administration has identified 15,000 IRS employees for potential termination as early as next week, per ABC.

5:47 PM - Former Vice President Mike Pence [R-IN] reposts an article he wrote on limits to the power of the President today. “It is not his job or his prerogative to redefine custom, law, and beliefs; to appropriate industries; to seize the country, as it were, by the shoulders or by the throat so as to impose by force of theatrical charisma his justice upon 300 million others.”

8:14 PM - FDA fires all employees probationary employees via an email. They cite performance issues as a reason, even for individuals that were graded highly in performance. Unknown number of employees affected.

8:18 PM - Vivek Ramaswamy [R-OH] files to run for Ohio Governor.

8:30 PM - At the 4 Nations Face-Off, a major international hockey event, the US and Canadian national teams meet. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau also attended the game. The American anthem is booed while being sung during pregame ceremonies and then fights break out between players seconds into the game. Canada lost 1-3 to the US.

9:08 PM - South Korean Foreign Minister Cho-Tae Yul says the country has “no doubts” about the US’ security guarantees being upheld, citing bipartisan support in the US Congress for South Korea.

10:17 PM - DOGE begins giving termination prices to United States DOGE (Digital) Service employees that were a part of the agency pre-Trump.

12:00 AM - Chinese Salt Typhoon hackers continue to breach telecom systems globally. 5 telecom providers were affected from December 2024 to January 2025, including 2 in the US, via unpatched Cisco devices. Officials tasked with investigating Salt Typhoon were fired last month at the start of the second Trump administration.

6:26 AM - Financial Times reports that European officials are struggling to contact American officials about the peace negotiations for the Russo-Ukrainian War.

7:30 AM - NYT reporting that the State Department has drawn up a list of cartels to be labeled as FTOs. Those will be: Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Clan del Golfo, Cartel de Sinaloa (CDS), Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacién (CJNG), Cartel del Noreste (CDN), La Familia Michoacana, and the Carteles Unidos.

8:07 AM - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine will not accept any peace deal that did not involve them in the negotiations.

8:33 AM - Internal memos obtained by CBS show that Guantanamo Bay is being used to hold low risk migrants that lack serious criminal charges. The Trump administration said the base would only be used to hold migrants with serious charges. 110 migrants are currently being held at Guantanamo Bay.

8:38 AM - DOJ sends a letter to the House Judiciary Committee justifying the firing of independent agency officials in the NLRB and EEOC. “The Dept has concluded that those tenure protections are unconstitutional.” Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935) protects members of independent agencies from removal outside of reasons specified by Congress.

8:45 AM - Trump administration begins purging Biden-appointed US Attorneys, it’s unclear how many have been affected. It will pave the way for Trump-appointed US Attorneys to dominate the legal scene.

8:49 AM - Trump announces on Truth Social he will host a news conference in the Oval Office at 1 PM to announce reciprocal tariffs on all tariffs placed on American exports.

10:12 AM - Acting CFPB Director, OMB Director, and Project 2025 co-author Russ Vought sets up a tip line at the CFPB for people to report the CFPB for conducting ongoing regulatory actions. “The CFPB has been a woke and weaponized agency against disfavored industries and individuals for a long time... this must end.”

10:43 AM - DOGE operative assigned to the Department of Education says that they haven’t accessed student borrower tax info during court proceedings. They did say that they might do so for “conducting analyses to estimate costs related to student loan repayment plans, awards, or debt discharges.”

10:56 AM - While speaking at the NATO summit at Brussels, Hegseth says that the US should not prioritize national values when dealing with foreign policy. “We can talk all we want about values. Values are important. But you can't shoot values.”

11:07 AM - Sen. Tina Smith [D-MN] announces she will not run for reelection in 2026. THis potentially opens up a place for former VP candidate Gov. Tim Walz [D-MN] to fill the position.

11:30 AM – RFK Jr. is confirmed as HHS Secretary 52-48 in the Senate. Sen. Mitch McConnell [R-KY] is again the only defector against his party.

11:51 AM - The UN is forced to lay off thousands of employees following the US foreign aid freeze. 2,000 people from the International Organization for Migration and 600 UNHCR staff were affected.

11:57AM - CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp alleged engaged in lewd conduct and sexual harassment of men in a Virginia bar, per Yashar Ali.

12:05 PM - Brooke Rollins is confirmed 72-28 in the Senate as Secretary of Agriculture.

1:39 PM - During the phone call yesterday between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump, Zelensky told Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin only wants a deal because he is afraid of Trump. Trump replied that he could be right, and that “We will know soon”. He also said he understood that Ukraine needed security guarantees in the peace deal, and that a European peacekeeping force might be a possible option.

1:54 PM - Donald Trump signs a memorandum placing reciprocal tariffs for every tariff placed on American exports. He also said that value-added taxes (VATs) would be considered a tariff, and the reciprocal tariffs would factor in subsidies and trade barriers established by foreign nations. He also said that tariffs on cars might be on the table as well. These tariffs will be implemented after Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick is confirmed and finishes studies to determine appropriate reciprocal tariff levels, somewhere around April 1.

2:01 PM - DOGE operators are now at the IRS, according to Sen. Ron Wyden [D-OR].

2:21 PM - Danielle Sassoon, US Attorney for Manhattan, resigns from the DOJ after being asked to drop corruption charges on Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY]. Her leaked resignation letter accuses the DOJ of going behind her back to illegally negotiate an illegal deal to drop the charges. She was a Trump appointed attorney who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, and member of the Federalist society.

2:23 PM - SecDef Pete Hegseth calls Poland a “model ally” twice while in Europe, once in Germany and another in Brussels (actually a good take).

2:37 PM - Teslatakedown.org, is planning a nationwide protest on February 15 at Tesla plants and showrooms to protest Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration.

2:47 PM - Trump says that prices could “go up somewhat short term” when asked how his trade policy would affect prices.

2:51 PM - Donald Trump on Canada’s trade with the US and their military: “Canada has been very bad to us on trade, but now Canada is gonna have to start paying up ... they think we're gonna protect them, with our military, which is unfair. Canada is gonna be a very interesting situation because we just don't need their product ... Canada is gonna be a very serious contender to be our 5ist state.”

2:57 PM - After being told that they would be handling the Eric Adams [D-NY] case, Acting Head of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section John Keller, and his boss Kevin Driscoll, resigned.

3:00 PM - Trump blames Biden for starting the Russian Invasion of Ukraine because he said that Ukraine could join NATO.

3:07 PM - Trump accuses Taiwan of stealing the microchip industry from the US. “We had Intel. Had these great companies that did so well. It was taken from us. And we want that business back. If they don't bring it back we're not going to be very happy.” (Note: the US lost the microchip race because they didn’t invest enough)

3:05 PM - All OPM employees on probation were fired in amass phone call. Chuck Ezell, the Acting OPM Director, told employees to “use this as an opportunity for your next step forward”. On-site employees were given less than an hour to vacate offices.

3:06 PM - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urges the German Bundestag to declare a state of emergency, citing “the events of the last 24 hours and statements from the U.S. government” regarding Ukraine.

3:10 PM - DOGE operatives consider replacing financial aid consultants at the Department of Education with an AI chatbot.

3:12 PM - Federal Judge Leo Sorokin issues a nationwide block of Trump's birthright citizenship executive order, the fourth judge to do so.

3:16 PM - When asked if he would direct agencies to research the impact of tariffs on prices in the US, Trump said he wouldn't because “There's nothing to study. It's gonna go well.”

3:24 PM - Donald Trump said he wants to hold joint talks with Russia and China about cutting military spending, potentially up to half, alongside talks of denuclearization. He also said he wants Russia to rejoin the G7 after being expelled following the start of the Invasion of Ukraine. Canada hosts the next G7 conference.

3:25 PM - Donald Trump starts attacking Sen. Mitch McConnell [R-KY] for voting against his nominees. Calling him a “bitter guy” lashing out against Trump, and sowing doubt on if he ever had polio. He also said that McConnell was not mentally equipped, and hasn’t been for at least 10 years.

3:50 PM - Federal judge in Baltimore blocks Trump's executive order targeting gender-affirming care for transgender youth up to 18 years old.

4:53 PM - Indian PM Narendra Modi meets Donald Trump at the White House. Trump says that the US and India will negotiate a trade deal.

4:55 PM - SecDef Pete Hegseth invited far-right activist Jack Posobiec on his overseas trip to Europe. US defense officials were alarmed by the idea of dragging the military into partisan warfare.

4:56 PM - A breakdown of the “Make America Healthy Again” EO by Crémieux Recueil on Twitter. The executive order directs the NIH and other federally funded health research institutions to focus on causal research, and for health insurance options to provide support to beneficial lifestyle changes and disease prevention. It also establishes the “President's Make America Health Again Commission” chaired by the HHS Secretary, alongside multiple important positions such as Agriculture Secretary, HUD Secretary, VA Secretary, EPA administrator, and OMB director. The commission will establish facts about chronic disease in children, then to relay those to the President. “it will be looking at the impacts of chemicals and food additives, medications like Adderall and SSRIs, education and lifestyle programs, and, most importantly, the quality of the data used to monitor population health issues.”

5:03 PM - Politico: Trump administration begins mass layoffs for multiple agencies targeting probationary employees. Those would include at least 77,000 federal employees that accepted the deferred resignation option. The Department of Education, OPM, SBA, CFPB, and GSA are all initiating layoffs. The Department of Energy plans to lay off 2,000 employees on probation. It would affect around 200,000 federal employees hired in the bast 2 vears.

5:27 PM - NYC Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY] says he would sign an executive order to allow immigration enforcement officers into the Rikers Jail Complex.

5:35 PM - Trump administration orders Oak Ridge National Lab to stop work orders on all contracts stemming from the funding of the Infrastructure Act and Inflation Reduction Act.

5:37 PM - National Park Service removes all mention of transgenders from their Stonewall National Monument.

5:51 PM - Louisiana’s Department of Health tells state health workers to end mass vaccination clinics and bans employees from promoting seasonal vaccinations.

6:01 PM - Three more DOJ Public Integrity Unit officials have resigned after meeting with Acting Deputy AG Emil Bove re: Eric Adams [D-NY]. That marks 6 DOJ resignations, 5 in the PIU alone, triple the number that resigned during the Saturday Night Massacre. A 4th PIU official cannot resign because she’s currently giving birth.

6:20 PM - Trump says that the US will increase military sales to India, including F-35 stealth fighters.

6:29 PM - The foreign aid freeze also froze the State Department's International Narcotics and Law (NIL) program in Mexico. The NIL was a program designed to target the fentanyl supply chain in the country.

6:34 PM - Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [D-NY-14] calls for the removal of NYC Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY] if he doesn’t resign. “As long as Trump wields this leverage over Adams, the city is endangered. We cannot be governed under coercion.” Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado [D-NY] also calls for Adams’ resignation.

7:14 PM - Panama receives the first deportation flight from the US composed of 119 non-Panamanian deportees. Panamanian President Raul Mulino says that it was the first of 360 such people, and that they'll be sheltered in the Darien region until a final flight to their home countries.

7:24 PM - Apple is set to allow TikTok to return to the app store tonight, following reassurances from AG Pam Bondi [R-FL] and Donald Trump.

7:38 PM - DOD ends paid days off on 4-day weekends, and floats a change to the retirement system so that veterans cannot get both disability and retirement benefits.

8:25 PM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s [R-FL] plane experiences a depressurization event due to a cracked window while en route to Munich, forcing the plane to turn back around for Rubio to take a new flight.

8:35 PM - The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is dropping programs with a hint of LGBTQ themes and removing them from the website, per WaPo.

9:32 PM - Gov. Kathy Hochul [D-NY] does not rule out using her gubernatorial powers to remove NYC Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY] from his position.

9:54 PM - Federal Judge Amir Ali blocks the Trump administration from cancelling foreign aid contracts and awards that were in place prior to the inauguration on January 20. Ali said that the blanket suspension of contracts did not consider the damage it would do to the hundreds of businesses and organizations reliant on that aid.

3:07 AM - SecDef Pete Hegseth arrives at NATO headquarters in Brussels for talks with allied military leaders. “NATO must be a stronger, more lethal force—not a diplomatic club. Time for allies to meet the moment.”

6:54 AM - News organizations sued the Trump administration after 9 videos from J6 being used to prosecute rioter Glen Simon were removed from a DOJ website. They're asking the evidence be restored and an explanation be given within 24 hours.

8:06 AM - Donald Trump says that interest rates should be lowered alongside the implementation of tariffs on foreign goods. Markets predict the Federal Reserve will not ease interest rates at all this year pending the impact of tariffs and a potential trade war.

8:39 AM - SecDef Pete Hegseth confirmed with UK Defense Minister John Healey that the US would have “continued commitment and involvement" in the Ukraine Defense Contract Group.

8:45 AM - SecDef Pete Hegseth says that the US does not view Ukrainian NATO membership as a realistic outcome of a peace deal.

8:57 AM - SecDef Pete Hegseth says that the US will focus on Asia and containing China in the Indo-Pacific region.

9:38 AM - A ceasefire between the Mexican gangs Grupo Escorpion and the Metros was established today under pressure from the Mexican government. The deal would end disputes over territorial control in the RGV, cease fentanyl trafficking, and prevent the harm of deported immigrants affiliated with each other's gangs. This comes as the groups become concerned with a possible FTO designation.

10:05 AM - The CPI release for January 2025 indicates that the inflation rate increased to 3% from last year, rising by 0.5% from December 2024, the fastest monthly increase since August 2023. Core CPI rose 0.4% from December 2024, 3.3% since last year. These are both higher than expected by economists. Trump posted on Truth Social “BIDEN INFLATION UP!” in response to the CPI release.

10:06 AM - House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY-8] announces the creation of a Rapid Response Task Force headed by Reps. Rosa DeLauro [D-CT-3], Gerry Connolly [D-VA-11], and Jamie Raskin [D-MD-8].

10:32 AM - House GOP budget proposal would call for $2t in mandatory spending cuts, an increase of the debt ceiling $4t, and $4.5t in tax cuts. At the same time it allocates an additional $200b for border security.

11:49 AM - Tulsi Gabbard [R-HI] is confirmed 52-48 in the Senate as Director of National Intelligence. Sen. Mitch McConnell [R-KY] somehow managed to be the only defector from the GOP.

11:53 AM - Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to meet and visit each other's nations after having a phone call with each other. He will be calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately afterwards.

11:54 PM - Rep. Tim Burchett [R-TN-2] will introduce the “Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025”. The act would allow the government to commission private militias to “seize persons and property of any cartel, cartel member, or cartel-linked organization.”

12:47 PM - Federal Judge James Boasberg orders the DOJ to not remove any J6 videos from their database.

1:21 PM - Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issues the Trump administration’s response to judges blocking their actions and to the media.

“Many outlets in this room have been fear mongering the American people into believing there is a constitutional crisis taking place here at The White House. But in fact the real constitutional crisis is taking place within our judicial branch where district court judges in liberal districts are abusing their power.”

“We believe these judges are acting as judicial activists rather than honest arbiters of the law.”

“We will comply with the law in the courts, but we will also continue to seek every legal remedy to ultimately overturn these radical injunctions and ensure President Trump's policies can be enacted.”

1:27 PM – A USAID employee testified about their escape from the DRC following the cutting of USAID funding. They were forced to leave their homes and all of their possessions. Their mission was to counter Chinese influence in the Congo and limit their access to cobalt.

1:29 PM - When asked to provide evidence of fraud, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt showed screenshots of contracts that contradicted Trump's policies. Going against Trump's policies is not fraud.

1:37 PM - Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the media is free to bring up any conflicts of interest relating to Elon Musk and his actions in DOGE (they won't do anything).

1:40 PM - White House designates DOGE as an entity immune from public records requests and most judicial injunctions until at least 2034.

1:43 PM - SecDef Pete Hegseth says that “stark strategic realities” will stop the US from being the main guarantor of European security.

1:59 PM - EPA employees were notified of the termination of remote work, and ordered to return to offices by February 18.

1:59 PM - Trump administration took back $80m worth of FEMA funding to New York City. The Mayor’s Office is talking with the administration to recoup the funds, while also scheduling an emergency meeting with FEMA to resolve the issue. The Corporation Counsel is also exploring litigation options.

2:18 PM - Apple restarts advertising on Twitter for the first time in over a year, since ELon Musk began making controversial statements on the website during November 2023.

2:33 PM - Trump is elected as Chair of the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts’ Board of Trustees.

2:50 PM - Russian State TV Host Evgeny Popov praises the Trump administration for tearing apart the western world the way Russia always wanted to. He calls the events “truly amazing.”

2:52 PM - Reuters’ DC reporter Brad Heath notes that Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX has been paid $43m by the US government since he became DOGE Executive.

2:58 PM - Two transgender girls in New Hampshire, Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, sue to challenge Trump’s executive order excluding transgender girls and women from participating in girl’s and women’s sports.

3:10 PM - Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley says proposed 25% tariffs on Canada and MExico would destroy the auto industry. “A 25% tariff across the Mexico and Canadian border will blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we have never seen.”

3:49 PM - An AP reporter was blocked from entering the Oval Office for the second straight day. They were there to cover the swearing in of DNI Tulsi Gabbard [R-HI].

3:57 PM - The GSA plans to sell off over 500 buildings, some of which house government agencies and the offices of US Senators.

3:57PM - Jon Stewart asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY-8] why the Dems are focusing on messaging over better policies and returning to New Deal values. Jeffries responded that the Democrats need to make Americans “feel that we understand the pain that they've been in".

4:03 PM - State Department tells US embassies around the world to prepare for staff reductions.

4:08 PM - Army guidance on Trump’s transgender military ban says to NOT take “adverse personnel action” against service members based on identity and to continue gender affirming care, court proceedings reveal.

4:35 PM - During an Oval Office presser, Trump was asked if Ukraine was an equal in the peace process. He deflected, and implied that it was Ukraine's fault they're currently at war. “It's an interesting question. I think they have to make peace. That was not a good war to go into.” Trump also focused on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s polling numbers and said he should hold an election. He also said Ukraine returning to pre-invasion borders would be unlikely, saying that “they (Russia?) took a lot of land and they fought for that land.”

4:43 PM - Trump says that there’s “no chance” that forms of fraud are not happening with government funding.

4:49 PM - Trump says he would like to see the Department of Education shut down “immediately.”

5:10 PM - AG Pam Bondi [R-FL] files a civil suit against the State of New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul [D-NY], State AG Letitia James [D-NY], and Mark Schroeder. She claims the administration is acting to defend “Angel Moms”; mothers who've lost children to illegal immigrant crimes.

5:27 PM - The Department of Education announces investigations into the Minnesota State High School League and California Interscholastic Federation for not banning transgender athletes.

5:29 PM - (cutting out partisan language) France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, and the UK sign a joint statement promising to protect Ukrainian sovereignty and demanding a role in Ukraine-Russia peace talks.

5:41 PM - Trump signs the executive order “One Voice for America's Foreign Relations.” The order directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] to ensure that all State Department employees implement Trump’s foreign policy agenda.

6:12 PM - Federal judge allows the deferred resignation program to proceed. He ruled that the labor unions did not have standing to challenge, because they only claimed alleged injury from the program.

6:53 PM - Dozens of employees at the Technology Transformation Service have been fired today.

7:07 PM - A leaked OPM email indicates that mass layoffs are beginning across the federal government. The average agency will face 30-40% budget cuts, with exceptions for some groups like the military.

7:20 PM - The Trump administration opts to end admissions into the deferred resignation program effective at this time after a federal judge cleared the program.

