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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* What an extraordinary fiasco: “The Justice Department on Wednesday offered a striking and contradictory new explanation for why it is seeking to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, with a top official arguing that the charges against the mayor are not well supported in law.”
* On Capitol Hill: “Senate Republican leaders said Wednesday they plan to move forward with a vote this week on their budget resolution, despite President Donald Trump’s emphatic endorsement hours earlier of the House’s competing version to pass his party-line agenda in one massive bill.”
* At the FAA: “President Donald Trump’s administration has said no one at the Federal Aviation Administration with a “critical safety’ position has been fired as it cuts the federal workforce, but some FAA jobs that were eliminated had direct roles in supporting safety inspectors and airport operations, according to their union and former employees.”
* So many power grabs, so little time: “President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that seeks to bring independent federal agencies under his control as he continues to stretch the boundaries of executive power and test the legal limits of his office. The order would essentially put independent agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission under the watch of Office of Management and Budget Review Director Russell Vought, a key Project 2025 author.”
* This idea would be vaguely more plausible if DOGE were actually doing meaningful work with merit: “Elon Musk said he will bring to President Donald Trump a proposal to send Americans rebate checks representing a portion of the money they save by slashing the federal government.”
* At the FDA: “Jim Jones, head of the food division at the Food and Drug Administration, has resigned, according to a source familiar with the matter. The division is tasked with ensuring that the country’s food supply is safe, overseeing inspections and recalls. Jones’ resignation comes after the Trump administration last week cut thousands of federal workers, including some who worked at the FDA.”
* At the GSA: “The lead engineer for a government text-messaging service resigned Tuesday over a U.S. DOGE Service ally’s request for access to sensitive data, including personal identifying information, according to two people familiar with the matter.”
* I wonder what the White House defense is for this one: “President Donald Trump has vowed to destroy Mexican cartels and end the U.S. fentanyl epidemic, but his sweeping freeze on foreign aid has temporarily stopped U.S.-funded anti-narcotics programs in Mexico that for years have been working to curb the flow of the synthetic opioid into the United States.”
* As part of this policy, U.S. embassies around the world won’t be allowed to subscribe to local newspapers: “The State Department has ordered the cancellation of all news subscriptions deemed ‘non-mission critical,’ according to internal email guidance viewed by The Washington Post. The move aligns with the Trump administration’s crackdown on media companies that count the U.S. government as paying customers.”
See you tomorrow.