1. IN THE DOGE HOUSE: As Elon Musk’s DOGE team continues its push to reshape the federal bureaucracy, there’s a pair of fresh accounts detailing just how the incursions are playing out across the government. At the SSA: A former Social Security Administration official says Musk’s team “came in aggressively,” WaPo’s Lisa Rein reports, “demanding access to sensitive taxpayer data and refusing briefings on how the agency ensures the accuracy of its benefit systems. They recklessly exposed data in unsecured areas outside Social Security offices, the official said, potentially disclosing personally identifiable information on almost every American to people not authorized to see it. And representatives sent by the U.S. DOGE Service refused to explain why they needed taxpayer information that is protected by law, the former official said.” At the IRS: Right in the middle of tax season, Trump has ordered massive cuts to the IRS, which means the agency now “may struggle even more with its basic mission of collecting taxes,” NYT’s Andrew Duehren writes. “Work-intensive investigations into large businesses and rich Americans could decline, a drop in enforcement that would add to the deficit even as Elon Musk says his team is helping narrow it.” Current and former officials “described deep uncertainty as the I.R.S. cycled through three leaders in a matter of weeks and Mr. Trump’s team moved to rapidly remake one of the government’s most fundamental agencies.” One to watch: Musk is sitting down for an interview with Fox Business Network’s Larry Kudlow, which will air at 4 p.m. It’ll be his first major interview since he appeared on Fox News alongside Trump last month and since POLITICO’s Dasha Burns and Kyle Cheney reported the details of last week’s explosive Cabinet meeting in which Trump reined in some of Musk’s powers. 2. SCOTUS WATCH: The Supreme Court today agreed to take up a case out of Colorado “to decide whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children,” AP’s Mark Sherman writes. “Colorado is among roughly half the states that prohibit the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling. The issue is whether the law violates the speech rights of counselors. Defenders of such laws argue that they regulate the conduct of professionals who are licensed by the state.” 3. THERE’S ALWAYS A TWEET: “Deleted tweets show top State Department official spread false rumor about Rubio’s sexuality, called him ‘low IQ,’” by CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck: “The deleted tweets from Darren Beattie, the acting under secretary of state for public diplomacy, were uncovered as part of a CNN review of his social media and include a mixture of insults and harsh attacks against [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio. … Though Beattie left up several of his most inflammatory posts, he does appear to have purged criticism of Rubio from his feed. Beattie deleted tweets suggesting a deep hostility toward Rubio — particularly after the then-senator voted to certify the 2020 election results and condemned the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. One deleted tweet also attacked Rubio for criticizing possible Russian actions in Ukraine.” 4. FARMVILLE: Across America’s farmland, a Biden-era USDA program sought to reward farmers for projects that were environmentally conscious. “The project description labeled them “climate resilient farming practices” to appeal to President Joe Biden’s green priorities. Now, the Trump administration is considering axing the project, along with hundreds of other agreements ‘related to climate initiatives,’ according to internal USDA documents and two people familiar with the agency’s deliberations,” WaPo’s Nicolás Rivero and Sarah Blaskey write. “The whiplash shows how farmers have been caught in the middle of a political battle over the language used to describe federal programs.” 5. THE REAL-WORLD IMPACT: “‘I don’t feel safe’: Trump’s passport gender policy sparks fear for trans travelers,” by WaPo’s Hannah Sampson: “For travelers caught up in the Trump administration’s new policy on passports, leaving the country has become difficult or impossible. Some Americans are in limbo, waiting for word on their passports’ statuses after applying for updates. Others are in shock after receiving passports that misgender them. … Seven transgender and nonbinary people have challenged the policy in federal court and asked a judge to grant the plaintiffs passports under the previous policy.” 6. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN: “Who Likes Tariffs? Some U.S. Industries Are Eager for Them,” by NYT’s Peter Eavis: “There are deep pockets of support for [Trump’s] trade policies in the business world, particularly among executives who say their industries have been harmed by unfair trade. In particular, the leaders of American steel and aluminum companies have long contended that foreign rivals undercut them because those rivals benefit from subsidies and other government support. And they say that tariffs, when imposed without loopholes, have been effective at spurring more investment in the United States.” 7. IT AIN’T EASY BEING GREENLAND: “Trump Looms Over Greenland’s Election, but Voters Have Other Concerns,” by NYT’s Christian Ulloriaq Jeppesen, Maya Tekeli and Jeffrey Gettleman: “Greenland’s leading political parties are presenting different visions for the future and some are pushing for a new relationship with the United States and quick independence from Denmark, which colonized Greenland hundreds of years ago and still controls some of its affairs. But for many of Greenland’s 56,000 residents — a tiny population on the world’s biggest island — geopolitics is not a priority. At the recent town hall debate and in interviews with voters, Greenlanders expressed much more prosaic worries, often about living costs, unemployment, schools and health care.” 8. HOLLYWOODLAND: “Hollywood Pivots to Programming for Trump’s America,” by WSJ’s Joe Flint: “The embrace of right-leaning programming is a stark contrast to much of the past few decades in Hollywood. … Now, the entertainment industry is pulling back on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on the business side. Television agents and some executives say privately there has also been a chilling effect on any programming that could be perceived as ‘woke.’ Furthermore, the president’s legal battles with ABC News and CBS’s ‘60 Minutes’ also present a threat to the industry.”
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