7:41 PM - Indian PM Narendra Modi visits the US for bilateral discussions for the first time. He meets with DNI Tulsi Gabbard [R-HI].

8:22 PM - The White House announces that Belarus has released another American hostage, though doesn’t name who it was.

8:45 PM - Elon Musk’s company Tesla is likely to receive a State Department contract worth $400m for armored Tesla Cybertrucks.

9:20 PM - The final number of federal employees that accepted the deferred resignation option is numbered at 75,000, according to Semafor. That represents 3.75% of the federal workforce.

5:06 AM - JD Vance and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau spoke at an AI conference in France about the impact of steel tariffs on Ohio.

5:10 AM - Elon Musk publishes the personal information of Judge John McConnell’s daughter on his social media account in retaliation for his rulings against DOGE and the Trump administration.

6:56 AM - US foreign aid freeze causes its first deaths. A 71 year old Myanma refugee in Thailand died after her oxygen supply from the USAID funded hospital was cut off. Dozens of aid stations and hospitals in and around Myanmar have shut down due to the dismantling of the USAID.

6:57 AM - Trump Truth Social post instructs EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin [R-NY] to revert to home appliance standards established under the first Trump administration as opposed to the ones set under Joe Biden.

7:19 AM - The NIH is still freezing funding in defiance of two court orders, something confirmed by an NIH official.

7:31 AM - Pope Francis issues a letter to US Bishops to decry the mass deportation program. He rejects “any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality." The letter also addresses JD Vance by name.

9:45 AM - Ina memo, FEMA admits that there isn’t enough office space to accommodate workers returning to the office due to the work-from-home ban. A suggestion they have to returning employees is to flip a coin to decide who gets the space.

9:48 AM - Following increasing threats from the Heritage Foundation, Elon Musk, and the Trump administration, Wikipedia is rolling out anonymity features for their editors to protect their identities and information.

9:49 AM - SEC proposes freezing their litigation against Binance, a case alleging major fraud and violations of US securities laws. Earlier reporting indicated that the SEC would not freeze litigation involving fraud.

10:29 AM - Trump threatens to put a 50-100% tariff on Canadian cars and car parts during a FOX News interview. He claims that Canada “stole” the car industry from the United States.

10:46 AM - The DHS fires 4 officials for “circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments.” This includes FEMA's Chief Finance Officer for leasing luxury hotels for migrants.

11:19 AM - SecDef Pete Hegseth says that the US will not deploy troops to Ukraine. Meanwhile, they're asking European allies to spend more on defense when meetings with allies start this week.

11:25 AM - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen labels JD Vance as an ally after meeting him at an AI Summit in France. They discussed overproduction of steel from China depressing steel prices. This comes after von der Leyen vowed to respond to US tariffs on steel and aluminum.

11:26 AM - Steve Bannon pleads guilty in a New York state court for defrauding donors in his “We Build the Wall” scam. The charges are not pardonable by Trump because presidential pardons only cover federal charges.

11:40 AM - Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [D-NY-14] and Ilhan Omar [D-MN-5] think that the Democrats should not bail out the GOP on the March 14 shutdown deadline without massive concessions.

11:59 AM - DOGE operative Edward Coristine launched a secure private image sharing website allowing custom URL creation. The site was used by customers to create urls relating to CP, racial slurs, and rape.

12:24 PM - Federal Judge John Bates orders the CDC, NHS, and FDA to restore their websites and datasets to pre-January 30 conditions after certain pages were deleted or shut down.

12:43 PM - During a meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II, Trump said “We're going to take it, we're going to hold it, we're going to cherish it.” In reference to the Gaza Strip. He also reiterated his plan to have Jordan take Gaza Palestinians.

12:49 PM - Stacey Street, director of FEMA’s Office of Grant Administration, orders multiple grant programs to be frozen, even after 2 federal court rulings have ordered the freeze to stop.

12:56 PM - Civil Rights leader Al Sharpton convenes elected officials in New York City to decide further actions relating to Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY] after his charges were dropped by the DOJ. “Because we have clearly crossed the Rubicon.”

1:00 PM - Rep. Anna Paulina Luna [R-FL-13] is appointed by the House Oversight Committee to lead a task force on the declassification of the JFK assassination files.

1:15 PM - Trump deflects when asked if his Gaza plan is ethnic cleansing. “We're moving them to a beautiful location where they have new homes, where they can live safely, where they will have doctors and medical and all of those things.”

1:21 PM - Special Envoy Steve Witkoff leaves Russia with Marc Fogel, an American teacher that was serving a 14 year sentence in Russia. It was part of a prisoner swap with an unknown asset.

1:36 PM - Cornell University alongside 11 other universities join a lawsuit with the Association of American Universities, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and American Council on Education. They're suing the Trump administration for changing the indirect cost rule changes by the NIH.

1:52 PM - Rep. Melanie Stansbury [D-NM-1] says that DOGE is dismantling federal education programs by canceling grants and contracts from within the Department of Education. “The Department of Education is going to potentially be dissolved in the coming days.”

1:54 PM - Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order implementing DOGE’s “workforce optimization initiative”. It would mandate steep limits to the size of the federal workforce and direct agencies to cooperate with DOGE to cut staff and limit hiring.

2:11 PM - Mexican Senate approves the deployment of 10 US Army personnel into Mexico to train their navy’s special forces (SEMAR).

2:11 PM - Trans military veteran that committed suicide outside the VA in Syracuse has been identified as Elisa Rae Shupe. She was responsible for the mass email leak that detailed plans to eliminate transgenders from military and public life.

2:24 PM - Border Czar Tom Homan says that he’s looking for $175b over 4 years in the next spending bill. Sen. Lindsay Graham [R-SC] says “We're not building a wall, we are hitting the wall. We need the money and we need it now.”

2:38 PM - Senate Majority Leader John Thune [R-SD] dismisses a question asking if the Trump administration should comply with the federal court rulings. “Well, I think what you're seeing right now is the natural give and take between branches of the government.”

2:38 PM - Jordanian King Abdullah II issued a statement after his meeting with Donald Trump in Arabic. He said he reaffirmed the Arab world’s stance opposing the removal of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. He also restated his support for the two state solution.

3:08 PM - CBS/YouGov poll of Democrats says that 65% want their leaders to oppose Trump as much as possible, compared to 46% in January. 48% of respondents report that they have no confidence in Congressional Dems to oppose Trump effectively.

4:14 PM - When asked if he would abide by court orders, Donald Trump said “I'll always abide by the courts, but I'll appeal it. But appeals take a long time and I hope if you show a judge a corrupt check, I hope a judge would say give it back to the taxpayers.”

4:20 PM - The White House informed AP that if they did not align their reporting with the government's position on the “Gulf of America”, AP would be barred from accessing an Oval Office event.

5:06 PM - Trump clarifies his tariff plans. 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico would come into effect on March 4 as planned, followed by the 25% on steel and aluminum stacked on top on March 12.

5:12 PM - First Federal Circuit Court of Appeals denies the Trump administration’s appeal to unlift the block on the federal funding freeze.

5:13 PM - With Elon Musk at his side, Trump signed an executive order to implement DOGE’s “workforce optimization initiative”, as previously reported. “...the people voted for major government reform, and that's what people are going to get. They're going to get what they voted for.” Musk also took time to address concerns about DOGE accountability, saying that DOGE is in contact with the agency heads (Trump appointed or purposefully unfilled) and posts updates to their Twitter handle and website. For context, the website is only one page that has the department's logo, name, and motto.

5:13 PM - A new lawsuit is filed against Musk, DOGE, and the OPM. They allege DOGE’s access to their data is a violation of their privacy.

5:56 PM - Students at Patch Middle School in Stuttgart, Germany, walked out in protest of SecDef Pete Hegseth’s visit. The school is run by the US military for the children of US military personnel. Parents also gathered in earshot of Hegseth’s delegation and protested by chanting “DEI”.

6:35 PM - USAID's Inspector General Paul Martin was fired today after issuing a report on the impact of USAID’s dismantling by the Trump administration.

6:45 PM - A former aide to Labor Secretary nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer [R-OR] broke into a locked room at the Cannon House Office Building at 4 PM today, per US Capitol Police. USCP is looking for the suspect.

6:48 PM - Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the Trump administration defying court orders: "Court decisions stand whether one particular person chooses to abide by them or not. It doesn't change the foundation that it's still a court order that someone will respect at some point."

7:19 PM - After a late night floor speech on Monday night detailing her sexual abuse by 4 men, including her ex-fiance, Rep. Nancy Mace [R-SC-1] said she set up a hotline for sexual assault victims in her state. The hotline itself is a voicemail box that no one answers and leading advocates in South Carolina advise not to call. The investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) into her claims is ongoing.

7:57 PM - Treasury Department is investigating how DOGE operative Marko Elez was “mistakenly” given access to modify their database and systems, the investigation is ongoing.

7:58 PM - A breakdown of the workforce optimization initiative EO by Crémieux Recueil on Twitter. The OMB will put together a plan to make the federal workforce smaller and more efficient, with a mandated attrition rate of 1 hire for every 4 departures, with exceptions. DOGE Team Leads will approve every new hire and file a monthly report on the happenings of their assigned agency. Federal employees not performing necessary or legally mandated jobs are likely to be fired. Additional standards for the excepted service will be added, such as needing to follow legal obligations such as filing taxes, being a citizen, and certified NDA compliance. Agencies are also ordered to develop a comprehensive reorganization plan to identify offices not legally mandated, and offices that can be consolidated.

9:10 PM - CFPB employees on probation and with less than 1 year of experience are all terminated. They’re so hastily done that they only read "I am removing you from your position of (job)... effective (date)".

9:13 PM - Adam Boehler, US Envoy for Hostages, says that another American hostage will be released tomorrow. Who or where the hostage is coming from is not yet known.

1:10 AM - Federal Judge Kenneth Gonzales issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the Trump admin from sending Venezuelan migrants to Guantanamo Bay.

6:00 AM - WaPo reporting that farmers are missing millions of dollars combined in aid from the USDA, despite promises that the federal funding freeze would not affect programs directly affecting individuals.

9:05 AM - Donald Trump says that there would be no right of return for the Palestinians under his Gaza plan.

9:16 AM - Donald Trump orders the dismissal of the Board of Visitors for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guards. Trump claims the Service Academies were “infiltrated by Woke Leftist Ideologues over the last four years.” The Board of Visitors for each service branch provides the President advice and recommendations relating to the country’s military academies.

9:25 AM - Project 2025 co-author, OMB Director, and Acting CFPB Director Russ Vought orders all CFPB employees to cease working. The leaked email read, “Please do not perform any work tasks”, per CNN.

9:49 AM - Rep. Riley Moore [R-WV-2] says that the House GOP is looking at targeting mandatory spending to offset tax cuts, which would necessitate cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

11:02 AM - National Economic Council (NEC) Director Kevin Hassett was asked on CNBC if Trump was seriously considering annexing Canada. "When the US was founded, how many states did we have? And how many do we have now? And so, is it outlandish?"

11:07 AM - US Military continues enhanced surveillance activities around Northern Mexico. This includes at least 18 reconnaissance flights since the start of the second Trump administration. Usual activity is 1 flight per month.

11:21 AM - Per Politico, Former Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger sues the Trump administration arguing that his firing was illegal. Dellinger was appointed to head the Office of Special Counsel, which enforces federal whistleblower laws and the Hatch Act.

11:54 AM - SecDef Pete Hegseth issues a new memo preventing the accession of transgender military recruits and pausing all gender-affirming care. The memo says that all transgender service members “will be treated with dignity and respect,” and leaves decisions about their continued service and fitness to the Undersecretary for Personnel and Fitness.

11:56 AM - Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [D-NY] tells his caucus he wants to avoid a budget fight and government shutdown. He wants the Democrats to counter Trump via 4 strategies: investigations, litigation, legislation, and party messaging. “Senate Democrats will use our votes to help steady the ship for the American people in these turbulent times. It is incumbent on responsible Republicans to get serious and work in a bipartisan fashion to avoid a Trump Shutdown.”

12:09 PM - The White House will reverse Biden’s reforms on overdraft fees and blocking of medical debt from. being listed on credit reports.

12:14 PM - House GOP current plan for budget reconciliation calls for $2-2.5t in cuts. The cuts, which would necessitate cuts to senior welfare programs, is causing friction in the party.

12:27 PM - DOGE operatives Luke Farritor and Gavin Kilger are reclassified “read-only” CFPB system users to domain administrators. This grants them the power to provide or revoke access to CFPB systems. 12:30 PM - Federal Judge John McConnell determines that the Trump admin is still blocking federal funding in defiance of his court order. He is ordering the funds be immediately unfrozen, including for the NIH and the IRA.

12:48 PM - Senate GOP are not planning to touch Medicaid in their reconciliation bill. They will try to fund the proposed border and national security funding with energy leases.

12:53 PM - NYC Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY] gathered top NYC officials to order them to not criticize Trump or interfere with immigration enforcement.

1:07 PM - CNBC reports that Trump will sign an executive order to pause the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bans US companies and foreign firms from bribing foreign officials. He will direct AG Pam Bondi [R-FL] to prepare new guidelines for the enforcement of the law.

1:21 PM - Rep. Gerry Connolly [D-VA-11] on MSNBC says that the House GOP sank his motion to subpoena Elon Musk in the House Oversight Committee. "My motion to subpoena him, I thought, would have some broader support on the Republican side. It had none.”

1:25 PM - DOGE operative Edward Coristine is now listed as the Senior Advisor for the Bureau of Diplomatic Technology. The bureau is a critical hub for sensitive and nonsensitive State Department data.

1:30 PM - Axios reporting that Donald Trump is expected to pardon Fmr. Gov. Rod Blagojevich [D-IL]. Blagojevich served 8 years in prison for trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat after the 2008 election, until Trump commuted his sentence in 2020.

2:02 PM - Sen. Susan Collins [R-ME] denounces the NIH funding cuts as “arbitrary” and “poorly conceived”, saying that RFK jr, has promised to review the initiative if confirmed as HHS Secretary.

2:12 PM - HHS Secretary nominee RFK jr. is considering ending subsidies for high-fructose corn syrup.

2:45 PM - Per Ars Technica, after Trump cancelled the National Nature Assessment, the researchers in charge of the project retained control of the report and are still working to publish the report. The National Nature Assessment was a nationwide report on how nature loss affected climate change and humanity, providing comprehensive recommendations to address climate change and environmental issues, and was built from extensive community feedback.

2:48 PM - Steve Benyon reports that the US Military is dropping efforts to recruit Black STEM professionals at the Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA), citing concerns that recruiting at predominantly black events would run afoul of Trump’s anti-DEI efforts. Instead, the DOD will recruit at an NRA event.

3:01 PM - Federal Judge George O'Toole extends his TRO keeping the deferred resignation option open for federal employees. He has yet to make a final ruling on the issue.

3:05 PM - Trump admin is looking to deputize IRS agents for immigration enforcement with ICE. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem [R-SD] requested the agents in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

3:20 PM - The USAID has been stripped of the lease to their HQ building.

3:25 PM - USAID employees claim that the Trump admin is not respecting the court injunction to reinstate fired USAID workers and pause new firings. In fact, more USAID employees have been cut beyond the 2,200 initial. 3:53 PM - In an interview with Brett Baier, Donald Trump said he did not view JD Vance as his successor in 2028.

3:54 PM - USAID's Office of Inspector General is still functional, and released a report that $489m of food aid was put at risk due to the foreign aid freeze and dismantling of the agency. They also found that their counter-terrorism vetting unit was told not to report to work, and so USAID partners are no longer being vetted. Aid hasn’t been cleared under Secretary of State Marco Rubio's [R-FL] waiver because 90% of the staff responsible for managing and overseeing aid has been placed on leave.

4:09 PM - Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu asks the US for a waiver for Israeli chip exports to the US.

4:14 PM - Elon Musk says that the Federal Reserve may face a DOGE audit. Musk claims that the central bank is “absurdly overstaffed.”

4:15 PM - FAA undoes the 2021 name change of NOTAMs. NOTAMs will not be known as “Notice to Air Missions”, but as “Notice to Airmen.”

4:15 PM - Trump administration appeals Judge John McConnell’s blocking of the federal funding freeze and his discovery that the administration was violating the order. They request a ruling by 10:00 AM tomorrow morning.

4:22 PM - Trump fires Director of the Office of Government Ethics David Huitema. Huitema was confirmed in December 50-46 to serve a 5 year term. Trump frequently clashed with the office (for obvious reasons).

4:25 PM - Protests continue outside of the CFPB HQ in Washington, DC. Protestors chant “F*ck you Elon.”

4:37 PM - Elon Musk and a group of investors offered OpenAl a $97.4b deal to purchase the company. The offer was unsolicited by Sam Altman. Altman rejected the offer and instead offered to buy Twitter for the same amount.

4:56 PM - Uganda asks health workers to work as volunteers after the US froze foreign aid from the USAID and CDC.

4:57 PM - FBI discovers 2,400 records tied to the JFK assassination that were never provided to the review board meant to review and disclose the documents. The discovery was made in line with Trump’s executive order to disclose all assassination records.

5:00 PM - Google Calendar update removes Pride Month and the start of Black History Month from their calendars.

5:01 PM - Sen. Susan Collins [R-ME] says she will vote for RFK jr.’s confirmation as HHS Secretary. RFK jr. promised to take a look at the NIH cuts, reassuring Collins.

5:07 PM - President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley [R-IA] is not concerned with the Trump administration’s actions. “I'm a member of the legislative branch, and I'll let the executive branch speak for themselves. But we got a system of checks and balances, and that's what I see working.”

5:09 PM - Donald Trump appoints Ric Grenell as Interim Executive Director of the Kennedy Center. Grenell is currently Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions. 5:19 PM - Australian PM Anthony Albanese says that the Trump administration is considering tariff exemptions for Australia after a productive phone call with Donald Trump. Just an hour later, Trump said that tariffs on aluminum and steel would be “without exceptions or exemptions.”

5:23 PM - Federal Judge Angel Kelly blocks the Trump administration’s changes to NIH funding grants.

5:38 PM - Google Maps now shows the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America for American users.

5:57 PM - Donald Trump demands that all Hamas-held hostages be released by Saturday or else “all hell is going to break loose.” Trump will unilaterally end the ceasefire if the demand isn’t met. The ceasefire and hostage deal has hit snags due to ceasefire violations and the delay and sorry conditions of released hostages.

6:14 PM - When asked what the Democrats would do if Trump just ignored the courts, Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN] said “I still believe the courts have power...1 will not concede that what the courts say doesn't matter. I think it does matter.”

6:17 PM - Trump signs an executive order to encourage the government and American consumers to buy plastic straws. “We're going back to plastic straws.”

6:33 PM - Senate votes 52-46 to invoke cloture on DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard’s [R-HI] nomination.

6:34 PM - Trump imposes a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports as promised. The tariffs will come into effect on March 4, which is the date also set for the Mexican and Canadian tariffs to enter into effect after being delayed.

6:44 PM - DOJ drops all charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY].

6:54 PM - 17 election security employees from the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have been fired in recent days. CISA was formed in 2018 to protect the nation’s tech infrastructure, but became a villain for the GOP when it fought back against conspiracies during the 2020 election.

z:10 PM - DOGE operatives entered the Defense Intel Agency over the weekend. They demanded a full list of personnel that they think worked on DEI initiatives to send to the OPM. This included people undercover or embedded.

