Free Republic

Elon Musk’s blowup with President Trump may have doomed Washington’s most potent partnership, but the billionaire’s signature cost-cutting project has become deeply embedded in Mr. Trump’s administration and could be there to stay.At the Department of Energy, for example, a former member of the Department of Government Efficiency is now serving as the chief of staff.At the Interior Department, DOGE members have been converted into federal employees and embedded into the agency, said a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. And at the Environmental Protection Agency, where a spokeswoman said...

It’s the latest setback to the president’s efforts to wield government power to punish the legal industry. A federal judge called it “a shocking abuse of power.”A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Trump from punishing the law firm Susman Godfrey, calling the retribution campaign he has waged from the White House against the nation’s top firms “a shocking abuse of power.”Ruling from the bench, Judge Loren L. AliKhan of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia said that the executive order Mr. Trump signed last week targeting the firm stemmed from a “personal vendetta.” Susman Godfrey represented...

A federal judge in Washington will consider a legal challenge on Tuesday against the Education Department, which is seeking to bar Elon Musk and his team from gaining access to its data systems.The lawsuit, brought by two legal groups representing the University of California Student Association, sought to restrict Mr. Musk’s associates from combing through the Education Department’s data because of privacy concerns, given the personal identifying information that students routinely disclose when applying for federal aid.Mr. Musk’s team, part of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has been operating in the Education Department for more than a week. They...

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska expressed unease in an interview broadcast on Tuesday with the Senate majority leader’s vow of “total coordination” with the White House on impeachment proceedings against President Trump, a potentially significant crack in Republican unity. Ms. Murkowski, a moderate with an independent streak, told Anchorage’s NBC affiliate KTUU she opposed “being hand in glove with the defense” and voiced other concerns as the Senate prepares to hold a trial over the two articles of impeachment that the House approved earlier this month. Ms. Murkowski’s views could prove important. She rarely speaks publicly against Republican leadership, but...

After being a reliable ally to President TrumpÂ’s judicial nominees in 2017 and 2018, Susan Collins is suddenly opposing some of TrumpÂ’s court picks Some believe Collins may be trying to win some over some goodwill from Democrats in what may be a difficult reelection cycle. Per a PPP poll in October, Collins is unpopular, with only 35% of voters approving of the job sheÂ’s doing to 50% who disapprove. She trails a generic Democrat for reelection 44-41. That represents a big drop for Collins compared to a poll we did last September when she led a generic Democrat by...