GOP lawmakers divided on Musk, seen by some as a liability

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5146881-elon-musk-senate-republicans/?tbref=hp

“There’s a lot of concern among my constituents. The concern is, ‘Who is this guy?’ He’s a billionaire, which puts him in a certain category. ‘How does he have the authority if he’s not elected by anybody to do what he’s doing?’” said the senator, who said there are “a lot” of federal workers in their home state.

The senator said Musk’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also created problems for farmers who sell products to provide food assistance around the world.

GOP senators say Musk’s brash online personality has inflamed constituents who are already skeptical of his broad access to federal programs, the Treasury Department’s sensitive federal payment systems and millions of Americans’ personal information.

Medical Experts React to RFK Jr.'s Antidepressant Drug Remarks

 https://www.newsweek.com/rfk-jr-antidepressants-ssris-drugs-maha-2032297

Colin Davidson, a professor of neuropharmacology at the University of Central Lancashire wrote for The Conversation: "RFK Jr. has made several debatable statements related to health, including, for example, on vaccinations. On this occasion, though, concerning antidepressants, there is considerable evidence that coming off of SSRIs can be very difficult. But, for most people, it is unlikely that it would be as difficult as coming off heroin."

Hegseth's Insane Emergency Request UNVEILED In Brutal Financial Mistake - Drain the Swamp!

Are 150-year-old Americans receiving Social Security checks, as Elon Musk said?

 https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/feb/17/are-150-year-old-americans-receiving-social-securi/

Why 150-year-old figures may exist in the Social Security database

Social media commenters came up with one possible explanation for the 150-year age, and experts who have worked closely with the Social Security Administration told PolitiFact it was plausible. 

Under an international standard called ISO 8601, a missing value for a date is coded as May 20, 1875, because that was the date of an international standards-setting conference held in Paris, known as the "Convention du Mètre."

For that reason, under some coding systems, a missing value for a date will default to 1875 — which in the year 2025 produces a round figure of 150.

Nope. There are no 150-year-olds on Social Security. It's COBOL!--UPDATED Feb 15

 https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/14/2303889/-Nope-There-are-no-150-year-olds-on-Social-Security-It-s-COBOL

Elon Musk claimed that his team found 150-year-old people collecting Social Security! He implied there were dead people being sent benefits, with checks cashed by someone else. 

But no—the people getting paid are very much alive.  They are collecting their own benefits.  They’re not committing fraud. They’re just not 150 years old, of course.

So what happens if Social Security doesn’t know a birthdate?  That field is empty in its records.  Thus that person appears to have a birthday of May 20 1875—about 150 years ago.

Fact-checking Elon Musk's claims in the Oval Office

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyjz24ne85o

Elon Musk has made a number of exaggerated or unevidenced claims during an Oval Office event alongside President Donald Trump.

The billionaire, who was making his first major media appearance since beginning his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), said his team was seeking to improve transparency in government.

Sending condoms to Gaza?

'The woman that walked away with $30m'?

Social security payments for 150-year-olds?

Elon Musk Why destroying the Beauracracy

https://www.tiktok.com/@thedailyshow/video/7471304811682499882

@thedailyshow

Elon Musk's warning about an unelected bureaucracy is like watching Drake sing "Not Like Us" at karaoke #DailyShow #ElonMusk #bureaucracy

♬ original sound - The Daily Show

Rep. Carter: Americans 'have to realize they've been duped'

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ta5Zfn7NJEY?si=uWpGEOMOVTiyd91E

Conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair claims she gave birth to Elon Musk's 13th child - Family Values?!

 https://www.foxnews.com/us/conservative-influencer-ashley-st-clair-claims-she-gave-birth-elon-musks-13th-child

Conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair claims that she gave birth to a child fathered by Elon Musk – said to be the billionaire's 13th – in secret five months ago. 

Musk has been a vocal critic of the declining birth rate in the West. He brought his son X Æ A-Xii, whom he shares with ex-girlfriend and musician Grimes, into the Oval Office during a televised meeting with Trump last week. Musk also shares daughter Exa Dark Sideræl and son Techno Mechanicus with Grimes. Earlier, he and ex-wife Justine Wilson had six children – twins Vivian and Griffin, triplets Kai, Damian, and Saxon, and son Nevada Alexander, who died when he was 10 weeks old. Musk also has three children with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis, twins Strider and Azure, and a third whose name has not been publicized.

Trump ‘replacing the rule of law with the law of the ruler’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5147993-auchincloss-trump-rule-of-law/?tbref=hp

“What I say about it is that this president is replacing the rule of law with the law of the ruler,” Auchincloss said.

“He came into office, he pardoned violent criminals from Jan. 6 insurrection, including men who tased cops in the neck. Those people are now recommitting crimes back in their communities. He fired inspectors general and federal prosecutors without cause, and now he is directly bullying the Southern District of New York to act in a corrupt manner,” Auchincloss continued.