2:50 PM - SecDef Pete Hegseth issues a memo to rename Fort Liberty in North Carolina to Fort Roland L. Bragg, a WW? war hero that earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart. The fort's original name was Fort Braxton Bragg, named after a Confederate General.

7:59 PM - Rumors from Josh Marshall claim that DOGE operatives in the Department of Education shut down the department's in-house research arm. The Institute of Educational Sciences cancelled contracts worth $900m.

8:38 PM - Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger is temporarily reinstated by court order through Thursday night as the court hears arguments.

9:35 PM - American Bar Association issues a statement opposing the Trump administration's defiance of the rule of law. They highlight the withholding of funds and dismantling of agencies appropriated by Congress, the firing of bureaucrats in non-political neutral positions, and ignoring of judicial law as grievances.

8:02 AM – Elon Musk expresses interest in shutting down Radio Free Europe and Voice of America. 1. Europe is free now besides stifling bureaucracy (I guess the Russian invasion doesn’t count), 2. Nobody listens to them anymore, and 3. It’s just radical leftists talking to themselves and wasting $1b every year.

9:00 AM – CBS polling indicates broad popular support for Trump’s policy stances and decisions, especially from Republicans. Notable marks against Trump include 52% of polltakers opposing large detention centers, only 13% of pollsters thinking that a US takeover of Gaza would be a good idea, 66% thinking he hasn’t done enough to lower prices, and most people opposing tariffs on US allies.

9:16 AM – A Trump interview with FOX News anchor Bret Baier says that DOGE’s next targets will be the Department of Education and the US Military. He also deflected when asked if he trusted Elon Musk, “Trust Elon? Oh, he's not gaining anything. In fact, I wonder how he can devote the time to it. He's so into it." When asked if his wish for Canada to become a US state was a “real thing,” Trump replied “Yeah, it is.”

10:00 AM – Upcoming book "Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump's Return to Power,” by Jason Brodsky will also explore Trump’s attempts to protect himself from Iranian assassination. These include using decoy jets because of intelligence suggesting that Iranian operatives had access to SAMs on American soil.

10:13 AM – In response to federal judges blocking several of Trump’s actions, JD Vance commented that “Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power.” Note: judges can block executive actions if they violate the law or overstep the bounds of their power, it’s called “checks and balances.”

10:26 AM – National Security Advisor Mike Waltz appeared on NBC News and was asked if Trump was serious about annexing Canada. He replied “I think the Canadian people, many of them, would love to join the United States.”

10:30 AM – Telegraph reporting that Elon Musk is planning to replace government workers with AIs. “Everything that can be machine-automated will be. And the technocrats will replace the bureaucrats.”

11:37 AM – Sen. Chris Murphy [D-CT] on ABC does not mince words. "I think this is the most serious constitutional crisis the country has faced, certainly since Watergate. The president is attempting to seize control of power, and for corrupt purposes … he's trying to crush his opposition … this is a red alert moment … our democracy is at risk.”

11:49 AM – Trump will allow Elon Musk to hire 45 more DOGE operatives to manage and audit the FBI, CIA, and Pentagon.

2:04 PM – Trump is considering a mid-air stunt while flying from Mar-a-lago to New Orleans for the Super Bowl to highlight the name change of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. His team is still discussing the stunt.

2:07 PM – CFPB notifies their staff that their HQ in Washington, DC, will be closed the week of February 10.

2:20 PM – DHS Secretary Kristi Noem [R-SD] says on Twitter: “The FBI is so corrupt. We will work with any and every agency to stop leaks and prosecute these crooked deep state agents to the fullest extent of the law.”

2:47 PM – Chinese retaliatory tariffs enter into effect after being announced a week ago on February 4. A 15% tariff on American coal and LNG, and a 10% tariff on American oil, agricultural machinery, and large engine cars.

2:56 PM – The ICE tip line is being overwhelmed by callers reporting Elon Musk. The tip line was previously shut down for the exact same reason a few days into the administration.

3:15 PM – Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, has agreed to accept a plea deal and lifetime gag order on CIA torture methods to avoid a death-penalty trial. He was the man that planned the 9/11 attacks.

3:33 PM – US Secret Service paid Michael Bay to produce a 1 minute long Super Bowl ad.

3:36 PM – Dozens of federal websites have shut down, including https://reproductiveaccess.gov, https://reprorights.gov, https://environmentaljustice.gov, https://childtaxcredit.gov, https://investinginamerica.gov, and https://buildbackbetter.gov.

4:21 PM – While flying over the Gulf of Mexico, Donald Trump signed a proclamation declaring February 9, 2025, to be the first “Gulf of America Day.” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum [R-ND] announces that the USGS and Department of the Interior officially recognize the Gulf of America as its real name.

4:32 PM – Trump claims that DOGE may have found evidence of fraud at the Treasury. He claims the US might have “less debt than we thought,” and that they may disregard some debt.

4:44 PM – While speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he will announce 25% tariffs on all imports of aluminum and steel tomorrow.

5:00 PM – Trump expresses disappointment at court rulings not favoring DOGE operations: “The day you’re not allowed to look for theft and fraud, etc., we don’t have much of a country. No judge should frankly be allowed to make that kind of a decision. It’s a disgrace.”

6:00 PM – Luis Alberto Castillo, a Venezuelan migrant, was sent to Guantanamo Bay after not having set foot once in the US illegally. He entered the country at El Paso for an asylum hearing via CBP One on January 19. Castillo had an Air Jordan and Crown tattoo on his body.

6:09 PM – Donald Trump makes economic threats towards Canada. “They do almost all of their business with us. And if we say we want our cars to be made in Detroit, with the stroke of a pen, I can do that and other things that…could not allow Canada to be a viable country.”

9:27 PM – While watching the Super Bowl, Trump announces on Truth Social that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop the production of new pennies. It costs more money than what a penny is worth to produce them.

1:30 AM – Federal Judge Paul Engelmayer blocks DOGE from accessing data from the Treasury Department, per AP. He also ordered anyone that’s downloaded any material from the Treasury Department’s systems since January 20 must “immediately destroy all copies.”

6:20 AM – South Africa’s Solidarity Movement, which includes a lobby group focused on White South Africans, says it opposes Trump’s suspension of aid to the country, and rejects the offer to enter America as refugees. They’re also requesting an emergency meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to “address differences.”

8:42 AM – The Trump administration is currently complying with the court order to protect USAID employees from being fired. All employees put on leave will be reinstated, no new employees will be placed on leave, and no employees will be evacuated from host countries through February 14.

9:02 AM – Hacker group Anonymous calls for a nationwide protest at state capitols and the White House on February 17. They’re rallying anti-Trump protestors under the hashtag “3E”: End Impunity, End Oligarchy, End Autogenocide.

10:11 AM – Rep. Mary Miller [R-IL-15] introduced Rep. Sarah McBride [D-DE-AL] as “the gentleman from Delaware, Mr. McBride” on the House floor.

10:16 AM – The NYT reports that the pulling of USAID programs has left major holes in healthcare and other services for millions of people in Africa. Africa received over $8B every year in humanitarian aid from USAID. USAID officials expect 40,000 health workers in Kenya to lose their jobs. Meanwhile, Ethiopia has already fired 5,000 healthcare professionals that were being paid by American funding.

11:51 AM – Only 3% of federal workers have accepted the deferred resignation option. 7% of the federal workforce leaves voluntarily every year. MSNBC contributor Sam Stein explains that he’s received reports that many federal workers are being radicalized by DOGE to keep their positions.

12:23 PM – Elon Musk says he is not interested in buying TikTok. He had expressed interest a month ago while at a German conference.

3:05 PM – Sources close to Donald Trump say he’s frustrated at the slow pace of the mass deportation program. It’s “driving him nuts” one source told NBC.

5:06 PM – Donald Trump revokes the security clearances of New York and Manhattan Attorney General Letitia James [D-NY] and Alvin Bragg [D-NY], in addition to Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

5:11 PM – Bloomberg columnist Conor Sen notes that the economy is showing worrying signs of lag. Hiring rates and weekly work hours have fallen to late 2010 levels, as manufacturing job growth is negative and worsening.

5:55 PM – Polling USA indicates that 54% of Americans think the country is in a constitutional crisis. However, 57% think that the US is NOT a dictatorship, with a narrow plurality thinking that the US is an oligarchy. 55% think that Elon Musk has “a lot” of influence over the Trump administration, only 16% want him to.

6:08 PM – FOX News reporting that additional security clearances have been revoked. Those are “Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Biden’s Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and attorneys Andrew Weissmann, Mark Zaid and Norm Eisen.”

6:26 PM – WaPo reporting that DOGE operatives are directing the canceling of GSA leases so that the most inaccessible, crowded, and unpleasant buildings are being kept. This is to encourage federal workers to quit their jobs.

6:32 PM – An earthquake marked at a magnitude 7.6 originated in the Caribbean just south of the Cayman Islands and Cuba. The Emergency Alert System issued a tsunami advisory for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

7:22 PM – Elon Musk is planning to spend $40m on Super Bowl advertisements to “expose” government waste exposed by DOGE.

7:26 PM – WaPo reporting that candidates for national security roles are being asked loyalty questions such as “Was J6 an inside job?” and “Was the 2020 election stolen?”. They’re instructed to only give yes or no answers.

7:58 PM – Trump orders the Secret Service to provide all details relating to his two assassination attempts. “No more holding back because of Biden. I’m entitled to know. And they held it back long enough.”

8:01 PM – WIRED reporting that at least 3 software engineers responsible for recruiting DOGE operatives were associated with Palantir and its co-founder, Musk-allied Peter Thiel. The engineers asked on group chats composed of Palantir and SpaceX interns, and a discord server associated with military AI, for recruits.

8:13 PM – The tsunami advisory for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands has been lifted. The earthquake is expected to cause minimal damage to the region.

9:02 PM – Elon Musk reposts a tweet from Insurrection Barbie (@DefiantlyFree) suggesting the court order to limit DOGE access to the Treasury systems should be ignored. “I don’t like the precedent it sets when you defy a judicial ruling, but I’m just wondering what other options are these judges leaving us…”

9:07 PM – Acting CFPB Director, OMB Director, and Project 2025 co-author Russ Vought directs the CFPB to issue no new rules, suspending effective dates of all final rules, and to stop all new investigations. He also requested $0 of additional funding for Q3 of FY 2025, citing the bureau already had $771m in their fund.

12:07 AM - The CDC posted and then deleted data on Bird Flu transmission between humans and cats. A “rebel federal employee” reportedly posted that information in violation of the health agency gag order.

8:13 AM - Crowds gather in front of the OPM for another day of protests. They call for lawmakers to do more to resist the takeover of the federal government.

8:37 AM - Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll issues a new memo discloses that he’s been ordered to hand over the names of FBI agents involved in the J6 investigations by Acting Deputy AG Emil Bove. The list he originally sent only provided employee IDs.

9:00 AM - Federal Highway Administration orders a pause on the distribution of National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program funding. NEVI would have funded billions of dollars in EV charging infrastructure across the country.

9:01 AM - Government IT workers detail the potential damage that DOGE could do by modifying government systems in an Atlantic article. This includes the risk of modifying code at the Treasury then erasing the evidence of the modification via admin privileges, and disruption of FAA systems potentially causing mass groundings.

9:40 AM - Donald Trump calls for the firing of Eugene Robinson from the Washington Post in a Truth Social post. He cites his defense of USAID programs as “pathetic Radical Left SPIN.”

10:12 AM - Donald Trump says he will sign an executive order next week that would end a Biden administration push for plastic straws.

10:14 AM - SecDef Pete Hegseth holds a town hall with DOD employees. During which he attacks DEI under the Biden administration, while also praising the priority shift to protecting the Mexican border, and talks about restoring perceptions of American strength on the world stage.

10:16 AM - Reuters reporting that Mexico has received around 11,000 deported migrants from the US since the start of the second Trump administration. Of those, some 2,500 are non-Mexicans. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum indicates that at least some are Honduran migrants making a brief stop before returning to their home country.

10:25 AM - Gov. Kathy Hochul [D-NY] orders the temporary shutdown of live bird markets in NYC, Winchester, Nassau, and Suffolk Counties after the detection of Bird Flu in poultry birds.

10:36 AM - Toronto Star reports that Canadian PM Justin Trudeau is taking Trump admin threats of annexation seriously. “They're very aware of our resources, of what we have and they very much want to be able to benefit from those... one of the easiest ways of doing that is absorbing our country. And it is a real thing.”

10:44 AM - Steve Wynn, Trump megadonor, files a petition asking the Supreme Court overturn New York Times v. Sullivan. The case protects the press from defamation lawsuits by public officials.

10:47 AM - Tom Krause, a Musk ally, is designated as the Financial Assistant Secretary at the Treasury. This makes him the head of the Treasury's payment systems, while Musk is demanding a unilateral halt to payments.

11:02 AM - Trump tells GOP lawmakers he is ready to issue 1:1 reciprocal tariffs on all imports relative to the tariffs that are levied on American exporters. The move could come as early as Friday. Who this would target is unknown.

11:08 AM - Speaker Mike Johnson [R-LA-4] says that budget negotiations have stalled. He said to ask House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY-8] why.

11:26 AM - Both JD Vance and Elon Musk want to reinstate Marko Elez, a DOGE operative fired due to racist comments made online. JD Vance said “I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life.” Elez made comments in support of normalizing anti-Indian hate, Vance’s wife is Indian.

11:27 AM - Acting US Attorney for DC, Ed Martin, promises to investigate people for breaking the law or acting “simply unethically” by working to expose DOGE members.

12:27 PM - Donald Trump is considering unblocking Nippon Steel’s purchase of US Steel for $14.1b. Trump has been talking about economic policy towards Japan, mainly about tariffs. Trump is meeting with Japanese PM Shigeru Ishida today.

12:43 PM - When asked if Chinese AI DeepSeek was a national security threat, Donald Trump dismisses it. "The AI we're talking about will be a lot less expensive than people originally thought... I view that as a very good development."

1:39 PM - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reciprocates Trump's offer for mineral rights and exploitation in Ukraine. "If we are talking about a deal, then let's do a deal, we are only for it." It’s similar to his “victory plan” proposal made in the fall to Ukraine’s allies. He stresses that Ukraine still needs security guarantees.

2:12 PM - DOJ issues a letter to the Supreme Court regarding United States v. Skrmetti, a pending Supreme Court case over whether transgender healthcare bans for minors violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment. “The Department has now determined that SB1 does not deny equal protection on account of sex or any other characteristic.” They still want the Supreme Court to rule on the case.

2:20 PM - The NSF is expecting a budget cut of $6b of their $ob budget, in addition to receiving orders from the OPM to fire half of their 1,600 employees.

2:24 PM - DOD education system restricts access to books on immigration, history, psychology, and health. This is to enforce Trump’s anti-DEI initiative, targeting topics such as race and gender.

2:30 PM - Donald Trump plans to rectify the trade deficit with Japan by opening up US oil and gas exports with Japan. Japan currently imports a majority of its petroleum from the Middle East.

2:41 PM - Bloomberg reporting that DOGE operative Edward Coristine was previously fired from a cybersecurity company for leaking company secrets. He now has access to sensitive government information. He was also involved with Telegram chat rooms under FBI monitoring, and was on the FBI's radar for contacts with a criminal hacker.

2:47 PM - WIRED reports that the Treasury's Threat Intelligence Analysis of DOGE staff designated them as an “insider threat”. “If DOGE members have any access to payment systems, we recommend suspending that access immediately and conducting a comprehensive review of all actions they may have taken on these systems.”

2:49 PM - Trump proudly announced that Nissan agreed to heavily invest into US Steel instead of purchasing it, and that he’d meet with them next week to mediate. He’s likely mistaken Nissan for Nippon Steel.

2:50 PM - Federal Judge Carl Nichols schedules an emergency hearing at 3 PM for a motion by USAID employees to halt the dismantling of the agency.

2:53 PM - Trump says that DOGE will investigate Pentagon spending in the future. "I've instructed him... to check out the Pentagon, which is the military. And you know, sadly, you find some things that are pretty bad.”

2:56 PM - Donald Trump says there are people on Social Security that the government needs to “weed out”. He claims most of them are illegal immigrants. (Note: Illegal immigrants cannot get SSNs)

3:02 PM - The Atlantic reports that Trump intends to fire multiple board members of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, mainly Biden appointees, and then install himself as the chairman. The law does not give the President power to remove board members, or appoint himself as chairman.

3:19 PM - DOGE operatives gain access to FEMA disaster data containing information on tens of thousands of disaster victims that received some form of aid from FEMA. DOGE is currently reviewing FEMA grant programs.

3:29 PM - Elon Musk will rehire Marko Elez as a DOGE operative after support from both JD Vance and Donald Trump.

3:33 PM - Donald Trump entrusts JD Vance alongside National Security Advisor Michael Waltz with negotiations over the sale of TikTok.

3:52 PM - Neo-Nazis in Lincoln Heights, Ohio, brandished swastika flags above the Vision Way on I-75. Local Lincoln Heights residents confronted the group, taking at least one flag and burning it.

4:10 PM - Anti-deportation protesters in Los Angeles beat counter protesters outside of City Hall.

4:41 PM - Federal Judge Carl Nichols issues a restraining order protecting 2,200 USAID employees from being fired tonight.

4:42 PM - Elon Musk claims he is in hiding due to death threats, sleeping on a couch in the DOGE offices. He expects the work of DOGE to take 4 months and cut up to $at in spending.

4:46 PM - Trump admin receives a third restraining order to prevent them from enforcing the birthright citizenship EO, this time filed by a group called New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support.

5:07 PM - Boeing is expecting NASA to cancel the contract for the Space Launch System program.

5:17 PM - HHS Secretary nominee RFK jr. disclosed that he was $1.2m deep in credit card debt. (How the fuck do you manage this?)

5:25 PM - ProPublica reports that DOGE doesn’t only have IT workers on their team, but also at least 3 lawyers that previously or will serve as Supreme Court Clerks. They will be tasked with defending DOGE from the dozen or so active or inbound lawsuits.

5:26 PM - Troy Menk, head of the NRO and nominee for Air Force Secretary, arranged contract solicitation for spy satellites in a way that benefited SpaceX. He then told a rival contractor that future business could be put at risk if they filed a complaint. The incident sparked an Inspector General investigation.

5:56 PM - WaPo reporting that FBI director nominee Kash Patel disclosed that he was paid $25,000 last year to appear in a documentary produced by Global Tree Pictures, a film company with ties to the Russian government. The documentary portrayed Patel as a victim of a conspiracy to usurp Donald Trump, who was democratically elected in 2020 (lie).

5:57 PM - Donald Trump signs sanctions against South Africa. He orders all aid to South Africa frozen, which might include PEPFAR, and directs federal agencies to support humanitarian relief efforts and admission of Afrikaner refugees. Trump paused the US’ refugee program on day one.

6:19 PM - The NIH announces they will cap the maximum indirect cost charge for research grants at 15%. Major research universities usually charge the government in excess of 60% per grant, a critical source of funding for many.

6:20 PM - Customs and Border Protection officially take over the former USAID HQ in Washington, DC. It’s unclear what they'll use the space for.

6:21 PM - Trump revokes Joe Biden’s security clearance. He did this in vengeance for the time his security clearance was revoked by Joe Biden in 2021 after the end of his term.

6:30 PM - Polling USA indicates that Canada, Mexico, and Colombia’s favorability towards the United States have fallen off dramatically since the start of the second Trump administration.

