Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

Cooper’s case is a class action involving residents from nine counties, making the litigation worth potentially millions of dollars in damages. Six houses were destroyed and 172 others were damaged when three quakes of 5.0 magnitude or greater struck the Prague area from November 5-8, 2011, according to the Oklahoma Emergency Management Agency. The oil companies argued that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission should handle the lawsuits, not the courts—a position the state Supreme Court rejected.   read more

On Tuesday, FISC Judge Michael W. Mosman rejected FreedomWorks’ challenge. Mosman also claimed that a previous ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the surveillance program was illegal, did not apply to the FISC, “setting up a potential conflict between the two courts,” according to The New York Times. “Second Circuit rulings are not binding” on the surveillance court, Mosman wrote, “and this court respectfully disagrees with that court’s analysis...”   read more

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio crafted language that was put into state legislation signed Friday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that requires developers of high rises that have a mix of affordable units and market-rate units to allow both groups to use the same doorways. "No taxpayer dollar should go to a program that further segregates our communities," said New York councilwoman Helen Brewer.   read more

Job-hopping generally doesn’t look good on a resume. But NBA player Luke Ridnour’s CV just got a lot longer in a short period of time. In the run-up to the June 25 NBA draft and its aftermath, Ridnour was traded four times, with three of those moves coming in one day. Fortunately, Ridnour didn’t have to leave his living room during all this maneuvering, but he might have appreciated the frequent-flier miles. The key to Ridnour’s virtual journey around North America is his contract.   read more

The Chamber has become “the hammer for the tobacco industry,” setting up lobbying operations in other countries to fight anti-smoking laws. Its zeal to help American tobacco companies has gone so far as to convince Ukraine to file a legal challenge against Australia over that country’s right to enact anti-smoking laws on its own soil. The Chamber, led by Thomas Donohue, has also worked to ensure that international agreements won’t impede the marketing of tobacco products in other countries.   read more

A withdrawal of manufacturing and closure of military bases have caused some of the island's economic problems. Puerto Rico’s governor, Alejandro García Padilla, has called on lenders to allow deferring debt payments. He warned that if Wall Street doesn’t cooperate, it won’t just mean trouble for Puerto Rico. “If they don’t come to the table, it will be bad for them,” he said. “Our economy will get into a worse situation and we’ll have less money to pay them."   read more

The change “would restore the overtime salary threshold to roughly where it stood in 1975,” said The New York Times. It remains to be seen, however, if the plan goes into effect. Although the regulation could be adopted as soon as next year, Republicans in Congress might try to kill it. As the business community almost always does with any new rule affecting it, executives decried the plan as one that will hurt companies and force them to cut jobs.   read more

For now, Oregon pot smokers will have to grow their own—they’re allowed to have four plants each—or rely on the kindness of others to give them some. Another option is to drive into neighboring Washington, but bringing marijuana across state lines is a federal crime. Last night, Portland’s NORML planned to give away marijuana to celebrate--“Where adults will be allowed to give it away rather than allowing the black market to thrive on our new legality,” said NORML's Russ Belville.   read more

Calling a police officer unflattering names might not be polite but it is protected by the Constitution. The Marshall Project documented numerous cases demonstrating that police have exceeded their authority by arresting people for name-calling. In Washington State, a teenage boy called an officer a “motherfucker.” His conviction was overturned last week by the state Supreme Court. In Georgia, a woman won a $100,000 settlement after police arrested her for cursing at them.   read more

The toll on Americans from on-the-job chemical exposures is staggering. It’s been difficult for new worker safety rules to get established when manufacturing companies launch opposition campaigns to undermine OSHA’s efforts and those of labor unions and other advocates. Industry trade groups have filed lawsuits over the years to overturn new OSHA regulations. Congress has also contributed to curtailing the work of OSHA, which was dubbed the “Gestapo” of the government by Rep. John Boehner.   read more

Alabama’s chief justice, Roy Moore, has said he will resist the Supreme Court ruling, while his wife, Kayla Moore, head of The Foundation for Moral Law, wrote on Facebook that “the U.S. Supreme Court [has] no legal authority to redefine marriage.” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told county clerks to ignore the ruling and refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.   read more

The images show both the interiors and exteriors of CIA secret locations where detainees were held and interrogated. They reportedly include detainee cells, bathrooms, naked prisoners at the time of transport, confinement boxes that held detainees, and a waterboard in the “Salt Pit,” the largest CIA detention facility in Afghanistan. Also said to be depicted are members of the CIA and foreign intelligence services, along with interrogation program architects James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen.   read more

Ask a cop what kind of extremist they’re most concerned about and the answer is likely to be those opposed to the government, not Muslim terrorists. Anti-government extremists were listed more than any other by far: 73.8%. Al Qaeda-inspired extremists came in a distant second, at 39.3%. The researchers also found that that law enforcement “perceive violent extremism to be a much more severe threat nationally than the threat of violent extremism in their own jurisdictions.”   read more

Congress has invited dozens of world leaders to address U.S. lawmakers. But religious figures have never had the honor. Capitol Hill will be working overtime in maneuvering the logistics of this event, said the Post’s Michelle Boorstein. “Which presidential candidate gets close and who doesn’t? How much time should he spend in Boehner’s office and with whom? Will lawmakers stand and clap for lines they support and remain seated for those they oppose? Those are all elements under discussion."   read more

They put the cost of the post-9/11 fighting at $4.4 trillion. In addition to the costs of bullets and bandages, they included the interest on the money borrowed to fight the war (remember—Bush sought no tax increases to fund the fighting); the money it took out of the economy and cost Americans in increased interest; the future cost of treating and healing wounded veterans (expected to peak in 30 or 40 years at more than $1 trillion); and increased homeland security spending.   read more

The FBI has contended since 2010 that the IG’s office lacks the legal authority to see documents related to certain matters, including grand juries, Title III electronic surveillances and Fair Credit Reporting Act information. FBI officials also claim they don’t have to share documents related to two investigations of alleged whistleblower retaliation, or those pertaining to an IG review of the FBI’s use of telephonic metadata.   read more