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President Donald Trump is set to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference today after announcing he is replacing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General C.Q. Brown and will soon swap out five other high-level positions in an unprecedented shake-up of the leadership of the U.S. military.
In a post on Truth Social, the president said he would nominate retired Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to succeed Brown.
The Pentagon is already bracing for immense upheaval, with the firings of some 5,400 civilian staff, a dramatic overhaul of its budget, and a likely shift in military deployments.
Trump continues to cause outrage on the international stage having called the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, a dictator, and then ducking a question as to whether he would also say the same of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In Washington, Howard Lutnick was sworn in as Trump’s commerce secretary. Trump confirmed he was considering merging the independent US Postal Service with the department, despite an earlier denial by the White House.
Kash Patel was also sworn in as FBI director, promising drastic changes, with some 1,500 FBI staff already ordered to relocate out of D.C.
Watch: Republican reps are being booed and heckled by their constituents
On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow has been compiling incidents of citizens confronting Republican lawmakers over their concerns about what has unfolded in the first month of the Trump administration.
Congressman Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin faced a hostile crowd of voters at a town hall with constituents — mirroring that of his colleague in Georgia yesterday.
They do not appear impressed with the work of DOGE.
Here’s Rep. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma also having a tough time concerning the VA:
And here’s Rep. Glenn Grotham of Wisconsin getting booed for suggesting Donald Trump has done “some very good things”… and the crowd is not a fan of getting rid of birthright citizenship.
Oliver O’Connell22 February 2025 15:45
Judge clears path for Trump to gut USAID and fire thousands of workers
A federal judge has cleared a path for Donald Trump to begin pulling thousands of foreign aid workers off the job, throwing the future of the U.S. Agency for International Development and critical global humanitarian relief into chaos.
Washington, D.C., District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, has lifted his temporary restraining order that blocked the administration from removing all but a fraction of USAID staff and setting a 30-day deadline for global aid workers to move back to the United States.
Alex Woodward filed this report on Friday evening.
Oliver O’Connell22 February 2025 15:30
Rep Crow: Purging JAG officers for military ‘worries me most’
Rep Jason Crow of Colorado posted his concerns on X about why the purge of Judge Advocates General at the Department of Defense is also deeply troubling.
The congressman writes: “The purge of senior officers at DOD is deeply troubling, but purging JAG officers worries me the most.
“JAG officers interpret law for our commanders. They help determine what’s lawful and constitutional.
“Replacing these military lawyers with trump loyalists is so dangerous.”
Oliver O’Connell22 February 2025 15:15
ICYMI: Associated Press sues White House over ban from Oval Office and Air Force One
On Friday, attorneys for the AP filed papers asking for an emergency hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and accusing the White House of having “ordered The Associated Press to use certain words in its coverage or else face an indefinite denial of access,” thereby violating the First Amendment.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, D.C.
Oliver O’Connell22 February 2025 15:00
Rep Swalwell breaks down why federal funding cuts make Americans less safe
California Democratic Rep Eric Swalwell, a member of the House Homeland Security and Judiciary committees broke down to CNN how federal funding cuts make Americans less safe.
Swalwell gave a list of examples to CNN:
- When you get rid of the bird flu monitors who protect the chickens against bird flu, and then keep the cost of eggs down, that does not make us economically safe.
- When you get rid of people at the FAA as planes are crashing in America, that makes us less safe.
- When you get rid of FBI agents who are supposed to watch out for terrorism, that makes us less safe.
- When you get rid of people at the CDC who are supposed to protect us from a measles outbreak in Texas, that makes us less safe.
- So in California, when you get rid of firefighters at the forest service, as we have unseasonable winds and the fires that have ravaged across Southern California and Northern California, that makes us less safe
Oliver O’Connell22 February 2025 14:45
‘You endorsed him!’
Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley faced stinging backlash this week for calling out President Donald Trump’s recent treatment of Ukraine, as social media commenters rushed to remind her she endorsed him.
Haley called Trump’s comments in the post “classic Russian talking points,” and “exactly what Putin wants.”
Democratic California Representative Eric Swalwell fired back on X to ask Haley: “Why did you help him win?”
Michelle Del Rey has the story.
Oliver O’Connell22 February 2025 14:30
Watch: CSPAN caller says price of his insulin has skyrocketed since Trump took office
Oliver O’Connell22 February 2025 14:15
Will the ‘DOGE dividend’ really happen?
“I love it,” he said late on Wednesday, when asked about the proposal that started on social media.
Judge pauses sweeping Trump orders rolling back diversity programs
Josh Marcus has the details.
Oliver O’Connell22 February 2025 13:30
Trump plans to use military sites across U.S. to detain migrants, report says
The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is pushing ahead with plans to detain undocumented immigrants at military sites throughout the United States, representing a major expansion of efforts to utilize wartime resources to accelerate promised mass deportations.
President Donald Trump’s team is establishing a deportation hub at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas, which could eventually accommodate up to 10,000 undocumented immigrants as they go through the process of being deported, three officials familiar with the plan told the Times.
Fort Bliss would serve as a model as the administration aims to develop more detention facilities on military sites across the country — from Utah to the area near Niagara Falls.
The officials said these facilities could potentially hold thousands more people and fill a space shortfall at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan is in its early stages and has not been finalized.
Trump said on the campaign trail he intended to rely even more on the military to detain people for deportation.
Oliver O’Connell22 February 2025 13:00