Auchincloss praised the prosecutors for refusing to dismiss the charges, pointing specifically to Hagan Scotten, the assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, who resigned from his post over the order to dismiss the case.

“That was the lead prosecutor on Eric Adams, and he resigned rather than pursue this corrupt path,” Auchincloss said. “And he said anybody who followed this order would be a fool or a coward. Now Hagan Scotten clerked for a conservative Supreme Court justice. He is no fool. He is a decorated special forces officer. He’s no coward. Can Republicans answer the same? Because right now they look like both.”

A GOP U.S. Attorney Does the Right Thing in Eric Adams' Corruption Case

 https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2025-02-14/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-danielle-sassoon

The standoff over an administration seeking to use the Justice Department for political ends is an even more alarming transgression than President Richard Nixon’s interference with the Justice Department during the Watergate scandal more than 50 years ago.

These early actions by Trump’s appointees are alarming. As Robert Jackson, who served as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attorney general before he joined the Supreme Court, warned, “The most dangerous power of a prosecutor … [is] that he will pick people that he thinks he should get, rather than pick cases that need to be prosecuted.”

Trump and his Justice Department appointees are eviscerating a nonpartisan workforce that is essential to preserving the rule of law. By firing government lawyers, pressuring others and intimidating those who remain, Trump is seeking to stack the government with lawyers who will be beholden to him personally and who will do his bidding.

The order from Washington to stop the prosecution of Adams reveals a worrisome effort to create a compliant corps of government lawyers who can wield the threat of prosecution (or the promise of dropping charges) to enforce a party boss’s will. If his case is dropped, Adams is no longer beholden to New York City voters but rather to Trump. The same could occur with corporations, wealthy individuals and other officials.

The best hope is that lower-level lawyers will follow the lead of principled prosecutors like Sassoon by doing their jobs in the tradition that Robert Jackson articulated so well. That means declining to follow directions that are improper and resigning in protest if necessary.

Zelensky warns Ukraine won't accept decisions made without them in peace talks

 https://www.axios.com/2025/02/16/zelensky-putin-war-against-nato-trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a "Meet the Press" interview aired Sunday that he would "never accept" decisions made by the U.S. and Russia about Ukraine's future, even as the two nations appear poised to engage in peace talks this week.

The big picture: President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed Sunday on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that he and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz will travel to Saudi Arabia to "hopefully make some really good progress" on the Russia-Ukraine peace process.

Zelensky had said hours before that Ukraine was not invited to participate in any peace talks, a notion which Witkoff pushed back against to Fox News' Maria Bartiromo.

"Ukraine is part of the talks," Witkoff said, adding, "I don't think this is about excluding anybody."

Zoom out: European allies had also expressed concern Ukraine wouldn't get an equal say in peace talks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shocked NATO allies by declaring key bargaining chips off the table.

Trump administration's mixed messaging on foreign policy leaves world guessing

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crr0gkn1qlzo

Hegseth said it was "unrealistic" to think Ukraine could win back its sovereign territory occupied by Russia, as was its demand for Nato membership, adding it was up to European and not US troops to keep the peace.

Critics, including some Republicans in Washington, castigated the speech, saying it gave away all of Ukraine's leverage ahead of any negotiations. It was, they argued, a US capitulation to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"It's certainly an innovative approach to a negotiation to make very major concessions even before they have started," said former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, who co-chairs the European Council on Foreign Relation, a think tank.

The US secretary of state's position contained no trace of laying out limits for Ukraine in the way the defence secretary had done. Then, also in the German city, Vice-President JD Vance said the US could use "military tools of leverage" to compel Russia to do a deal, appearing to contradict Hegseth who had said no US troops would be deployed to Ukraine.

Ukraine woos Trump with prospect of mineral riches

 https://thehill.com/policy/international/5141789-ukraine-rare-earth-minerals-trump/

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is leveraging the country’s large deposits of rare earth materials and critical minerals to win the favor of President Trump ahead of high-stakes negotiations to end Russia’s war of aggression.

But negotiations between Zelensky and U.S. officials are off to a rocky start, Politico reported Saturday. Ukraine reportedly balked at a U.S. proposal calling for U.S. rights to half of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals in exchange for military support.

Less than 20 percent of Ukraine’s mineral resources, including half of its rare earth deposits, are under Russian occupation, Zelensky told Reuters in an interview last week. Zelensky called for allies’ help in protecting what Ukraine controls, particularly in the eastern part of the country, which is the frontline of fighting. 

“We need to stop Putin and protect what we have,” Zelensky said. 

Zelensky “knows Trump is transactional, so he’s playing to a rhetoric that works,” Gracelin Baskaran, director of the critical minerals security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Hill.