7:21 PM - The Pentagon expands how many more media companies will be rotated out from their press corps: NYT, WaPo, NBC, CNN, Politico, The Hill, the Warzone, and NPR. In turn, NYP, Washington Examiner TV, OAN, Newsmax, Huffington Post, The Free Press, The Daily Caller, and Breitbart will replace them.

7:23 PM - Archivist of the United States, Colleen Shogan, has been fired by Donald Trump.

7:41 PM - Federal employee on Reddit leaks that all National Renewable Energy Laboratory datasets and tools will be shut down by today’s end, alongside the US Energy Information Administration.

7:45 PM - SecDef Pete Hegseth says he is looking forward to working with Elon Musk to cut “wasteful spending” in the military. Hegseth says they need to “cut the fat and grow the muscle.”

8:44 PM - Gov. Gavin Newsom [D-CA] signs two bills allocating $50m to fight the Trump administration in court and provide legal counsel for immigrants.

8:50 PM - OMB Director and Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought is also designated as Acting Head of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.

9:14 PM - Federal Judge denies an effort to block DOGE from accessing Department of Labor data because they determined the plaintiffs had no standing.

6:41 AM - Donald Trump says that Israel will hand over Gaza at the end of fighting, and that no troops will be required to seize the territory. There would still be millions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which would resist ethnic cleansing.

7:27 AM - Israeli military receives orders to prepare for the “voluntary departure” of the Gaza Palestinians.

7:52 AM - DOGE operatives gain access to OPM records containing the personally identifiable information of millions of federal employees.

8:34 AM - Trump says that the administration will create a new system for air traffic control.

8:43 AM - Department of Education officials say that they are proceeding with new regulations for transgender athletes in school sports.

8:47 AM - National Institute of General Medical Services cancels their council meeting. The NIGMS was the second largest NIH institute, awarding millions in grants.

8:52 AM - Leaked peace deal for Ukraine would prohibit Ukraine from joining NATO, in addition to forcing them to accept Russian sovereignty over the lands that Russia has already annexed. Trump is trying to implement a ceasefire by April 20.

9:44 AM - Donald Trump says he will sign an executive order to direct AG Pam Bondi [R-FL] to lead a taskforce to “eradicate” anti-Christian bias in the federal government.

10:10 AM - DOGE is instructing NOAA to reduce funding by 30% and cut 50% of their staff.

10:35 AM - Trump administration agrees to temporarily restrict DOGE access to the Treasury payment system.

10:45 AM - The DOJ’s anti-corruption unit, the Kleptocracy Initiative, was disbanded last night without any special announcement.

11:17 AM - DOJ sues the city of Chicago and Illinois for impeding the mass deportation program. The DOJ is enforcing an executive order that targets the enforcement of state and city sanctuary laws.

11:29 AM - Donald Trump will sign an executive order today to levy sanctions on the ICC. It would place financial and visa sanctions on individuals who investigate US citizens or allies, in addition to their families.

12:13 PM - A temporary restraining order was placed on the Department of Labor to prevent them giving any data to DOGE.

12:22 PM - WaPo reports that DOGE operatives fed sensitive data from the Department of Education into AI software to analyze the department’s spending.

12:34 PM - The Department of Education launches an investigation into 3 entities for allowing transgender women to compete, citing Title IX. Those are San Jose State, University of Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.

12:44 PM - Health agencies are being ordered to rank thousands of employees on probation, and determine 40% who aren’t considered “mission critical”.

1:00 PM - Trump revokes the security detail of Fmr. SecDef Mark Esper. Esper is a target for Iranian assassination for his involvement with the first Trump administration’s operation to kill Qasem Soleimani.

1:20 PM - Federal judge delays the implementation of the deferred resignation option to February 10 to give themselves time to determine the constitutionality of the plan.

1:24 PM - FDIC will reevaluate their approach to crypto-related activities by banks to make it easier to engage in crypto and blockchain activities.

1:29 PM - Donald Trump outlines his tax policy priorities. No taxes on tips, overtime pay, or Social Security, an extension of the 2017 tax cuts, adjusting the cap on SALT deductions, eliminating tax breaks for private property owners, and closing the carried interest tax loophole.

1:44 PM - The DOJ cannot confirm or deny if anyone in the department has leaked the personal information of FBI agents involved in the J6 investigations.

1:48 PM - The Trump administration is considering contracting a shipping container company to provide housing for migrant detention facilities and possibly Guantanamo Bay to keep up with the mass deportation operation.

2:00 PM - Trump is preparing an executive order that would fire thousands of federal healthcare workers that can be implemented as soon as next week. It would mandate public health agencies to fire a certain percentage of their employees. Departments and agencies affected would include the HHS, CDC, NIH, FDA, and CMS.

2:24 PM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] during a state visit to the Dominican Republic says that the island could become a semiconductor hub. He is signing a waiver for foreign aid to the country.

2:25 PM - Rumors of a deal between the US and China for the US to allow China to take over Taiwan without American intervention in exchange for some sort of concession.

2:41 PM - The HHS has been ordered to target “wasteful” contracts for things such as DEI initiatives, accessible offices, and “anything related to COVID.”

2:45 PM - DOJ disbands their Foreign Influence Task Force and Corporate Enforcement Unit in their National Security Division.

2:52 PM - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that Trump has no real plan to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This either contradicts earlier reporting of the 100 day peace proposal, or indicates that Ukraine would not accept such a deal.

2:54 PM - Federal Judge Coughenour issues a nationwide injunction against Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship.

3:25 PM - Arab Americans for Trump changed their name to Arab Americans for Peace following Trump’s proposal to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip.

3:40 PM - MSNBC reports that some USAID employees are worried that their information on personal devices is being monitored.

3:48 PM - Federal employees protested the “fork in the road” deferred resignation option by using the spoon emoji. The spoon emoji has been since removed from the workplace chats.

3:55 PM - During Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s [R-FL] visit to the Dominican Republic, the US seized a Venezuelan government plane.

4:00 PM - Trump administration orders the GSA to terminate “every single media contract” paid for by the agency.

4:12 PM - In line with Trump’s executive order yesterday, the NCAA bans transgender athletes from women’s sports effective immediately.

4:36 PM - Mark Zuckerberg visited the White House to discuss how Meta can help the US maintain their dominance in the tech sector.

4:43 PM - Trump signs an executive order ordering a review of all NGOs that rely on federal funding.

4:46 PM - Sen. Ed Markey [D-MA] is denied entry to the EPA by private security while trying to confront DOGE operatives in the building.

4:57 PM - The USAID will only maintain 294 employees of the original 10,000 employed by the agency at the end of Biden’s term.

5:08 PM - USAID Bureau of Resilience, Environment and Food Security is fully shutting down.

5:12 PM - DOGE operative Marko Elez resigns after being tied to deleted social media accounts that made racist and pro-eugenic comments.

5:13 PM - Donald Trump signs an executive order directing the DOJ to “eradicate” anti-Christian bias and create a religious office in the White House.

5:17 PM - Congressional Democrats are preparing to drag budget negotiations ahead of the shutdown on March 14. Trump and Musk’s sidestepping of the budget by freezing funding has disincentivized negotiations with the GOP over the budget.

5:17 PM - Dozens of USAID medical trials were frozen by the dismantling of the agency. The thousands of patients between them were left in limbo with drugs and devices in their bodies without supervision.

5:54 PM - Keith Kellogg, US Special Envoy to Ukraine and Russia, says Trump is willing to double down on sanctions to Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

6:27 PM - A second lawsuit challenging the trans military ban EO was filed in Seattle, Washington.

6:31 PM - A source close to DOGE operatives tells Semafor that the Social Security Administration is an upcoming focus.

6:55 PM - The council that oversees OSHA has indefinitely paused.

6:58 PM - WIRED reporting that the Treasury Department falsely claimed that former DOGE operative Marko Elez did not have “write access” to their code. They rescinded that access after denying he had it.

7:03 PM - Deferred resignation options were also sent to federal judges, who have lifetime appointments.

7:05 PM - A 23 year old DOGE operative was granted access to the Department of Energy’s IT systems by Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

7:33 PM - Project 2025 author Russell Vought is confirmed as OMB director in a party line vote 53-47 in the Senate.

7:41 PM - FBI Director nominee Kash Patel discloses that he’s receiving millions of dollars worth of shares from a Cayman Islands based company tied to SHEIN, a Chinese company that Senators and a pro-Trump nonprofit accused of slave labor. He will not divest from SHEIN.

7:58 PM - USAID workers sue the Trump admin over the dismantling of the agency, claiming they overstepped their constitutional limits. They ask the court to block the dismantling and reinstate federal workers and funding.

7:00 AM - New information from ABC reveals new details about Trump’s executive order today banning trans women from women’s sports. The DOJ would be directed to enforce the statute. Universities that allow trans women to compete will be subject to legal action or the withholding of federal funding. The NCAA and other sporting bodies are also expected to change their rules over trans competition.

8:13 AM - USPS resumes accepting inbound packages from both China and Hong Kong.

8:16 AM - The Department of Defense is planning to withdraw all American troops from Syria. The country’s long civil war is coming to an end as the rebel forces have expelled the Assad regime and begun establishing an interim government.

10:16 AM - Argentina also withdraws from the WHO, following the footsteps of Donald Trump. They cited the WHO’s response to COVID and their previous government’s shutdown policy as a factor.

10:21 AM - Gwynne Wilcox [D] sues Donald Trump for illegally firing her from the NLRB. She claims that the firing violated the National Labor Relations Act and allowing her firing to stand would nullify protections for NLRB members.

10:34 AM - Rep. Al Green [D-TX-8] introduces a motion to impeach Donald Trump for “the insidious acts he has proposed and the insidious acts he has committed.” The effort will likely go nowhere.

10:47 AM - GOP leadership expresses support for Trump’s Gaza plan. Speaker Mike Johnson [R-LA-4] says he thinks it’s “a good development.” Meanwhile, House Majority Leader John Thune [R-SD] says Trump wants a peaceful and secure Middle East.

10:58 AM - DOGE operatives gained access to the servers of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

11:10 AM - House Oversight Committee Democrats voted down a measure to subpoena Elon Musk 19-20. Rep. Ro Khanna [D-CA-17] did not vote.

11:37 AM - At AG Pam Bondi’s [R-FL] swearing in ceremony, Donald Trump says “I know I'm supposed to say 'she's going to be totally impartial with respect to Democrats' and I think she will be as impartial as a person can be.”

11:44 AM - Protestors gather outside of Congress to support the USAID and oppose its dismemberment.

11:49 AM - DOGE orders their operatives to stop using Slack, as the agency is switching from a regime under the OMB to the Executive Office of the President. The switch would make it harder to reveal DOGE activities through FOIA requests.

12:03 PM - Online right-wing conspiracies wrongly accuse Politico of being funded by the USAID. Politico missed payments yesterday due to a technical issue.

12:19 PM - DC protestors express frustration towards Democratic leadership, drowning out Democratic speakers with chants of “what’s the plan?” and “do your job”.

12:22 PM - Eric Turner is confirmed as HUD Secretary 55-44 in the Senate.

12:23 PM - China files a WTO complaint regarding US trade tariffs that were enacted on February 4.

12:23 PM - ByteDance is stalling in negotiations to sell off TikTok to American buyers as they await approval from their Chinese owners.

12:24 PM - AG Pam Bondi’s [R-FL] day one actions freed up federal prosecutors to pursue the death penalty, and to order a pause on federal funding to sanctuary cities.

12:51 PM - Israel leaves the UN Human Rights Council, following in the footsteps of Donald Trump. They cite the UNHCR’s history of “targeting” Israel as the reason why.

12:52 PM - Former DOD official Anthony Tata for Pentagon Personnel Chief. Tata is well known for having expressed Islamophobic views in the past and calling Obama a “terrorist leader”.

1:07 PM - A Maryland Federal Judge indefinitely blocks Trump’s executive order limiting the 14th amendment right of birthright citizenship for undocumented and temporary immigrants.

1:24 PM - Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says that Trump has not committed to deploying troops to Gaza.

1:26 PM - CIA sends the White House an unsecured email listing every employee they’ve hired in the past 2 years.

1:37 PM - Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy [R-WI] says that DOGE will be upgrading their aviation systems.

2:25 PM - Sen. Mitch McConnell [R-KY] is seen in a wheelchair after he fell multiple times today.

3:15 PM - Google will eliminate their minority hiring goals and review DEI programs.

4:22 PM - Donald Trump signs the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order.

4:26 PM - ABC reporting that a federal judge is very likely to issue an injunction to temporarily block non-Treasury entities, including DOGE, from accessing taxpayer records.

4:28 PM - Community health centers that are federally funded are starting to shut down because they cannot access federal grants.

4:33 PM - DOGE operatives are reported to be at the NIH now.

5:05 PM - 40,000 federal employees have taken the deferred resignation option, around 2% of the federal civilian workforce.

5:17 PM - USAID contractors and employees are preparing to file lawsuits to stop the dismantling of USAID.

6:54 PM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] will not attend the G20 in Johannesburg in South Africa.

7:27 PM - Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair believes Canada can avoid US tariffs if they show enough process on the border.

7:44 PM - Panama agrees to waive all fees for US government vessels transiting the Panama canal.

7:47 PM - A federal judge will not issue a temporary stay on DOGE usage and access to Treasury payment systems.

7:50 PM - AG Pam Bondi [R-FL] issues a memo warning any DOJ employees delaying the administration’s objectives.

8:39 PM - NOAA receives instructions to temporarily stop communications with foreign nationals.

8:50 PM - Federal bankruptcy court denies a second sell off of Alex Jones’ company Infowars.

9:27 PM - AG Pam Bondi [R-FL] creates the “Weaponization Working Group” to investigate the legal prosecution of Donald Trump by Jack Smith.

9:40 PM - The NCAA is reviewing the anti-trans sports executive order issued by Donald Trump.

12:01 AM- Trump’s 10% tariffs on China officially went into effect.

12:34 AM - China responds to American tariffs by planning to levy a 15% tariff on American coal and LNG, and a 10% tariff on American oil, agricultural machinery, and large engine cars. They will go into effect next Monday. They also announced greater export controls on critical minerals and antitrust investigations into Google.

6:54 AM - 50501, an anti-Trump protest movement, is slated to have their protest begin at every state capital plus DC for a single day tomorrow. They're partnered with Political Revolution, a group originally founded to help Bernie Sanders’ [I-VT] bids for the Democratic nomination for President.

7:52 AM - Greenland’s Parliament will implement a new law banning foreign citizens from buying property in Greenland.

8:29 AM - 20,000 federal employees have taken the deferred resignation option so far. This is equivalent to 1% of the federal workforce, well below the minimum target of 5% that the Trump administration was aiming for by February 6.

9:48 AM - Marko Elez, a 25 year old DOGE operative, alongside other DOGE operatives with access to Treasury payment systems, not only has read only access, but can and has made extensive changes to its code. The changes seem intent to make blocking funds easier and obfuscate what funding is being blocked, creating in essence a backdoor.

9:50 AM - Trump will sign an executive order today related to sanctions against the ICC. The ICC has paid employees 3 months wages in advance to protect themselves.

10:22 AM - Sen. Bill Cassidy [R-LA] backs RFK jr.’s nomination in committee after extensive meetings with RFK jr. and the White House, including JD Vance. Cassidy is a doctor, and expressed concerns over RFK jr.’s anti-vaccine views.

10:26 PM - Senate Finance Committee votes 14-13 down party lines to send RFK jr.’s nomination for HHS Secretary to the floor.

10:42 AM - Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirms that deportation flights to Guantanamo Bay are underway.

10:49 AM - Border Czar Tom Homan on FOX & Friends says that there’s a likely chance of a border incident between cartels and American troops. “It’s gonna happen... there will be violence.”

10:50 AM - Despite federal judges blocking the federal funding freeze, multiple grant recipients still struggle to access funding. Researchers and nonprofits in clean energy, climate change, and environmental justice have had projects affected and some salaries frozen.

10:55 AM - Donald Trump will attend Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans on February 9.

11:10 AM - Donald Trump is expected to sign an EO tomorrow that would exclude transgender athletes from participating in sports that align with their gender identity.

11:28 AM - A new federal lawsuit accuses DOGE of operating a server illegally connected to the OPM in the 5th floor of their HQ.

11:32 AM - NBC News confirms that Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that would outright abolish the Department of Education. Previous reporting suggested that he would “wind down” the DOEd. This is likely to face challenges in the courts as it would require an act of Congress to shut down the department.

12:00 PM - Some Head Start programs in Washington and potentially other states are not receiving their funding. "programs are not getting the money. It feels like a rolling blackout."

12:14 PM - Mass layoffs of federal employees may begin soon, according to WaPo. This comes as the deferred resignation option has attracted only a fifth of the Trump administration’s goal of at least 5% of federal employees accepting the offer.

12:19 PM - Multiple House and Senate Dems alongside progressive action groups will host a rally outside of the Treasury Department at 4 PM.

12:42 PM - FBI officials filed a class action lawsuit to prevent the publicization of thousands of FBI agents who were involved in the J6 and Trump investigations.

12:49 PM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] blames aid groups facing a financial aid freeze of being too incompetent to request a waiver, or of malicious compliance to make a political point.

1:02 PM - Greenland’s PM Mute Egede plans to hold an election on March 11, where both the island’s independence and threats of US annexation are top issues.

1:10 PM - Fmr. Rep. Doug Collins [R-GA] is confirmed 77-23 by the Senate to become Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

1:16 PM - Senate Democrats consider delaying ALL Trump appointees in retaliation for the dismantling of the USAID. This is beyond the “blanket hold” that Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI] proposed yesterday.

1:34 PM - Canadian MP Charlie Angus suggests that Donald Trump balked at the market reaction to a looming trade war. “The market started to tank, and suddenly, he said, “Oh, didn’t you guys already have a plan to deal with the border back in December? I love that—I'll take that.”

2:00 PM - GSA receives instructions by the Trump administration to cancel leases on 7,500 federal offices nationwide. This affects up to a million federal employees that work in the 8,397 offices the GSA leases for the government. Reports indicate that up to 300 office leases per day might be terminated.

2:13 PM - A second lawsuit from the FBI, this time by the FBI Agents Association represented by Mark Zaid, sues the Department of Justice. This is on the behalf of agents who might be purged in the event their identities are publicly revealed.

2:16 PM - A federal lawsuit was filed, backed by the ACLU among others, challenging Trump’s executive order targeting gender-affirming care against people under 19 in addition to the day one funding ban.

2:36 PM - Senate Intelligence Committee clears DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard [R-HI] for a floor vote 9-8, another party line vote.

2:49 PM - House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY-8] and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [D-NY] jointly announce the Stop the Steal Act. It would deny access to “special government employees”, Musk’s designation, from being able to access critical government systems.

3:06 PM - Trump says that Palestineans have no alternative but to leave the Gaza Strip, and reiterated he would like Egypt and Jordan to take on the population of Gaza Palestineans. He also said, however, that he does not support Israeli settlements in Gaza.

3:38 PM - Donald Trump says he has left instructions to obliterate Iran if the country successfully assassinated him.

3:44 PM - USS St. Louis, a Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship, is at Guantanamo Bay and setting up tents.

3:52 PM - Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office. One of them reapplies “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran, reimplementing the restrictions of the first Trump administration.

3:57 PM - Trump expresses his favor for imprisoning US nationals in other countries. “If we had the legal right to do, I would do it in a heartbeat... we could make deals where we'd get these animals out of our country."

4:01 PM - Donald Trump says he wants his Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to “put herself out of a job.” He says he wants the states to run schools (they do already?).

