Executive Orders
President Donald Trump signed the following Executive Orders:
None.
Congress
Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts expressed serious concerns about potential misuse of private taxpayer data in a letter to the IRS on Monday. The senators asked the IRS commissioner to provide details about any plans to allow DOGE members access to internal IRS systems.
“The IRS must immediately disclose to the Senate Committee on Finance the full extent of the potential access to IRS systems and data granted to DOGE team members so that the Committee can address any efforts by DOGE personnel to gain access to taxpayer records at the IRS, which may constitute criminal violations of federal privacy laws,” the letter reads.
The senators explained that these prohibitions have historically safeguarded against political appointees in previous administrations gaining access to the private tax records of millions of Americans.
National
Thousands of people gathered at state capitals across the nation on President’s Day to protest the actions of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, NPR reported. The nationwide protests, called “Not My President’s Day,” were part of the 50501 Movement, which stands for “50 protests. 50 states. 1 movement.” The group says more action days are being planned.
Government
During the weekend’s mass firing blitz, the Department of Government Efficiency sent layoff notices to employees at the US Food and Drug Administration, which included a team of about 20 scientists who were reviewing Elon Musk’s brain implant company Neuralink, Reuters reported. The notices cited poor performance even though they had recently received excellent job ratings.
Acting Social Security Administration Commissioner Michelle King, who has more than 30 years of service, resigned from the agency over the weekend after refusing to provide DOGE staffers access to sensitive taxpayer information.
Also on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign that aims to deter illegal immigration. The ads, which will be shown in both national and international markets, encourage people to “self-deport” or risk deportation.
World
Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that the country may initiate legal action against Google, but will wait for a response to a second request to restore the name Gulf of Mexico on the Google Maps platform, PBS News reports.
Mexican officials sent their first letter to Google in January after Trump signed an executive order renaming the region “Gulf of America.”
The Secretary of the Interior shall…take all appropriate actions to rename as the “Gulf of America” the U.S. Continental Shelf area bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba in the area formerly named as the Gulf of Mexico. The Secretary shall subsequently update the GNIS to reflect the renaming of the Gulf and remove all references to the Gulf of Mexico from the GNIS, consistent with applicable law.
Sheinbaum displayed a February 10 denial letter from Google executive Cris Turner who said the company aims to “follow policies impartially” and show an “accurate representation of the world.” He said the change reflects an update in the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), a database maintained by the US Geological Survey. It indexes topological features and cultural landmarks in the US for use throughout the federal government.
Google Maps now shows “Gulf of America” to US locales, Gulf of Mexico to Mexican locales, and both names to the rest of the world.
Sheinbaum says the renaming violates Mexican sovereignty. Google renamed the entire body of water even though jurisdiction of the region is shared among Mexico (49 percent), U.S. (46 percent), and Cuba (5 percent).
Google no tiene derecho a renombrar la plataforma continental de México. Tiene los dos numbers. Peri esto está mal.
[Google does not have the right to rename Mexico’s continental shelf. It has both names. But this is wrong.]
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, via X
Sheinbaum explained that Trump’s order modifies only the US continental shelf, not the entire Gulf of Mexico.
El decreto del presidente (Trump) le cambia el nombre a Golfo de América solo en su plataforma continental, estamos hablando de 22 millas náuticas desde la costa, no a todo el golfo. Aquí Google lo que está haciendo es cambiándole el nombre a la plataforma continental de México y de Cuba, y eso no tiene nada que ver con el decreto que hizo el presidente Trump para su propia plataforma continental
[The president’s (Trump) decree changes the name of the Gulf of America only on its continental shelf, we are talking about 22 nautical miles from the coast, not the entire gulf. What Google is doing here is changing the name of the continental shelf of Mexico and Cuba, and that has nothing to do with the decree that President Trump made for his own continental shelf.]
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, Aristegui News
In the new letter, Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Dr. Juan Ramón de la Fuente reaffirms that any attempt to change the name of the region beyond a nation’s maritime zone area exceeds the powers of any authority or private entity.
Business
Media
String Board Notes
Semafor revealed that the $200M budget for the Department of Homeland Security’s new campaign was awarded, in part, to a company co-founded by Jay Connaughton, who worked on Trump’s 2016 election ads. He also worked with DOGE staffer Corey Lewandowski, a lobbyist and former Trump campaign manager.