BYRON TAU

The headquarters of the General Services Administration (GSA) is photographed Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Why Elon Musk installed his top lieutenants at a federal agency you probably haven’t heard of
The General Services Administration has a key role in the Trump administration’s quest to slash costs and bring the federal government to heel. That effort is being led by officials with ties to Elon Musk or his companies.
 
Ed Martin speaks at an event at the Capitol in Washington, June 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)
Trump’s top prosecutor in DC demotes several supervisors who handled politically sensitive cases
Several senior leaders in Washington’s federal prosecutors office have been demoted to jobs handling misdemeanors or other low-level matters. That’s according to several people familiar with the matter. Interim U.S.
 
A Federal Aviation Administration sign hangs in the tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, March 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
Musk has inside track to take over contract to fix air traffic communications system
A satellite company owned by Elon Musk is on a possible fast track to take over a large federal contract to modernize the nation’s air traffic communications system.
 
Elon Musk, left, receives a chainsaw from Argentina's President Javier Milei, right, as they arrive speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE
Twenty-one civil service employees have resigned from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they’re refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”
 
Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks after taking the oath of office at the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)
Judge temporarily blocks Trump plan offering incentives for federal workers to resign
A judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to push out federal employees by offering them financial incentives. Thursday’s decision came hours before a deadline for workers to apply for the program. U.S.
 
The smartphone app DeepSeek page is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
Researchers link DeepSeek’s blockbuster chatbot to Chinese telecom banned from doing business in US
Security researchers say the website of the Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek has computer code that could send some user login information to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company that’s been barred from operating in the United States.
 
Tulsi Gabbard speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
A mysterious meeting with Syrian president is at the center of spy chief’s nomination fight
Questions continue to dog Tulsi Gabbard about a mysterious 2017 trip to Syria. The trip has gained new salience since President Donald Trump nominated the former Democratic lawmaker to be the nation’s spy chief.
 
Tulsi Gabbard speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
A mysterious meeting with Syrian president is at the center of spy chief’s nomination fight
Questions continue to dog Tulsi Gabbard about a mysterious 2017 trip to Syria. The trip has gained new salience since President Donald Trump nominated the former Democratic lawmaker to be the nation’s spy chief.
 
President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
White House would have many ways to upend lives of Trump’s enemies
For the many people considered enemies by President Donald Trump, his return to the White House has sparked anxiety about how much power he has to upend their lives.
 
National security adviser John Bolton, left, listens to President Donald Trump, far right, speak during a working lunch with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Trump' s private Mar-a-Lago club, April 18, 2018 in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Trump’s perceived enemies worry about losing pensions, getting audited and paying steep legal bills
It’s not just criminal prosecutions that worry those who have crossed President Donald Trump. There are more prosaic kinds of retaliation: having difficulty renewing passports, getting audited by the IRS and losing federal pensions.