4:07 PM - Donald Trump wants to halt the California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) project by launching an investigation. He also suggests that people should take an airplane instead, “it costs you 2 dollars.” CAHSR would cut transit times between San Francisco and Los Angeles by 6 hours.

4:26 PM - State Department begins work to recall all USAID employees currently working overseas. Many were cut off when thousands were locked out of their government accounts overnight. All overseas USAID missions are cancelled.

4:55 PM - Donald Trump indicates his relocation plan for the Gaza Palestineans would be permanent. He also indicated that he wasn’t taking no for an answer from Jordan or Egypt. “They won't tell me no. I want to remove all residents of Gaza... It will happen.” Trump says this while meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu in the Oval Office.

5:02 PM - DOGE begins targeting the Department of Labor. Employees are being asked to give access to whatever the DOGE operatives ask for, or face the chopping block.

5:18 PM - The Treasury Department disputes earlier reports that DOGE operatives have anything beyond “read-only” access to Treasury payment systems. They also say no payments have been suspended or rerouted.

5:51PM - Protests start at the Treasury Department building in DC against DOGE’s encroachment into Treasury payment systems, House and Senate Dems are in attendance.

5:52 PM - Sen. Ron Wyden [D-OR] responds to the Treasury’s letter downplaying DOGE access to payment systems. “I’m sure the Treasury Secretary and the president want to save face and downplay the risks as Elon Musk seizes power, but nothing they're saying is believable or trustworthy. The American people can see what's happening, and Secretary Bessent is asking them not to believe what’s playing out in front of their eyes.”

5:59 PM - Mexico’s foreign minister sends a diplomatic note to the US embassy in Mexico City. THey will receive all Mexican deportees instead of seeing them sent to Guantanamo.

6:42 PM - GSA releases a notice that it will reduce or sell off the amount of federal property that it manages by 50%.

6:48 PM - ICE detention facilities are above capacity, forcing the agency to release hundreds of illegal immigrants.

6:58 PM - Donald Trump announces in a joint press conference with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu that the US will be taking over the Gaza Strip, an arrangement that Trump views as being “long term”. Palestinians will be expelled from the land, with it being fully demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. The Palestinians will instead live in settlements in Egypt and Jordan.

7:11 PM - Donald Trump does not rule out deploying troops to take over the Gaza Strip. “We'll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary we'll do it. We're gonna take over that piece and develop it.”

7:25 PM - Donald Trump says that talks between the US, Ukraine, and Russia are happening.

7:31 PM - Donald Trump envisions the Gaza Strip as being the “Riviera of the Middle East”, where many people (multiethnic?) will live.

7:45 PM - Federal judge blocks the DOJ from transferring incarcerated trangenders to prisons in line with their sex at birth.

8:00 PM - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says that Trump’s plan to displace the Gaza Palestinians is “ethnic cleansing”, and risks making a Palestinian state impossible.

8:04 PM - Saudi Arabia reiterates their position that it will not have diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital was established.

8:03 PM - Pam Bondi [R-FL] is confirmed 54-46 in the Senate as Attorney General. The only Democratic defection was Sen. John Fetterman [D-PA].

8:07 PM - USPS suspends inbound parcel services in both China and Hong Kong.

8:11 PM - DOGE operatives entered NOAA HQ in Silver Spring, Maryland. They sought access to the IT systems of NOAA as they have in every agency and department they've targeted. NOAA was earmarked by Project 2025 for elimination, viewing its role in researching climate and climate change as “harmful to US prosperity.”

8:33 PM - The CIA offers a buyout to ALL of its employees. They can quit their jobs in exchange for 8 months of pay and benefits, the same offer given in the deferred resignation program for the civilian agencies.

9:10 PM - USAID's website returns with a message. "All USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs"

12:52 AM - Sen. Mike Lee [R-UT] joins Sen. Joni Ernst [R-IA], Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy [R-OH] in a Twitter space to discuss attaching the REIGNS Act to the next spending bill. The act would require Congress to approve any federal regulation that has an economic impact of $100m or more.

5:46 AM - The cutting of USAID’s funding program, Middle East Eye, defunded 30 Iranian opposition groups and media outlets.

5:55 AM - Stock traders may be holding off on selling stock because they believe the trade war will be transient.

6:30 AM - USAID informs their employees that the USAID HQ will be closed today.

7:01 AM - Canadian PM Justin Trudeau spoke with European Council President Antonio Costa. They reaffirmed that they would continue cooperation in trade and investment. Countries facing or under threat of Trump’s tariffs are reported to be coordinating retaliatory measures to have a greater effect.

7:58 AM - EU leaders say the bloc is prepared to launch countermeasures against the US if they levy tariffs on European exports. Trade both ways amount to $1.23t combined.

8:13 AM - Ontario Premier Doug Ford cancels the province’s contract with Starlink, a Musk-owned satellite internet company. He is also banning American companies from conducting business with the Ontario government.

8:22 AM - NBC reporting that some illegal immigrants arrested post-inauguration have already been released back into the US on a monitoring program.

9:09 AM - Donald Trump indicates that he’s (finally) spoken to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. “Just spoke to Justin Trudeau. Will be speaking to him again at 3:00 P.M.” Trump is also now bringing up the issue that US banks cannot operate in Canada. Canada runs on a cooperative banking system mainly reliant on credit unions, whereas the US has private banking.

9:44 AM - Elon Musk nukes the Twitter account of a person that revealed the 6 young Musk-affiliated interns now working in DOGE in critical roles. Saying “you have committed a crime”.

9:52 AM - DOGE installed a commercial server to control federal HR databases containing personal information.

10:08 AM - DNC Vice-Chair David Hogg [D-FL] sends out fundraising messages to Democratic donors. However, the messages only link to his personal PAC instead of the DNC or any Democratic group.

10:09 AM - Rep. Andy Biggs [R-AZ-5] introduces a bill that would abolish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The bill simply reads: "The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is repealed. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is abolished."

10:21 AM - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announces that tariffs on Mexico will be delayed by a month. Mexico will provide 10,000 troops to the American border to prevent drug trafficking. In exchange, the US will work to prevent the smuggling of “high-powered weapons” into Mexico.

10:30 AM - House GOP in disagreement over the size of proposed budget cuts in the upcoming budget. Rep. Ralph Norman [R-SC-5] and other fiscal conservatives are looking at budget cuts in the realm of $2-5t, and find the currently proposed $500b cut unacceptable.

11:09 AM - House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY-8] notifies house Democrats that he will introduce a bill to restrict access to the Treasury Department’s payment systems. This comes as DOGE seeks access to cut off funding at their discretion.

11:12 AM - GOP officials private note that Trump’s deferred resignation program likely violates the Anti-Deficiency Act, which forbids the government from promising or spending money beyond what Congress has appropriated.

11:37 AM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] has been made acting administrator of USAID. The agency will be folded into the State Department with significant workforce and budget cuts.

11:48 PM - Trump admin contemplates imposing a 10% tariff on all imports from the EU.

11:55 AM - Senate Intelligence Committee will vote on DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard [R-HI] tomorrow in a private session.

11:57 AM - Ways and Means Committee Democrats will host an “emergency” call at 4pm to discuss DOGE and Trump’s tariffs.

12:01 PM - US Attorney in DC, Edward Martin, says he will investigate “Any threats, confrontations, or other actions in any way that impacts” Elon Musk’s operations at DOGE.

12:07 PM - Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI] says he will implement a “blanket hold” on all Trump State Department nominees until USAID is restored.

12:16 PM - 1,000 USAID staff lose access to government accounts overnight without any warning. This includes USAID staff currently deployed to war zones.

12:32 PM - Judge AliKhan may issue a restraining order against the Trump admin over concerns that the admin is still implementing the spending freeze in spite of judicial orders. She will make a decision before 5 PM today.

12:42 PM - Sen. Andy Kim [D-NJ] conducted a press gaggle in front of the USAID building after confirming with security personnel there that the building was shut down.

3:14 AM - Elon Musk/DOGE says they will be shutting down “illegal payments” to Lutheran nonprofits. These Lutheran social services run children and employment support for refugees, foster care, Head Start, and drug abuse prevention programs across the country.

8:41 AM - Donald Trump makes comments on Truth Social, derailing trade deficits with China, Mexico, and Canada as being unfair. He makes another post directly addressing Canada. He claims Canada would not exist without American “subsidies” and reiterates that Canada should become the 51st state.

10:59 AM - VP JD Vance makes an appearance on Maria Bartiromo’s segment on FOX News. He claims Mexico and China are taking advantage of the US, and that tariffs will send the message that “we are done being taken advantage of.”

11:48 AM - Two USAID security officials were placed on leave after denying DOGE access to security systems and classified documents, even after DOGE personnel threatened to call law enforcement. The DOGE personnel did not have high enough security clearance to access the information. Other portions of the agency have also been removed, such as the public affairs division.

12:04 PM - Elon Musk calls USAID a “viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.”

12:24 PM - Trump administration revokes temporary protected status for 300,000 Venezuelans in the United States. They had previously had their TPS extension revoked by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem [R-SD] in January. They will be evicted from TPS in 60 days, with another 300,000 losing status in September.

12:35 PM - Marines of the 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, arrive in Guantanamo Bay to expand the migrant holding center.

1:30 PM - Top FBI official at the New York Field Office, James Dennehy, sends a message to his subordinates that he will “dig in”. He also denies any claim that he has been fired. He says that the FBI is in a “battle of our own”, as FBI agents are targeted for doing their jobs.

1:46 PM - US freezes $2b worth of funds at JP Morgan, suspected of being used by Russians to evade sanctions on the Russian central bank.

2:01 PM - When asked if he would levy tariffs on the European Union, Donald Trump said that he “absolutely” would.

2:01 PM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] accuses Panama of breaking the treaty that handed over the Panama Canal. He warns Panama that unless they made changes to the operation of the canal, “it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the treaty.”

2:02 PM - WIRED investigation reveals that at least 6 people aged 19-24, most of whom used to at the very least intern with Musk-affiliated companies, have been playing crucial roles in DOGE. DOGE personnel have been implanted into the OPM and GSA and been trying to access highly classified information and data, in addition to targeting and firing certain elements of the federal government.

2:19 PM - Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino dismisses American threats. “I don’t feel that there is any real threat at this time.”

3:21 PM - A union rep for DOEd employees claims that some were placed on leave for attending diversity training. The training took place under Trump’s first term. At least 55 employees have been affected.

3:23 PM - Anti-ICE protestors in Los Angeles blocked the southbound lanes of the 101 Freeway.

3:27 PM - FBI employees suspected of being involved in the J6 investigation were asked to fill out a questionnaire. This questionnaire is due on Monday at 3 PM. It asks them their level of involvement and the roles they played in the J6 investigation.

4:05 PM - Gov. Greg Abbott [R-TX] signs an order deputizing the Texas National Guard with immigration enforcement authority.

4:35 PM - The Department of Education is rumored to be the next target for DOGE. There are also rumors of an EO in the works that would wind down the department.

5:30 PM - The memorial wall naming all 99 USAID workers who died overseas was taken down at the USAID HQ.

5:35 PM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] appoints Darren Beattie as acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. Beattie previously served as a speechwriter for the first Trump administration, but was fired for attending a white nationalist event. Beattie is also a Uyghur genocide denier, and suggested that the US should trade Taiwan’s independence for “concessions” in Africa and Antarctica.

5:37 PM - Panama announces they will not renew their Belt and Road Initiative with China, and it will be ended early. Panama will also seek US investment into infrastructure and other projects.

5:50 PM - The White House releases a press release defending the tariff plan. Arguing that tariffs will have a minimal impact, help bring jobs to America, and motivating countries to act in ways that benefit the US. This also includes claiming Canada has invested more into border enforcement, something that Vance has been accusing the Canadians of not doing.

6:29 PM - Trump halts all future aid to South Africa. He accuses South Africa of committing human rights violations by seizing and confiscating land, while also treating “certain classes of people VERY BADLY”.

6:53 PM - Due to tariffs reducing American demand for foreign goods, the limiting of dollars in the FOREX market has led to an appreciation of the US dollar in value relative to the Mexican Peso, Canadian Dollar, and Euro. This will retroactively reduce the ability of foreigners to purchase American goods, and reduce exports.

7:10 PM - In a 60 Minutes interview, Sen. Mitch McConnell [R-KY] states his opposition to tariffs. “[Tariffs] will drive the cost of everything up. In other words, it will be paid for by American consumers. I mean, why would you want to get in a fight with your allies over this?”

7:54 PM - Donald Trump giving an impromptu presser in front of AF1. He claims China is running the Panama Canal, and that if the US doesn’t take it back “something very powerful is going to happen.” He says that the UK can avoid tariffs since he’s getting along well with PM Keir Starmer, and that something can be worked out. However, EU tariffs will “definitely happen” because they’re taking advantage of the US.

9:29 PM - Federal Reserve employees have been instructed to download their Electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF). The OPM is rumored to be cutting off access tomorrow. The folder contains all employee data, including personal info, performance reviews, benefits, and pay raises. Having access to an eOPF makes it easier for employees to protect themselves from illegal firings.

10:00 PM - Bitcoin and Etherium see around 7% and 21% losses at the opening of NA premarket trading. Meanwhile, the SP500 saw around a 2% dip in premarket as Wall Street reacts to the beginning of a trade war.

7:00 AM - Politico article interviews former Panamanian President Ernesto Perez Balladares. He contemplates future scenarios in response to American threats to seize the Panama Canal. One point he raised was that Panama could release the floodgates for South American refugees going north to America. On the subject of a potential invasion, he said “I think there will be many, many casualties on our side... and international condemnation of the U.S.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] arrives today.

8:13 AM - Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Palestinian Authority, and Arab League issue a joint statement. They reject Trump’s proposal for Jordan and Egypt to take on the Gaza Palestinians, expressing their “continued full support for the resilience of the Palestinian people on their land.”

9:00 AM - White House issues a statement from Donald Trump honoring Black History Month. This is in spite of the fact that certain agencies and departments have orders to not observe the month.

10:10 AM - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Choora is fired. She was a holdover from the Biden administration.

10:24 AM - Reuters reporting that Trump envoy to Ukraine and Russia wants Ukraine to hold elections if a ceasefire can be reached in the coming months.

11:52 AM - Donald Trump is golfing at his Palm Beach golf course. His announcement of tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China will likely be pushed back.

12:18 PM - Trump announces in a Truth Social post that military airstrikes in Somalia killed a senior ISIS member and other militants. He also took the time to attack the Biden administration for not acting “quickly enough to get the job done.”

12:36 PM - National Association of Home Builders issued a letter to Donald Trump. They urge Trump to reconsider his tariff plans as 1/4th of home construction materials are sourced from Mexico and Canada. Supply chain disruptions will delay home construction and increase prices.

12:58 PM - Ken Martin [D-MN], Minnesota Democratic Party Chairman, is elected on the first ballot with 246/428 delegates to become DNC Chairman.

1:15 PM - 26 undocumented Chinese immigrants were apprehended by Florida LEOs. They were being transported by Cuban and Puerto Rican smugglers. This comes as the Florida Legislature passed the TRUMP Act, allowing illegals convicted of capital offenses to be charged with the death penalty.

1:31 PM - Bloomberg reports that Canada plans to implement reciprocal tariffs against the US, targeting goods that have readily available alternatives in Canada to minimize the local impact.

1:57 PM - Canada was notified by the US they’d be subject to 25% universal tariffs with the exception of energy being subject to 10% tariffs. Tariffs will take effect February 4 and not stop until “the fentanyl issue is resolved.” PM Trudeau will reply at 6 PM.

2:18 PM - Pete Buttigieg [D-IN] rules out running for Michigan Governor, will instead focus on a potential run for Senate.

2:59 PM - Israeli PM Netanyahu wants to meet with Trump to gauge his opinion on a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire. “Real discussion... of the deal will only begin after Bibi talks with Trump.”

3:11 PM - USAID’s website goes offline ahead of reported plans for the agency to be folded into the State Department.

3:17 PM - PEPFAR, the HIV drug distribution program frozen by the Trump admin, is granted a waiver to continue critical operations following a push by organizations across the political spectrum.

3:37 PM - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent grants Elon Musk/DOGE access to Treasury Department payment systems.

4:50 PM - CBC reporting that the US government notified Canada that if they responded to the American tariffs, the US will escalate tariffs.

4:57 PM - White House officially published tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. "A 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China. Energy resources from Canada will have a lower 10% tariff."

5:03 PM - Donald Trump officially signs the tariffs into effect with executive orders. The EOs also have a clause indicating that tariffs will increase if the respective governments retaliate.

5:10 PM - Trump’s executive orders on trade also eliminate the de minimis exemption for small imports. This was being exploited by Chinese companies to import small items without paying tariffs. This will unfortunately affect small businesses trying to import small items as well.

5:10 PM - US Army identifies the identity of the third soldier in the UH-60 Blackhawk involved in the AA5342 disaster. Aviation officer Captain Rebecca Lobach.

5:56 PM - Premier of Ontario Doug Ford proposes the potential limiting or taxing of nickel, other metals, and energy exports to the United States.

6:15 PM - Internal US Border Patrol memos indicate a potential threat of Mexican cartels using drones to target agents on the border. This threat comes specifically in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) area, where the CDN, Grupo Escorpion, and Metros control territory.

6:33 PM - US Chamber of Commerce comes out against the trade war. “The imposition of tariffs under IEEPA is unprecedented... and will only raise prices for American families and upend supply chains.”

6:42 PM - The president of a trade group that oversees Canadian Honda and Toyota says that automakers on both sides of the Canadian-American border will quickly shut down because of how interconnected the industry is.

6:44 PM - Canadian government clarifies that PM Justin Trudeau will issue a response to Trump’s tariffs at 8:30 PM. Current reporting indicates he will talk with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum first.

7:20 PM - Ottawa Senators fans boo the American anthem when it was played during the pregame ceremony at the Minnesota Wild @ Ottawa Senators game.

7:25 PM - Mexican cabinet members meet with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the National Palace.

7:38 PM - DOEd employees that attended diversity training are now getting placed on administrative leave. Up to 100 employees that attended the diversity training now face termination.

7:47 PM - British Columbia Premier David Eby orders an embargo of American liquor purchases from red states. The extant inventory will be taken off the shelves.

7:59 PM - Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy [R-WI] announces that the DOT will no longer observe celebrations of “immutable traits or any other identity-based observances.”

8:07 PM - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announces reciprocal tariffs and non-tariff measures against the United States. What those entail are currently unknown.

8:16 PM - Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s response to American tariffs is delayed to around 9 PM.

9:12 PM - Canadian PM Justin Trudeau begins his address in response to American tariffs. 25% tariffs on $155b of American goods. $30b immediately on Tuesday, and $125b over the next 21 days. Appliances, furniture, and equipment will be affected. Non tariff measures including energy and mineral procurement have been considered by provincial Premiers. He also calls for Canadians to boycott American goods.

9:40 PM - Nova Scotia will also embargo American liquor, in addition to doubling travel fees for American commercial vehicles.

10:14 PM - China vows to respond with their own measures against the tariffs.

10:30 PM - David Hogg [D-FL] earns one of 3 vice chair positions at the DNC. The first Gen Z to ever hold the office.

11:16 PM - China will file a WTO claim, claiming that American tariffs are a violation of WTO rules and disruptive to US-China trade relations.

7:24 AM - Former Acting Treasury Secretary David Lebryk is expected to leave the government soon. Lebryk clashed with Musk and DOGE after they demanded access to the internal government payment system, a request he rejected.

