The shift in power in the US

Trump's team
The aid agency is threatened by Musk: "Time to die"

"Time to die", writes Elon Musk about the US aid agency US Aid on X.

Several employees at US Aid were dismissed this weekend after refusing to give Musk's "efficiency department" access to the agency's systems. US Aid's website and account on X have since been closed.

According to Elon Musk, US Aid is a "criminal organization" that, among other things, "funded research on biological weapons, including Covid-19, which has killed millions."

Democrats believe that all attempts to close the agency without support in Congress are illegal.

Musk has gained control over government payments

Elon Musk and his "efficiency department" Doge have been given direct access to the Treasury Department's payments. The New York Times reports.

The announcement comes after a high-ranking official earlier this week refused to let representatives of Doge into the system. The official was then suspended and then resigned.

Direct access to the system gives the Trump administration a new mechanism to cut off funding for activities even without congressional support, according to the newspaper.

Letter of support for Kennedy was written by suspended doctors

A letter sent to the US Senate to support Robert F Kennedy as health secretary has been signed by doctors who have had their licenses revoked, suspended or received other disciplinary measures. This is according to the AP, which has seen the letter.

Moreover, many of the nearly 800 people who signed the letter were not even doctors. Among them was a self-proclaimed journalist, a certified public accountant, a firefighter and a certified health coach. There were also at least 75 nurses and physician assistants, while 90 people had no qualifications at all.

The purpose of the letter was to give credibility to the nomination, which had met with strong opposition from medical experts, partly because Kennedy had been engaged in anti-vaccine activism for two decades.

The Future of the Democrats
Analysis: Democrats Believe They Have Had the Right Message All Along

Democrats are traumatized after losing both the presidential election and their majority in the Senate, writes Dan Balz in an analysis in the Washington Post.

“They still haven’t swallowed the meaning of their losses in November, nor have they found their footing after Donald Trump’s aggressive first move,” he writes, noting that the party still doesn’t seem to be asking itself the tough questions that must come sooner or later.

The election of Ken Martin as the new party chairman on Saturday also suggests that introspection is lacking for the time being, write Adam Wren, Lisa Kashinsky and Brakkton Booker in Politico. They note that Martin was vice chairman of Kamala Harris’s campaign organization, and that in his first speech he stated that the party already has “the right message.”

“The Democrats may be convinced that they have had it all along, despite their loss last year.”