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This Week’s “Party on the Peninsulas”
✹ Chairperson Barnes
The Trump-Musk Reign of Lawlessness
The New DNC Leadership
✹ Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson
Candidate for Governor of Michigan
✹ This week’s Trump/GOP outrages
Bringing back the Spoils System
In the News
Michigan Politics and Policy
- Whitmer’s $84B plan for Michigan schools, housing and more: What to know – Bridge Michigan
- Whitmer unveils $83.5B Michigan budget: Here are the main focus points – ClickOnDetroit.com
- Senate Majority Leader Brinks Files Lawsuit Against Republican Speaker Hall for Violating Constitution, Failing to Send Passed Legislation to Governor – Michigan Senate Democrats
- Fact check: Gretchen Whitmer has made big promises. Here’s how she’s done – Bridge Michigan
- Report card: Gretchen Whitmer’s 48 promises during State of State speeches – Bridge Michigan
- In New Court Filing, Attorney General Nessel: Trump Administration Not Complying with Court Order to Unfreeze Funding Cuts to Federal Programs – Attorney General
- Attorney General Dana Nessel Issues Guidance to Michigan Healthcare Providers and Patients – Attorney General
- Michigan transgender youths to continue high school sports, despite Trump order – Bridge Michigan
- MSU apologizes for canceling Chinese student event after Trump order – Bridge Michigan
- Matt DePerno faces another threat to law license over firefighter case – Detroit Free Press
- Chamber of commerce alleges Michigan senator’s wife stole $32,000 – Detroit News
- Ranked choice voting: Michigan group plans 2026 ballot proposal. What to know – Bridge Michigan
- Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson announces run for Michigan governor – AP News
- Video – Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson enters Michigan governor race
- Republican Mike Rogers to again run for Senate in Michigan, AP sources say – AP News
Trump/Musk’s Assault on Government
- Elon Musk donated $288 million to 2024 election, final tally shows – The Washington Post
- VIDEO – ‘Unprecedented’: Musk team given access to private data of government employees for political purge – Musk Watch via MSNBC
- Trump Brazenly Defies Laws in Escalating Executive Power Grab – The New York Times
- 25-Year-Old Elon Musk Crony Has Total Control Over Treasury Payments – The New Republic
- Musk DOGE agents access sensitive personnel data, alarming officials – The Washington Post
- As Trump carries out Project 2025, here’s how we Democrats are fighting back – Representative Gerald Connelly via MSNBC
- Opinion | Trump and Musk are crushing the Constitution as Congress watches – Karen Tumulty/Washington Post
- Opinion | GOP senators who know the issues well still fall in line to Trump – Eugene Robinson/The Washington Post
- Trump executive orders have chilling effect on Ann Arbor VA staff – Detroit Free Press
- The White House’s wildly inaccurate claims about USAID spending – The Washington Post
- Lawmakers are getting flooded with calls about Elon Musk and DOGE – The Washington Post
- Michigan Dems raise alarm over Musk team’s access to personal data – Detroit News
- The Doormat Congress: Republicans react to Trump’s overreach with shrugs – Maddow Blog
- 19 states sue to stop DOGE from accessing Americans’ personal data – AP News
- Unions Sue to Block Elon Musk’s Access to Treasury Payment Data – The New York Times
- NIH cuts billions of dollars in biomedical funding, effective immediately – The Washington Post
- Trump administration orders halt to national EV charger program – The Washington Post
- Trump administration moving to fire FBI agents involved in investigations of Trump, AP sources say – AP News
The Grifter in Chief
- Trump’s moves across the federal government set up a looming legal battle – POLITICO
- Federal judge in Md. issues injunction on Trump’s birthright citizenship order – The Washington Post
- The Gleeful Profiteers of Trump’s Police State – Mother Jones
- Two Grifters Off to Seize the World – The American Prospect
- Illegal Trump-Musk Power Grab at USAID Suddenly Becomes Bigger Scandal – The New Republic
- Trump White House Moves to Allow for a Musk Takeover of Government IT – Mother Jones
- Trump says he’s firing Kennedy Center board of trustees members and naming himself chairman – AP News
- Editorial: ‘Sovereign Wealth’ for Politicians – Wall Street Journal
- Why Trump’s sovereign wealth order demands attention – MSNBC
- Trump says he wants US to take ownership of Gaza Strip – AP News
- Mideast Powers Reject Trump Proposal to Take Over Gaza – Wall Street Journal
- Trump’s revenge campaign is eroding the FBI’s ability to protect America – Frank Figluizzi/MSNBC
- Scientists Lay Into Trump’s ‘Disturbing’ Decision to Remove Public Health Data – Daily Beast
- Trump Calls for 60 Minutes to be ‘Terminated’ And Tries to Rope CBS Into Politico Conspiracy Theory – Daily Beast
- CBS Reveals Truth About ‘60 Minutes’ Kamala Harris Interview Donald Trump Is Suing Over – Daily Beast
- Transforming the VOA into a Trump Propaganda Agency – POLITICO
- VIDEO – Maddow: Trump’s dismantling of independent news media is happening before our eyes
- Trump’s mobster media shakedowns – Lisa Needham/Public Notice
- UPDATE: The “deferred resignation” scam – Judd Legum/Popular Information
- Patrick Mahomes Calls BS on Trump and Tommy Tuberville’s Bizarre Claims – Daily Beast
The Clown-Car Cabinet
- Key Trump Cabinet members refuse to acknowledge Trump lost in 2020 – The Washington Post
- Kash Patel had a roster of foreign clients. Their interests could clash with FBI he hopes to lead – AP News
- Trump considering a fellow convicted criminal for ambassador to Serbia – POLITICO
- Why Pam Bondi’s first day as attorney general was such a mess – MSNBC
- Trump’s New Attorney General Targets ‘Weaponization’ of Justice on First Day – Wall Street Journal
- Bove memo promises no FBI revenge as Bondi becomes attorney general – The Washington Post
- Trump administration hires hardcore pro-Trump ideologue to run public diplomacy at State Department – AP News
- Senate confirms fossil fuel CEO Chris Wright as energy secretary. He vows to ‘unleash’ US resources – AP News
- Rubio taps Pete Marocco to run USAID, despite his Jan. 6 past – MSNBC
The Nation
- Climate Change to Wipe Away $1.5 Trillion in U.S. Home Values, Study Says – Wall Street Journal
- Mass deportations haven’t arrived but Trump’s PR blitz has – POLITICO
- The Biden economy adds jobs in January, a slower but solid gains – The Washington Post
- Who Is Ken Martin, the New Leader of the D.N.C.? – The New York Times
- New DNC vice-chair David Hogg on reaching young voters: ‘We need to be a tsunami of content’ – The Guardian
- Second type of bird flu detected in US dairy cows – AP News
- Trump signs executive order intended to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports – AP News
- NCAA bans trans athletes from competing in women’s sports after Trump order – The Washington Post