7:47 AM - SecDef Pete Hegseth says that “All options will be on the table” when asked about the possibility of military air strikes in Mexico against cartels.

9:15 AM - NBC reporting that Gov. JB Pritzker [D-IL] signs a directive to exclude J6 rioters from government jobs. “No one who attempts to overthrow a government should serve in government.”

9:17 AM - US companies in China are accelerating plans to shift sourcing and manufacturing back to the US.

11:26 AM - Federal employees receive a follow-up memo reassuring them that the deferred resignation plan is “valid, lawful, and will be honored.”

11:40 AM - Federal employees are instructed to remove all pronouns from their email signatures by the end of the day in line with Trump’s executive orders.

11:53 AM - The DOD will no longer cover costs for personnel that travel for abortions and other reproductive care. Other reproductive care includes IVFs and contraception.

11:53 AM - Fmr. Lt. Gov. and failed Gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson [R-NC] drops his defamation lawsuit against CNN and announces his retirement from politics.

12:16 PM - Reuters reporting that tariffs on Mexico and Canada are pushed back to March 1. Trump is also considering allowing limited exceptions to the tariffs for certain goods. It’s unknown if he will still announce them on February 1.

12:54 PM - US military officials tell NPR the identity of the female crew member of the UH-60 involved in the AA5342 disaster. This decision was made at the behest of the crew member’s family.

1:21 PM - Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denies claims that tariffs will be delayed to March 1. 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, alongside 10% tariffs on China will be implemented tomorrow.

1:22 PM - Customs and Border Protection officials told they are not allowed to take the deferred resignation option. They are considered by the government to be “national security.”

1:22 PM - Per CNN, over 1,100 EPA employees were notified of their placement on probationary status. This means that they could be fired effectively immediately if deemed necessary.

1:44 PM - When Trump ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to let the water flow to Southern California, the Army Corps drained reservoirs into flooded farmland without notifying local leaders or farmers. The additional flow also nearly caused a flood event similar to the 2023 floods.

1:45 PM - Canadian PM Justin Trudeau says that Canada is prepared to respond to American tariffs.

2:14 PM - Liberal candidate for Canadian PM Chrystia Freeland said that American tariffs could be responded to with a 100% tariff on alcoholic products and Tesla vehicles.

2:29 PM - NOAA employees have been instructed to deactivate agency materials that contain certain words related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

2:29 PM - 6 of the FBI’s most senior officials and multiple heads of different field offices nationwide have been fired.

2:35 PM - Trump admin orders the General Services Administration to develop a plan to cut their budget by 50%. Elon Musk visited their headquarters yesterday.

2:36 PM - USDA orders all references of “climate change” to be removed from their website by the end of the day.

2:53 PM - FBI agents that worked on the J6 and Trump investigations are expected to be fired today, per CNN.

2:55 PM - Sen. Bernie Sanders [I-VT] launches an investigation into the firing of top federal labor officials by the Trump admin.

3:12 PM - John Rogers, former senior advisor at the Federal Reserve, was indicted for economic espionage.

3:13 PM - Rep. Thomas Massie [R-KY-4] introduces a bill to abolish the Department of Education.

3:19 PM - David Sundberg, the chief of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, has been fired per NBC.

3:22 PM - ICE tells their employees they will not be allowed to accept the deferred resignation option.

3:55 PM - Donald Trump says nothing to Canada, Mexico, and China to forestall tariffs. He is not looking for concessions at the current moment and may look to increase tariffs.

4:16 PM - ATCs alongside other federal employees received an email a day after the AA5342 disaster. The email urges them to accept the deferred resignation plan.

4:19 PM - ICE is seeking access to databases containing the information of hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied minors that crossed into the US.

4:28 PM - Federal websites tracking healthcare issues such as HIV and transgender healthcare were shut down.

4:43 PM - Donald Trump says that the US will retake the Panama Canal. “We’re gonna take it back... They’ve totally violated the agreement.”

4:50 PM - 2 black boxes from AA5342 have been recovered from the crash site in the Potomac River.

5:05 PM - State Department replaces all language pertaining to “LGBTQ” individuals and replaces it with “LGB.”

6:14 PM - White House releases a video of “angel moms” criticizing celebrity Selena Gomez for her comments against a mass deportation program.

7:06 PM - House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY-8] endorses Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler [D-WI] for DNC Chair.

7:16 PM - SecDef Pete Hegseth declares that “identity months” are dead at the DOD.

7:21 PM - Venezuela releases 6 American political prisoners after a meeting with Trump aides.

7:34 PM - The “rule of law” policy page on the USAID website has been taken down.

8:11 PM - Reports surface that Trump plans to sign an EO as early as tonight to shut down USAID and merge it with the state department.

9:28 PM - NORAD reports that fighter jets from Alaska and Canada were scrambled over the arctic due to Russian warplane activity.

10:41 PM - Shriners Hospital for Children confirms that the patient on the Learjet 55 that crashed in Philadelphia was a 12-year-old receiving treatment in the US on her way home to Mexico. They also confirmed that 6 people were aboard the plane, including the girl and her mother.

12:19 AM - Donald Trump’s Truth Social post about the AA5342 disaster alleges the helicopter acted in a suspect manner by flying straight at the airplane. He also asks why ATC didn’t instruct the helicopter to divert course. He says the accident looks preventable.

5:30 AM - In compliance with Trump executive orders, the IRS removes words that include “equity” and “inclusion” in IRS documents. “Inclusion” is an actual concept in tax law.

6:28 AM - Rep. Andy Ogles [R-TN-5] on FOX News asks if DEI played a role in the AA5342 disaster.

7:42 AM - DC fire chief says that there are no survivors of the AA5342 disaster.

8:05 AM - Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy [R-WI], when asked if there was an acting FAA director, walked away from the podium instead of answering. The FAA director resigned on January 21 under pressure from Elon Musk to do so.

10:03 AM - Confirmation hearings begin for DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard [R-HI] and nominee for FBI Director Kash Patel.

10:15 AM - Sen. Tom Cotton [R-MO] while speaking during Tulsi Gabbard’s [R-HI] confirmation hearing: “In a fallen world we have to take our friends where we find them... What matters, in the end, is less whether a country is democratic or non-democratic, and more whether the country is pro-American or anti-American.”

11:24 AM - Donald Trump hosts a press conference at the WH. He confirms that, unfortunately, no one has survived the AA5342 disaster. He indicates that the government has a good idea of what caused the crash. Personally, he believes the Blackhawk crew was at fault.

With regard to the gap in federal aviation leadership and employment, Trump is immediately appointing career FAA official Christopher Rocheleau as acting FAA commissioner.

Trump took time to cast blame on the previous administration, saying “I put safety first. Obama, Biden, and the Democrats put policy first.” He also called the previous Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg [D-IN] “a disaster”.

Trump accuses DEI policies for helping cause the disaster. He highlights FAA hiring practices that allowed them to hire people with mental disabilities. When asked further if he had any proof that it was a factor in the crash, he could not definitively answer that it was. He says that he can conclude that diversity caused the crash because he had “common sense”.

11:43 PM - After Trump’s questioning, SecDef Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy [R-W1], and Vice President JD Vance address the media. Hegseth says that “the era of DEI is gone” in the DOD. Duffy defends Trump’s leadership with the disaster “remarkable”. Vance says that he wants competent ATCs and enough ATCs to do the job (the administration has been doing the exact opposite).

12:04 PM - NYT reporting that the Trump administration is looking at forcibly halting New York City congestion pricing.

12:12 PM - Reuters reporting that military deportation flights to Guatemala cost five times the price of a one-way first class ticket.

12:15 PM - Pete Buttigieg [D-IN] responds to Donald Trump’s insults during the WH press conference. He calls Trump’s actions “despicable” and pointed out that under him there were no airline fatalities in the US, while Trump has significantly degraded federal aviation agencies.

12:53 PM - Per Sen. Chris Murphy [D-CT], Trump deported 7,300 people his first week. Half of what Biden managed on average, in addition to the percentage of deportees being criminals fell from 72% to 50%.

1:00 PM - Donald Trump revives his plans for a “National Garden of American Heroes” with 250 statues of important American historical figures to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence in 2026.

1:33 PM - Fortune reporting top hires in the OPM include a 21 year old and a new high school graduate, members of Gen Z. These people also had ties with Musk-affiliated companies.

1:34 PM - Reuters reporting that a checkpoint in Gaza is being run during the ceasefire by an American security firm hiring almost 100 US veterans.

2:09 PM - Sen. John Thune [R-SD] expresses confidence in RFK jr.’s committee hearings. “He’s trending in the right direction.”

2:32 PM - RFK/jr. states that he believes that WiFi radiation can cause cancer when asked by Sen. Andy Kim [D-NJ].

2:40 PM - Garnet Henderson reports the Department of Transportation issued a memo yesterday. Within the memo, it directed the DOT and DOT programs to “give preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.”

2:43 PM - FAA initial report on the AA5342 disaster indicates that staff levels were not normal at the ATC tower at Ronald Reagan International Airport. This includes claims of one ATC seat being empty during the time of the accident.

3:07 PM - The VA dismisses the directors of both the Centers for Woman, and Minority Veterans. VA officials say that operations will continue as normal.

3:15 PM - FCC Chief Brendan Barr opens up investigations against NPR and PBS for allegedly airing advertisements. The move could cut off federal fundi NBC for public broadcasting.

3:36 PM - Trump signs a pair of executive actions, the first is an executive order formally appointing a deputy administrator for the FAA. The second one was a memo ordering an investigation into air safety, and instructing “competency” be put over “DEI”. It also explicitly blamed DEI and the Biden administration for the disaster.

3:37 PM - Donald Trump announces that he will implement 25% tariffs on both Canada and Mexico that will take effect Saturday . He claims that the countries are letting too much Fentanyl and immigrants into the country. He also claims that both Mexico and Canada have been unfair to the United States by running large trade surpluses with the US.

4:01 PM - Reporters ask Trump about his plan to have Jordan and Egypt take in the Gaza Palestinians. He replies “they will do it.”

4:10 PM - When asked about if he’d visit the crash site of AA5342, Trump points out that the plane crashed into the water. “You want me to go swimming?”

4:10 PM - Donald Trump remains unsure if oil should be included in the 25% tariff. He will make a decision in the coming days.

5:26 PM - DOD employees connected to DeepSeek AI for 2 days before officials noticed and moved to shut off access, per Bloomberg.

5:33 PM - Canadian ambassador Kirsten Hillman reiterates that Canada has undertaken extensive efforts to address American border concerns, and will tell that to Trump. She also notes that if the tariffs do go into effect, Canada will respond with their own.

5:34 PM - Head of the USAID Employee and Labor Relations Division Nicholas Gottlieb is placed on administrative leave after defying orders to fire employees by DOGE and Trump appointees.

6:45 PM - FDA approves the first non-opiate painkiller, Journavx, for distribution.

6:58 PM - WIRED reporting that government tech workers are being brought to surprise meetings to discuss projects with Musk-affiliated individuals.

8:18 PM - FEWS NET, a USAID project, has been shut down as a result of the foreign aid freeze. The initiative tracks global hunger data and was considered the global standard for tracking famines.

8:46 PM - President Trump threatens 100% tariffs on all

BRICS countries if they try to replace the US dollar as the global reserve currency. That would include China, India, and Brazil.

10:11 PM - New email communications system for NOAA and other agencies was so insecure that Ken Klippenstein broke into it and sent messages advertising his substack and Signal account to the entirety of NOAA. The email system was forced to lock down following mass emailing by Trump opponents.

12:16 AM - In addition to DEI related pages, the USAID have also taken down their web page about their anti-corruption efforts.

8:32 AM - Elon Musk was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize for his support of the human right to free speech.

8:33 AM - A3 year old, their mother, and their grandmother were detained by ICE while shopping in Milwaukee due to speaking Spanish. They were from the island of Puerto Rico and all US citizens.

9:20 AM - Speaker Mike Johnson [R-LA-4] comes out in support of Trump’s employee buyout plan.

9:39 AM - Rep. Jim Himes [D-CT-4] gives a vote of confidence to Trump’s appointees from Wall Street. “ think the economy is in... good hands.” Hines himself is a former investment banker turned politician.

9:47 AM - The Senate Judiciary Committee votes down party lines and approves the nomination of AG candidate Pam Bondi [R-FL] by one vote.

9:51 AM - Senate confirmation hearings begin for HHS Secretary nominee RFK jr.

10:23 AM - Alleged leaks of memos sent out to US intelligence agencies instruct them to suspend the observation of multiple holidays and months. Those are Holocaust Remembrance Day, MLK Day, Juneteenth, Women’s Equality Day, Black History Month, Women’s History Month, AAPI Heritage Month, Pride Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and National American Indian Heritage Month.

10:25 AM - When claiming to not be anti-vax nor anti-pharma when answering a question about his political positions, a protester interrupts proceedings by yelling “He lies” before being dragged out of the room.

10:33 AM - Trump admin says he will sign an executive order that would “combat antisemitism and pledge to deport non-citizen college students and other r aliens who took part in pro-Palestinian protest: Reuters.

10:41 AM - RFK jr. claims he did not cause the 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa. He then proceeded to outline a perfect timeline of how he caused the outbreak. He arrived in June of 2019 to advise the Samoans’ health policy, and then the outbreak started in August that year.

10:56 AM - When Sen. Bennet [D-CO] asked RFK jr. about his comments that Lyme Disease was developed by the military as a bioweapon, RFK jr. replied “I probably did say that.”

11:24 AM - RFK jr.’s cousin, Caroline Kennedy, urges on video for the Senate to reject his nomination. She calls him a “predator” that encouraged siblings to engage in substance abuse, and preying on the desperation of sick children and their families by pushing against vaccinations while vaccinating his own children.

11:44 AM- Rep. Ana Paulina Luna [R-FL-13] introduces legislation to add Donald Trump’s face to Mount Rushmore.

11:46 AM - The NWS uses the name “Gulf of America” for the first time in a meteorological report.

11:52 AM - CNN notes that Trump's former SecDef Mark Esper’s portrait has been removed at the Pentagon. Mark Esper fell out of favor with Trump in 2020.

11:57 AM - Mass immigration enforcement raids in Aurora, Colorado have been cancelled due to media leaks.

12:07 PM - NYT reporting that the Commissioners and General Counsel of the EEOC were fired overnight in a

purge.

12:23 PM - The DOJ moves to dismiss their appeal of Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling in the Nauta and De Oliveira cases that Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional.

12:56 PM - The Trump admin issues a new memo on federal aid. The OMB freeze is rescinded while still stuck in litigation.

1:16 PM - USDA IG Phyllis Fong is removed from her office by security personnel after defying Trump’s order to fire her.

1:40 PM - Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarifies that the funding freeze will not be halted by the new memo. It just rescinded the OMB memo to avoid conflict with Judge AliKhan’s stay. The EO freezing funding is in “full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”

1:55 PM - Another anti-trans EO is expected to be signed tonight by Donald Trump. It would direct the federal government to help state AGs imprison teachers for using a transgender kid’s preferred pronouns for “sexual exploitation” or “practicing medicine without a license.”

2:08 PM - The Federal Reserve holds interest rates at their current level.

2:43 PM - President Trump says he will sign an EO to instruct the DOD and DHS to prepare to build a facility at gitmo that can house 30,000 migrants.

2:45 PM - Donald Trump signs the Laken Riley Act into law. The law expands the ability of immigration enforcement agencies to begin the deportation process. It does so by allowing illegal immigrants arrested for, facing charges of, or convicted of “burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting” to be detained by immigration officers.

3:09 PM - Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell makes comments to the press. He says that he doesn’t need to have inflation hit 2% to lower interest rates, asset (stock) prices have been inflated by a myriad of factors, and that job growth has been slowing down due to slowed cross-border flow.

3:14 PM - WaPo reporting citing a Senate aide that Tulsi Gabbard [R-HI] doesn’t have the votes to advance her nomination for DNI out of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

3:35 PM - Fmr. Sen. Bob Menendez [D-NJ] is sentenced to 11 years in prison.

3:36 PM - Federal Judge McConnell grants a restraining order against the EO that ordered the freeze of federal funding. He cited Press Secretary Leavitt's comments as one reason the order was granted.

3:47 PM - Bloomberg reporting that the White House is preparing to legally challenge the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The Impoundment Control Act makes it so the president cannot withhold funds appropriated and approved by Congress.

3:59 PM - NYT reporting that the DOJ is engaged in talks regarding dropping the charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY].

4:18 PM - DHS Secretary Kristi Noem [R-SD] revokes temporary protected status for Venezuela. This exposes 600,000 people to the risk of deportation, including opponents of the Maduro regime under political persecution.

4:27 PM - Senate confirms Lee Zeldin [R-NY] as EPA Administrator 56-42.

5:19 PM - Facebook pays Trump $25m in a lawsuit it had by proxy won when an identical suit against Twitter was tossed. Trump argued his 1st amendment rights were being violated when he was deplatformed after J6.

5:32 PM - OPM issues a new memo to federal agencies instructing them to turn off email system options that ask for a user’s pronouns. They also order the disbandment or cancellation of any groups or programs that implicated or supported “gender ideology”.

6:12 PM - Tennessee passes a law criminalizing elected officials giving any sort of resistance, even criticism, of Trump’s immigration policies. It also mandates that lawful residents be provided a distinct driver's license from citizens.

7:05 PM - Rep. Nancy Pelosi [D-CA-11] endorses Ben Wikler [D-WI] for DNC chair.

7:22 PM - Donald Trump signs multiple executive orders.

“Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families” opens up taxpayer dollars for parents to send their children to the private school of their choice. This would divert funding away from long-flagging public schools.

“Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” cuts federal funding for K-12 schools that back “illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination... including based on gender ideology and... equity ideology”. This also includes targeting educators that support transgender students as previously mentioned.

“Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday” establishes a task force to organize the 250th 4th of July in 2026. It also restored the EO “Protecting America’s Monuments from Vandalism”, which was enacted during the George Floyd protests.

“Expanding Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Full Capacity” orders the expansion of the Migrant Operations Center in gitmo. It also said the space should be used for “high-priority criminal aliens.”

“Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism” directs the government to work with higher education institutions to monitor and report on “anti-Semi activities by student aliens, and if necessary, deport them.

8:35 PM - Gallup polling for Trump’s first week in office placed him with a net negative approval rating of -1, a record for their polling.

8:53 PM - American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with an Army Blackhawk helicopter in mid-air over the Potomac

River in DC. Reagan Airport is shut down. The passenger aircraft is reported to have held 60 passengers plus crew.

9:12 PM - WSJ reporting that Trump appointed 2 supervisors to run the FBI until Kash Patel could be confirmed. Those two men had a website error flip their respective roles in leadership. Instead of fixing the website error, the two men instead swapped positions.

10:20 PM - BNO reporting that at least 4 survivors have been rescued from the crash site on the Potomac River.

10:44 PM - The Blackhawk helicopter involved in the AA5342 disaster was carrying 3 soldiers at the time of collision. Though the Blackhawk was designated for VIP transport, there were no senior officials aboard.

10:51 PM - Trump issues a brief statement for the Flight 5342 disaster. “I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport. May God Bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”

11:52 PM - Anew update from CBS indicates that 19 bodies have been pulled from the water, but not survivors.

1:11 AM - After late night comments made by Donald Trump claiming the military took over water management in California, the California Department of Water Resources denies the claim. Instead the federal government restarted federal water pumps.

2:06 AM - NATO and EU officials have decided to remain silent on Greenland. “A low profile seems to be the safest bet... Hopefully he will be distracted by something else.”

5:51 AM - ICE went to a church yesterday to make an arrest. Upon denial by the pastor, who was interrupted mid-prayer service, they waited outside to apprehend the illegal immigrant.

8:17 AM - French Foreign Minister Jean-Noél Barrot discloses that France has been in talks with Denmark to send troops to Greenland.

9:00 AM - Bloomberg reporting that NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo and Board Member Gwynne Wilcox [D] are fired by Donald Trump. Wilcox has since called her firing “unprecedented and illegal”.

9:16 AM - Transgender rights groups are preparing to file a lawsuit as early as today to stop Trump’s executive order banning transgender service members from the military.

9:20 AM - Sen. Gary Peters [D-MI] announces that he will not run for reelection in 2026. The seat could be potentially filled by term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer [D-MI] or Fmr. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg [D-IN].

10:10 AM - MSNBC's Jeff Stein indicates that Medicaid, in addition to Medicare and Social Security, should not be affected by the 5 PM freeze on federal grants, loans, and certain types of aid. The question is still in the air as the hours tick down.

10:51 AM - Gretchen Whitner’s [D-MI] PAC announces she is NOT running for US Senate in 2026. Meanwhile, Axios reports that Pete Buttigieg [D-IN] is looking closely at arun. State Senator Mallory McMorrow [D-MI] is also considering running.

11:18 AM - Eric Mueller’s talk about the complicity of lawyers in the rise of Nazi Germany at the a US Attorney’s Office was cancelled by the DOJ.

11:29 AM - WaPo report reveals that RFK jr. has previously argued that white and black people should have separate vaccination schedules (???).

11:50 AM - Multiple states begin reporting issues with the Medicaid payment system.

12:01 PM - Top Democrat appropriations Senator Patty Murray [D-WA] issues a memo to Senate Democrats claiming that programs such as Pell Grant, Veterans Healthcare, School Lunch, Student Loans, Suicide Hotline, and community health clinics among others might be affected by the freeze.

12:02 PM - Federal agencies plan to target 3 cities every week for large scale immigration enforcement. Aurora, Colorado is reportedly slated to be one of the cities targeted next.

12:35 PM - Letter to Senators accuses RFK jr. of showing himself putting baby chickens and mice into blenders during college (WTF?).

12:41 PM - Sean Duffy [R-WI] is confirmed 77-22 as Secretary of Transportation. Duffy passed cloture unanimously, but 22 Dems flipped.

12:41 PM - Department of Veterans Affairs canceled suicide prevention training because it included considerations for LGBTQ veterans.

12:43 PM - White House issues a follow up memo that should clarify the previous OMB memo. SNAP, Pell Grant, Student Loans, SSI, Medicare, and Medicaid should NOT be frozen. However the programs should still undergo review for promoting DEI, “gender ideology”, and aid to illegal immigrants.

1:10 PM - Several nonprofit organizations have filed lawsuits to stop the implementation of the OMB freeze on grants, loans, and aid. They have 3 hours and 50 minutes to get an injunction.

1:11 PM - Sen. Ron Wyden [D-OR] confirms reports that all 50 Medicaid pay portals are down following the OMB freeze.

1:25 PM - During a WH press brief, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says that organizations that rely on federal funding should call Russ Vought (note: he isn’t confirmed yet) and plead their case.

1:38 PM - Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says that New Jersey drones were FAA authorized for “research and various other reasons”.

1:39 PM - Sen. Chris Murphy [D-CT] claims that Head Start payment systems are inaccessible. Preschools are not receiving funding and unable to pay staff.

1:47 PM - Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says she is unsure if Medicaid is affected by the OMB freeze.

2:00 PM - The new General Counsel of the OPM Andrew Kloster has been reported having a history of deeply disturbing or bigoted views. "Consent is probably modern society’s most pernicious fetish".

2:07 PM - Senators Chuck Grassley [R-IA] and Dick Durbin [D-IL] jointly write a letter to Trump demanding he immediately comply with the law regarding procedures for firing Inspector Generals.

2:08 PM - Ryan Michael English was arrested at the Capitol after confessing to police he was armed and intended to kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. English was originally intending to kill either Speaker Mike Johnson [R-LA-4] or SecDef Pete Hegseth.

2:19 PM - Senate GOP considers bringing Tulsi Gabbard’s [R-HI] nomination to the Senate floor even if she does not win a recommendation or even receive a negative one by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

2:48 PM - The Senate blocks a bill that would have imposed sanctions on the ICC for ruling against Israel.

2:52 PM - People within the DOJ building in DC were forced to evacuate following an unknown threat. Authorities have yet to release any kind of information.

2:53 PM - The US will transfer dozens of drones and Patriot interceptors from Israel to Ukraine. 90 interceptors have been moved from Israel to Poland pending shipment into Ukraine.

2:57 PM - White House claims that Medicaid portal issues are unrelated to the OMB freeze. They say they're looking into resolving the issue and that payments are still being processed.

3:24 PM - When asked by CNN reporters whether he supported the OMB freeze on all federal grants, including school lunches, Head Start, and childhood cancer research, Rep. Rich McCormick [R-GA-6] said that kids who received free lunches were leeching off the government and should get a job.

3:29 PM - Research universities take differing interpretations to the OMB freeze. Stanford did not pause federally-funded research, while the University of Chicago did.

3:30 PM - ICE suspends their illegal immigrant reporting hotline. 90% of the calls they received were just people reporting Elon Musk.

3:35 PM - Federal Judge Loren AliKhan schedules an emergency meeting at 4 PM to discuss a motion to immediately halt the implementation of the OMB freeze.

3:37 PM - Trump informs the Israeli government that he intends to withdraw US troops from Syria.

4:06 PM - Payment sites for Medicaid cite the OMB freeze as the reason why pay portals are inaccessible. This indicates that the Trump administration was lying.

4:57 PM - Federal Judge Loren AliKhan halts the OMB freeze just 3 minutes before it was slated to take effect. The implementation of the freeze will be delayed until at least Monday as litigation plays out.

5:18 PM - SecDef Pete Hegseth revokes Gen. Mark Miley’s security detail and clearances effective immediately. He also directs the Inspector General to investigate Milley and orders the removal of Milley’s second portrait in the Pentagon.

5:21 PM - Donald Trump signs an executive order restricting gender affirming care for people below the age of 19. The order directs TRICARE and Medicaid to no longer cover gender affirming care for minors. The order also directs the DOJ to pursue litigation to oppose the practice. The order also uses language such as sterilization” and “maiming” to describe such procedures.

5:30 PM - Trump admin offers 2 million federal employees the option to resign with a severance package of 8 months of pay and benefits. They can either take the deal or accept 5 days of in-person work per week. The administration expects to see somewhere between 5-20% of workers take the offer. The question being raised by some though is if the Administration can even pay the workers the promised amount due to appropriations and restructuring laws on the books. The “deferred resignation program” begins today and ends on February 6.

5:39 PM - Speaker Mike Johnson [R-LA-4] believes that the GOP could hold the majority in the house “for a decade”. He also says he supports the OMB freeze.

6:01 PM - WIRED reporting that top layers of OPM management, including interns, staffers, and officials, have been filled by people with ties to Elon Musk. These include people originally from companies such as xAI, Palantir, Neuralink, and The Boring Company.

6:30 PM - Google reclassifies the United States as a “sensitive country” due to the requirement to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico. Other sensitive countries include China and Russia.

8:23 PM - The Department of Government Efficiency website comes online. The only thing it has so far is the department name and the words “The people voted for major reform.”

8:54 PM - Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order prioritizing federal funding for “school choice programs”. Which means federal funding for private schools over public education.

g:21 PM - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) acting chairwoman announces she will prioritize the targeting of businesses that allow transgender employees to use the same restrooms as cisgender employees of the same gender identity.

10:05 PM - Mike Zimmer [D-LA] flips Iowa State Senate District 35 in a special election by 3.6 points. The District voted for Trump by 21 points.

3:36 AM - Sen. Lindsay Graham [R-SC] (why the fuck is this guy up at 3 AM) says that the Supreme Court has a good chance of backing Trump’s EO on birthright citizenship.

5:34 AM - Nvidia and other tech stocks stumble, losing 10% of market value and $370b in market cap in pre market trading. Nasdaq futures also fell 4% in pre market trading. Over the weekend a Chinese company released DeepSeek, an AI language model that was much cheaper than ChatGPT to develop.

9:46 AM - Mexican President Claudia Shienbaum reports Mexico has received 4,000 deportees from the US since the Trump administration took over.

9:50 AM - Donald Trump is expected to sign a group of executive orders related to the military today. They would end DEI programs within the military, reinstate troops that were discharged for defying the COVID vaccine mandate, call for the development of an Iron Dome for America, and ban transgenders from the military. That last executive order would forcibly discharge 15,000 service members, including those that chose not to medically transition, and forbid the recruitment of transgenders into the military in the future.

10:08 AM - CNN reports that federal immigration officers have been instructed to record and publicize their immigration enforcement operations.

10:17 AM - All Democratic Senators sign a one line resolution that reads “Resolved, that the Senate disapproves of any pardons for individuals who were found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police officers.” They will try to pass it this week.

10:35 AM - DeepSeek restricts registration to Chinese mobile phone numbers only, effectively locking the app to only Chinese nationals. DeepSeek reports that they were subject to a massive cyber attack.

10:52 AM - Colombia is sending 2 government planes to pick up the deportees that were slated to return to Colombia yesterday. They also pledged to reinforce the Darien Gap along the Panamanian border with troops.

11:07 AM - Trump aides have increasingly favored slamming Canada and Mexico with tariffs as soon as Saturday BEFORE negotiations begin. This bucks the conventional trend of Trump threatening tariffs to extract concessions.

11:07 AM - Trump admins stops the admission of immigrants into the US via parole programs. Those with parole status currently will not have their status extended. This will affect Ukrainian and Afghan refugees.

11:36 AM - California Farm Bureau reports that fears of deportation has functionally halted the citrus harvest in the Central Valley as farmworkers are afraid to go to work.

11:43 AM - Vice President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas responds when asked about Trump's demand for Greenland. “We are not negotiating... we are supporting our member state, Denmark... and Greenland...”

12:35 PM - Trump’s freeze on foreign aid also froze the salaries of guards overseeing 9,500 ISIS prisoners and

their families. Most of them are reportedly not showing up to work anymore.

12:45 PM - Per Bloomberg, Trump asserts federal government control over water management in California, ordering federal officials to override local authority.

12:47 PM - China agrees to repatriate Chinese nationals deported by the US.

1:35 PM - Danish government agrees to allocate the equivalent of $2b to build up military assets in the Arctic. In addition 3 new Arctic navy vessels and drones will also be deployed.

3:10 PM - Recovered metadata on OPM memos show that several have been authored by lobbyists and lawyers from the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 that have since been loaded into the administration.

3:10 PM - Sen. Dick Durbin [D-IL] (crazy name btw) receives reports that FBI Director nominee Kash Patel broke protocol by informing the media of a rescue operation of 2 American hostages while the operation was underway in Yemen in 2020.

3:25 PM - AP reporting that US public health officials are ordered to stop collaboration with the WHO effective immediately.

3:29 PM - CBP agents engaged in a shootout with suspected cartel members on the Mexican border near Fronton, TX. The group of illegals trying to cross the river did not make it across. Mexican military assets have since taken up positions on the other side of the border (assumed: deterrence).

3:43 PM - The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) removes pages on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination from their website. Title VII and Bostock are still standing.

3:43 PM - CNN reporting that Acting AG James McHenry III fired over a dozen DOJ officials involved with the Jack Smith prosecutions of Donald Trump. The administration launched a “special project” to investigate them.

6:04 PM - Leaked OMB memo issues a temporary pause on nearly all federal grants and aid. While excluding some programs such as Medicaid and Social Security, it would affect many others. Pell grants, SNAP assistance, section 8 housing, certain VA benefits, and disabled student aid would be paused for a period of time. The order goes into effect at 5pm tomorrow.

6:07 PM - Scott Bessent is confirmed 68-29 to become Secretary of the Treasury. 16 Dems voted yea.

6:19 PM - NYT reporting that the Trump admin ordered the disbursement of all HIV medications by overseas organizations, even if the drugs have already been obtained.

6:23 PM - Donald Trump during a speech talks about implementing tariffs on foreign computer chips, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, steel, aluminum, and copper. He also talked about the abolition of the income tax and fully replacing it with tariffs.

6:38 PM - RFK Jr. tells Senate Finance Committee staff that he’s open to seizing drug patents and giving them to other manufacturers.

6:49 PM - Financial Times reporting that Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent suggests that a universal tariff could be implemented that starts at 2.5% and rises by that amount every month up until it hits 20%.

7:01 PM - ICE statistics today show they made 1,179 arrests, and lodged 853 detainers. Over 500 have no criminal record beyond illegal entry.

7:02 PM - Google maps will update the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America according to FOX News.

7:43 PM - 60 USAID officials were placed on immediate leave. There was particular focus on targeting USAID’s general counsel office. This would be nearly every career official in the agency.

9:07 PM - WaPo confirms and reports on the OMB memo leak, saying that it would apply to all federal grants.

9:10 PM - Donald Trump on AF1 signs multiple executive orders, one of which was named “Eliminating Gender Radicalism in the Military”. Though not yet published, these are likely the military executive orders reported on earlier today.

9:11 PM - While on AF1 Trump responded to press questions about DeepSeek. Trump is not concerned, claiming that US companies will be announcing new AI tools next week.

9:25 PM - Trump tells the media that Microsoft is in talks to buy TikTok alongside other named companies. Trump also said he wanted a bidding war for the company.

1:08 AM - A report from the Mescalero Apache Tribe claims that some tribe members have been targeted by ICE. Apaches are native to the contiguous US and granted citizenship under the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act.

3:41 AM - Colombian President Gustavo Petro announces that Colombia will not cooperate with US deportation flights until the administration organizes a “cooperation method”, rejecting 2 military deportation flights. This comes after a deportation flight of 88 Brazilians revealed that they were handcuffed, beaten, and threatened by US officials.

In response, right wing pundits have speculated about using military force to force the country to accept immigrants. Another proposal was to drop the migrants from the air anyways (see: Pinochet's atrocities).

7:51 AM - JD Vance to CBS this morning accuses the US Conference of Catholic Bishops of profit-motivated behavior in resettling illegal immigrants. He points out that they received $100m to help migrants resettle.

He also deflected when asked about his stance on breaking up big-tech companies. Major tech giants and billionaires donated $1m each to the Trump inaugural fund.

9:48 AM - Former Swedish PM Carl Bildt comments that Trump is serious about US territorial expansion into Greenland.

10:55 AM - White House staff have been limiting the ability of Trump's personal friends, donors, and media to directly talk to Trump. They hope that this will prevent leakage of damaging information.

11:25 AM - Sen. Lindsay Graham [R-SC] publicly states that he disagreed with Trump on relocating Gaza Palestinians, pardoning all J6 rioters, and revoking protections for Bolton and Pompeo. He also refuses to support Tulsi Gabbard [R-HI] and said Trump broke the law by firing the Inspector Generals.

11:27 AM - The Trump admin is trying to work out a deal with El Salvador that would allow the US to deport migrants from different countries there.

12:00 PM - An analysis by TIME magazine shows that 2/3rds of the executive actions taken by Donald Trump mirror or closely mirror policy proposals from Project 2025.

12:14 PM - US embassy in Colombia closed their visa section per Colombian media. This comes as Colombia begins refusing deportation flights citing humanitarian concerns. Colombia responds by notifying all 15,660 illegal Americans living in Colombia to regularize.

12:23 PM - Brazilian government formally requests explanations from ICE about the treatment of their migrants. The Foreign Ministry also denounced the situation as “blatant disrespect”.

12:46 PM - Department of Labor ends all investigations into workplace discrimination by federal agencies and contractors. This includes cases of firing or abuse on the basis of things such as sex, race, religion, and national origin.

1:13 PM - Donald Trump is reportedly flaunting the idea of rejoining the WHO just days after ordering a withdrawal.

1:28 PM - Donald Trump orders emergency 25% tariffs with the possibility of 50% next week, travel bans and visa sanctions on Colombian officials and their families, financial sanctions on the Colombian government, and enhanced CBP inspections on Colombian nationals and products.

1:58 PM - Trump admin issues arrest quotas to ICE to at least 1200 to 1500 a day. Trump has been disappointed with the results of the mass deportation program so far.

2:54 PM - Colombia offers their presidential aircraft for the repatriation of deported migrants from the US. The Colombians indicate they want their citizens treated humanely while being deported.

3:44 PM - Border Czar Tom Homan denies that ICE is sending officers to school to arrest schoolchildren.

3:58 PM - Egyptian government says they reject any plan to relocate or transfer Gaza Palestinians to their country.

4:11 PM - Sen. Katie Britt [R-AL] insinuates that the case of Air Force videos of Tuskegee Airmen and female pilots in WW? being deleted from curriculum to be a form of malicious compliance. SedDef Pete Hegseth retweets saying the issue will be addressed.

4:22 PM - Colombian government responds with 50% tariffs on US exports to Colombia. Colombian President Petro says that American threats do not scare him, not even a coup.

5:13 PM - White House press release announces the extension of the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire to February 18.

9:20 AM - Chief of Staff Susie Wiles [R-FL] limits Elon Musk’s access to Donald Trump. His office is moved from the West Wing and DOGE reports have to go through her first.

11:58 AM - Kristi Noem [R-SD] is confirmed as DHS Secretary 59-34. Senators Fetterman [D-PA], Kim [D-NJ], Peters [D-MI], Shaheen [D-NH], and Slotkin [D-MI] defecting.

12:37 PM - Scott Bessent’s nomination for Secretary of the Treasury passes cloture 67-23. His confirmation vote will be on the 27th.

12:37 PM - Elon Musk makes a surprise appearance at an AfD rally in Germany. He claims Germans should overcome their past and national guilt. This is the narrative of the “guilt cult” preventing Germany from pursuing their future in a self-determined manner parroted by neo-Nazis.

12:58 PM - WSJ obtains a leaked email from Elon Musk to Twitter staff. He states that the company is growing stagnant. Elon Musk denies that this is the case.

2:41 PM - NYT reports that Donald Trump has fired acting DNI Stacy Dixon, and replaced her with Lora Shiao. The administration cites her involvement with DEI under the Biden administration as a major reason why. Dixon was the highest ranking black intelligence official.

3:05 PM - Air Force training videos documenting the service of women pilots during WW2 and the Tuskegee airmen have been removed from curriculum. This is to comply with Trump’s anti DEI initiatives.

3:50 PM - Speaker Mike Johnson [R-LA-4] invites Donald Trump to speak before both chambers of Congress on March 4. This will be his first State of the Union address.

3:54 PM - During a speech to his supporters in Las Vegas, Donald Trump alludes to the future territorial expansion of the US. “For... decades... we're the same size to the square foot, ...but we might be an enlarged country very soon.”

Later in that speech he also addressed tariffs, remarking that the US government's primary revenue was tariffs in the past. He also blamed past recessions on the implementation of the income tax, including the Great Depression.

4:16 PM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] officially freezes all foreign aid minus to Israel and Egypt in line with a Trump EO.

4:42 PM - Deportation flights by the US military are reported to cost up to $852,000 per flight. That is compared to flights chartered by ICE for $8,577.

5:13 PM - Trump admin has been working out a plan to have Oracle take over the majority stake in TikTok alongside other investors. ByteDance would remain a minority stakeholder in the company. Oracle already manages most of the web infrastructure for TikTok.

6:32 PM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] announces he has received information that might indicate the Taliban have more American hostages than previously believed. If true, he says that bounties on Taliban leadership will be placed.

7:17 PM - Trump administration begins large scale immigration raids in Los Angeles and the west coast. The operation is said to run 7 days a week.

7:33 PM - During a(nother?) speech to his supporters, Donald Trump claims that the 88,000 IRS agents that Biden either hired or tried to hire would all be terminated or reassigned. Most of those agents were not in enforcement roles, but in counseling and other support roles.

8:00 PM - Donald Trump orders the approval of all renewable energy projects on public lands and waters to be halted.

8:21 PM - Rep. Andy Biggs [R-AZ-5] announces his bid for Arizona Governor.

8:32 PM - USCG press release reveals that their assets have been used for deportation operations between California and Texas.

8:54 PM - During a press interview on Air Force One, Trump reiterates his desire to claim Greenland and Canada. He argues that Canadians would get lower taxes and better security, and (lies) that Greenlanders want to be a part of the US and that Denmark has no claim.

During that same interview he also stated he would not be firing DOJ IG Michael Horowitz. Horowitz had concluded that former FBI Director James Comey violated ethics by releasing a Trump memo demanding that he end the Michael Flynn investigation.

On Gaza, he proposed that Jordan and Egypt take in all Palestinian refugees. “Just clean out that whole thing.” He called the Jordanian King Abdullah to ask him to take more refugees.

8:50 AM - The White House announced that deportation flights “began”, with a plane lifting off to deport immigrants back to Guatemala. However, deportation flights have been a frequent feature of the immigration system, with Guatemala having already received 1,778 migrants in the past 5 years via flights.

9:02 AM - Navajo Nation leaders report that members of the tribe were arrested by ICE and then questioning their citizenship.

11:01 AM - DHS empowers immigration officials to revoke the legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants brought in by the Biden administration and then to seek their deportation.

11:36 AM - A proposed bill in Mississippi would create a bounty hunter program for the hunting of illegal immigrants.

11:51 AM - Donald Trump indicates that he will sign an executive order to either reform or completely abolish FEMA. FEMA was the target of conspiracy theories by Trump’s 2024 campaign alleging that FEMA was setting up camps to round up civilians under martial law. This is also as Donald Trump is attempting to tie disaster aid to Southern California with forcing the state to pass a voter ID law.

11:58 AM - Donald Trump makes comments to the press that Canada would not face any tariffs if they became the 51st state. He also claims they would benefit from tax cuts and “much better healthcare”.

12:14 PM - Donald Trump pulls Anthony Fauci’s security detail, which was being provided by the NIH. Fauci is the target of constant threats due to being the face of the COVID-19 response in the United States.

12:48 PM - Trump administration withdraws FDA plan to ban menthol cigarettes.

1:32 PM - Canadian and Mexican steelmakers have been allegedly rejecting orders from the US. They're worried that, despite being exempt from the 25% steel tariff his last administration, Donald Trump will not do the same this time.

1:38 PM - Donald Trump’s 45 minute call with Danish PM Mette Frederiksen is reported by the Financial Times to be a disaster. Trump acted aggressively and insisted that the US gain control of Greenland. Danish officials are reportedly in a panic about his serious intentions.

2:01 PM - US military officials discuss sending a 10th Mountain Division HQ and 82nd Airborne Division to the southern border alongside Stryker ACVs from the 4th Infantry Division. One plan indicates that the Strykers would be driven to the border in a public display. USMC forces arrived at the border earlier today.

2:11 PM - ICE agents raided Hamline Elementary School in Chicago, per the CPS.

2:28 PM - Trump plans to withdraw 20,000 US troops from Europe, then demanding that Europe pay a subsidy to maintain the remaining US presence in Europe.

8:30 AM - DOJ orders a halt to all work on civil rights. This includes a freeze on litigation pending a decision by new Trump appointees if they want to open any new cases.

9:13 AM - DOJ rescinds offers for law school graduates to enter entry level programs in the FBI and DOJ’s divisions on crime, national security, civil rights, civil cases, and antitrust litigation.

10:35 AM - Federal judge in Seattle blocks Trump’s executive order that sought an end to birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants AND temporary visa holders. Washington AG Nick Brown [D-WA] sued to block the executive order.

11:26 AM - Trump signs an EO that reinstates federal capital punishment.

11:43 AM - Donald Trump indicates that he wants to increase military spending from $842b to $1.35t. This is in lieu of his assertion that NATO allies should spend 5% of GDP on defense.

12:09 PM - FBI and DHS agents raid the office of a prominent immigration lawyer Joseph Melina Flynn in Providence. He was an undocumented immigrant before getting a pathway to citizenship.

12:10 PM - During a speech to the World Economic Forum, Donald Trump indicates he will ask OPEC to lower oil prices, which it can do so by increasing oil production. He also says that he will pressure the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

12:28 PM - DOJ orders legal service providers to stop advising and orienting immigrants within the immigration courts.

12:34 PM - Secretary of State Marco Rubio [R-FL] orders the State Department to no longer issue passports with the “X” for sex and suspends all applications requesting their sex to be changed to anything but “Male” and “Female”.

1:33 PM - Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R-AK] publicly comes out against the confirmation of SecDef nominee Pete Hegseth. She cites allegations of sexual assault and alcoholism has reasons why.

2:21 PM - FOX News reporting that pro-life activists convicted under the FACE Act will be pardoned by Donald Trump.

2:25 PM - John Ratcliffe [R-TX] is confirmed 74-25 by the Senate as CIA Director.

2:58 PM - Pete Hegseth’s nomination for SecDef passes cloture 51-49 in the Senate, with Susan Collins [R-ME] and Lisa Murkowski [R-AK] voting against. His confirmation will go up for a vote tomorrow.

3:45 PM - Trump signs an executive order declassifying all JFK, RFK, and MLK assassination records.

4:52 PM - Pete Hegseth admits to an anonymous Senator that he paid $50,000 to a woman who accused him in 2017 of assault.

5:26 PM - Processing offices in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala are shut down by the Trump admin. The Biden admin set them up to give immigrants legal pathways to entry and discourage illegal crossings.

5:47 PM - The city of Newark publicizes the fact that a military veteran was detained by ICE during a surprise raid. The ICE agents did not have a warrant.

6:00 AM - LA Times column reveals ICE misconduct during Bakersfield raids in early January. ICE officers randomly pulled over and arrested “suspected illegal immigrants” (read: brown), and when not finding any, slashing tires.

9:34 AM - 10,000 refugee flights to the US have been cancelled. People who have been waiting for perhaps years in the immigration system have lost the opportunity to enter the US. All case processing has also been shut down, putting the program into total gridlock.

11:32 AM - Hispanic advocacy groups express frustration over sudden shifts by the Trump administration to going silent in ongoing communications with the Hispanic community. Hispanics shifting hard to the right helped Trump win his election.

12:17 PM - Border agents are directed to begin the deportation process for apprehended illegal immigrants crossing the border, without allowing them to request asylum.

3:26 PM - FOX News reporting that Senate Republicans Susan Collins [R-ME], Lisa Murkowski [R-AK], and Mitch McConnell [R-KY] express concern over Pete Hegseth’s misconduct, indicating they might not vote for his confirmation. That would leave Vice President JD Vance in the position of needing to cast a tie breaking vote to confirm him.

5:02 PM - Consumer Price Index (CPI) reports that egg prices have risen almost 37% since this time in 2024. Bird flu wiping out flocks of poultry birds, especially in Georgia, have contributed significantly to this price increase.

5:06 PM - Laken Riley Act passes the House 263-156, with 46 Democrats voting in favor. The bill will go to Donald Trump for signing.

5:06 PM - Acting SecDef Robert Salesses confirms that the military will provide military aircraft for the airlifting and deportation of immigrants.

5:51 PM - All NIH study sections have been cancelled effective immediately. The shutting down of the NIH also extends to their grant review panels, a key source of public funding for medicine and disease research. This includes all NIH cancer research review panels.

6:17 PM - 10,000 active duty soldiers are set to deploy to the Mexican border with military support equipment. They’ve been ordered to prepare for rapid reaction and long-term missions. More will arrive at the border as infrastructure is established to support more troops, including potential airlift operations.

6:32 PM - Donald Trump issues an EO that redesignates the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. The Houthis have been attacking shipping through the Red Sea, Bab El-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Oman since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War.

7:00 PM - DHS terminates advisory committees, constituting decades of institutional security experience. This also abruptly halted the investigation into Chinese hacks of US telecom companies.

7:01 PM - Rep. Nancy Mace [R-SC-1] indicates her intention to potentially run for SC Governor in 2026.

7:45 PM - RFK Jr. resigns from his position in an anti-vaccine nonprofit. He’s increasingly distancing himself from his antivax connections as he seeks confirmation as HHS Secretary.

7:49 PM - Sean Curran is appointed the next Director of the Secret Service. Curran was a Secret Service officer that was next to Trump on stage during the Butler, PA assassination attempt.

8:05 PM - SoS Marco Rubio [R-FL] is heading to Panama for a state visit.

8:33 PM - The DOJ freeze of their civil rights division effectively shuts it down for the foreseeable future. Most investigations stemming from the Biden era are also halted. The freeze is set at an indefinite amount of time.

9:02 PM - Emails from Acting Secretaries and Directors at the VA, State, and NASA issue warnings to employees to turn in people who have obscured DEI projects and DEI contracted workers. The ultimatum is for 10 days with consequences for those who don’t report.

9:11 PM - During a Sean Hannity interview, Donald Trump says that abolishing FEMA would be something to consider. “States should take care of their own problems”. Rather, he proposes sending money directly to the states.

9:16 PM - Donald Trump issues a pardon for officers Terence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky, who stood accused of chasing Karon Hylton-Brown leading to his death in an accident then covering up evidence.

9:46 PM - DEA, ATF, and US Marshals have been deputized by Acting DHS Secretary Bejaime Huffman with immigration enforcement authority. The administration expects the DOJ to help with the mass deportation program by lending agents.

9:56 PM - Office of Personnel Management issued a new memo telling all federal employees to commence in-person work on Friday.

10:49 PM - New unredacted affidavit reveals that SecDef nominee Pete Hegseth sexually assaulted his second wife Samantha, according to Danielle Hegseth. The affidavit has been read by 20 Senators including some Republicans.

12:28 AM - The Presidential Personnel Office is identifying and firing over a thousand Biden appointed officials that Trump claims “are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again.” The first four fired are Jose Andres, Mark Milley, Brian Hook, and Keisha Lance Bottoms.

2:30 AM - CNBC reports that Tesla’s brand value has fallen by another $15b in 2024, 33% of its total value since 2022. Investors flock to the company as Elon Musk becomes increasingly cozy with Donald Trump, but customers haven’t as Tesla’s inventory ages and customers become uncomfortable with his affiliation with Trump and the German AfD.

8:20 AM - Instagram, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, is allegedly hiding search results related to the Democratic Party. Searching “Democrat” or “Democrats” bring up no results. Instagram is promising to fix the “error”.

9:43 AM - USCG Admiral Linda Fagan is fired as Coast Guard Commandant. FOX News claims the firing was due to “border lapses, recruitment, and DEI focus.”

10:10 AM - Office of Personnel Management asks agency heads to send names of all employees on probation by Friday. They will then make a determination whether or not to fire those employees, which are easier to fire.

11:03 AM - China vows to support the WHO and Paris Climate Accords. This comes after Trump withdraws from both, leaving a void that only the Chinese could fill.

1:14 PM - Tom Homan says that ICE is already conducting targeted enforcement operations.

1:51 PM - Senate members receive an affidavit containing new allegations against Pete Hegseth for going into a strip club while drunk and in uniform. The same affidavit also alleges that Hegseth’s second wife feared for her safety due to his erratic behavior.

2:19 PM - Attorney Generals from 17 states + DC have filed a lawsuit to block Trump’s executive order targeting birthright citizenship. These include CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, ME, MD, MI, MN, NV, NC, RI, VT, and WI.

2:52 PM - Biden era memo preventing ICE arrests at sensitive areas such as schools and churches has been revoked.

4:24 PM - 15 top DOJ officials in natsec and criminal divisions have been fired or reassigned. Some of these roles will be filled by appointees instead of career officials.

5:48 PM - OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announce a $500b investment into AI infrastructure over 5 years called “Stargate”. The first AI data center will open in Texas.

6:24 PM - CIA director nominee John Ratcliffe [R-TX] fails to pass via UC, while DHS nominee Kristi Noem [R-SD] and SecDef nominee Pete Hegseth’s confirmation votes are being dragged out through the weekend by Democrats. Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent passes committee.

6:56 PM - Ross Ulbricht is pardoned by Donald Trump. Ulbricht ran an online illicit drug trafficking site called “Silk Road”.

9:05 PM - All health agency external communications, including the FDA, NIH, and CDC, are paused. These include scientific reports, health advisories, social media posts, and website updates.

9:37 PM - All federal DEI staffers are issued a notice of leave. They will all be prepared to be laid off.

10:14 PM - LBJ’s Equal Employment Opportunity executive order is revoked by Donald Trump, in addition to Obama and Clinton executive orders. This is in an effort to end DEI and Affirmative Action in both public and private sectors. The executive order declares DEI illegal and “encourages” (threatening lawsuits and directing federal investigations WITH illegal quotas) the private sector to divest from such.

7:15 AM - Joe Biden issues preemptive pardons for Mark Milley, Anthony Fauci, the J6 committee members, and security personnel who testified before the committee. Each is a target of Donald Trump for retaliation.

8:35 AM - NYC Mayor Eric Adams [D-NY] is attending the Inauguration Day of Donald Trump.

9:16 AM - Trump White House officials say that Donald Trump intends to end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants. In addition, he intends to end refugee resettlement and parole programs for Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitians, and Venezuelans. They also cancel flights for 1,660 Afghan refugees.

10:03 AM - Donald Trump opts not to use an executive order to levy tariffs on day one, instead using one to call for investigations into trade unfairness and deficits with countries such as China, Canada, and Mexico. In addition, the Trump WH still disagrees on how severe and universal tariffs should be, in addition to the fact that Congress has to pay tariffs under the constitution.

10:04 AM - Rep. Michael Waltz [R-FL-6] resigns from congress. He is slated to become Donald Trump’s national security advisor.

11:39 AM - Joe Biden issues a pardon for his entire family in order to prevent their retaliatory prosecution under Donald Trump. Plans leaked that Donald Trump intended to appoint a special prosecutor to go after his family specifically.

12:01 PM - JD Vance is sworn in as 50th Vice President of the United States.

12:02 PM - Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.

12:09 PM - Donald Trump begins his inaugural address. Declaring a national emergency at the southern border, he will immediately begin the process of deporting millions of illegal immigrants and restoring his border policies. He will also send the military to the border and designate the cartels as FTOs and use the Alien and Sedition Act to eliminate criminal gangs in the US.

He will also declare a national energy emergency and “drill baby drill”. He will open up the potential of American fossil fuels and refill the national petroleum reserve. He will “end the Green New Deal” and the EV mandate (emissions mandate).

He will overhaul the trade system to make other countries pay for the government. He will establish the “External Revenue Service” to collect tariffs. He will establish the DOGE to reduce the budget deficit. He will rein in government bureaucracy and end the “weaponization” of the justice department.

He will end DEI programs and implement color blind and merit based processes for government hiring. He will also establish federal definitions for male and female genders. He will also reinstate service members that were expelled due to rejecting the COVID vaccine.

He will be a peacemaker. He will avoid wars and end other wars. He also claims credit for the hostage deal and ceasefire implemented yesterday. He also talks about regaining America’s honor and respect. He will rename Mt. Denali to Mt. McKinley and the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. He wants to reclaim the Panama Canal. He wants to end the chronic health epidemic. He wants to expand US influence to Mars and the Moon. “Ambition is the lifeblood of the nation”.

12:26 PM - TikTok begins region locking certain search terms relating to Donald Trump. Americans cannot look up terms such as “fascism” or “Donald Trump rigged election”.

12:45 PM - The legal port of entry in El Paso was shut down by US policemen.

1:15 PM - CBP One, an app that facilitated the entry of asylum seekers into the United States, has been shut down by the Trump administration.

2:02 PM - All nonviolent J6 rioters imprisoned are pardoned, while the violent offenders are getting commuted sentences. The Proud Boys leader and Oath Keepers founder will be pardoned. All 180 pending cases against J6 rioters accused of violence are immediately dropped.

2:15 PM - Donald Trump commences signing executive orders. The initial slate is focused on government appointments, with the exception of one ordering US flags to be flown at full staff for the day.

3:18 PM - Elon Musk while addressing the crowd at Capital One Arena makes two gestures that appear to be nazi salutes. This is after he thanked the crowd for saving the “future of civilization”.

4:28 PM - A border agent was shot and killed in Vermont during a traffic stop. The driver was an undocumented immigrant that had overstayed their visa.

4:59 PM - CIA director nominee John Ratcliffe [R-TX] and SoS nominee Marco Rubio [R-FL] are cleared by committee. They will proceed to a Senate confirmation vote.

5:27 PM - Senate Armed Services Committee votes 14-13 to send SecDef nominee Pete Hegseth to the Senate for confirmation.

6:29 PM - Senior DOJ officials that deal with the immigration court systems were fired, alongside multiple immigration court judges. Immigration courts are needed to process asylum and deportations.

6:30 PM - The Senate passes the Laken Riley Act 64-35, with moderate democrats voting in favor alongside the GOP. Sen. Fetterman [D-PA] admitted in an interview that the act would not defend dreamers, but deflected when asked why he broke his promise not to harm them.

6:36 PM - Donald Trump announces he will halt the hiring of all new IRS agents. The IRS is the means of which the federal government is able to gain tax revenue.

6:48 PM - Donald Trump signs executive orders in front of the Capital One Area crowd. Halting new regulations issued by federal bureaucrats, freezing hiring for federal employees with exception it the military, reversing all Biden executive orders, mandating federal workers return to full time in person work immediately, directing every agency and department to “address the cost of living crisis”, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, preventing government “targeting of free speech”, and ending the “weaponization of government against the previous administration”.

6:51 PM - Marco Rubio [R-FL] is confirmed as Secretary of State by a unanimous vote.

7:51 PM - Trump begins signing executive orders at the White House. He announces that he intends to levy 25% tariffs on both Mexico and Canada. He intends to have them implemented on February 1. He also wants to implement 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, apparently tied to the sale of TikTok, the ban of which he has delayed for 75 days.

Donald Trump signs an EO ending birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants in the US. This also applies to children born to those on temporary status.

Donald Trump removes the United States from the WHO.

Tens of thousands of federal workers are reclassified as Schedule F appointments. These remove their job protections and open them up for replacement by Trump loyalists.

Donald Trump exempts pipelines and power plants from NEPA regulations. He also eliminates the American Climate Corps, undoing all Biden climate actions. He orders the EPA to eliminate all pigovian cost calculations and streamlining all permitting processes for energy projects. All offshore wind projects leases are halted. He also impounded funds appropriated from the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure and Jobs Act, a move considered unconstitutional under current precedent.

Donald Trump formally declares a national emergency at the southern border. This frees up military assets for the border and helps justify his EO targeting birthright citizenship. He designates the border crisis as an invasion and shuts down all cross border migration in the south.