• Introducing the Gulf of America: The initial reactions among the Trump-deranged went from eye-rolling on the Right to sneering and garment-rending on the Left, but the big body of water that laps upon the shores of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida has officially been rebranded. “Today,” proclaimed President Donald Trump, “I am very honored to recognize February 9, 2025, as the first ever Gulf of America Day.” It’s the fruit of Executive Order 14172, “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness,” which Trump signed on his first day in office. “Attention on board,” said the captain of Air Force One yesterday, as he flew the president to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. “Ladies and gentlemen … Air Force One is currently in international waters, for the first time in history flying over the recently renamed Gulf of America.”

• Trump announces steel and aluminum tariffs: In a continuation of his use of tariffs to both protect American industry and improve others’ behavior, Donald Trump announced massive 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum today. “Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25% tariff — aluminum too,” said Trump. Asked what countries will be affected by these tariffs, Trump responded, “Everyone.” He’ll also announce “reciprocal tariffs” in the coming days. What’s a reciprocal tariff? It’s a tariff based on treating others as they treat us. For example, the European Union puts a 10% tariff on all American automobiles going into the EU, whereas we put a paltry 2.5% tariff on all German cars coming to our shores. If we want to sell our wares abroad, this imbalance seems sort of self-defeating on our part, doesn’t it? Reciprocal tariffs might thus be better understood as “Golden Rule” tariffs.

• Trump yanks security clearances from Blinken and other Dems: Donald Trump has revoked the security clearances of a handful of leftist weaponizers. Atop this list is former Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who masterminded the infamous Gang of 51 “Russian disinformation” letter and generally promoted a weak-kneed Others First foreign policy. “Bad guy,” said Trump. “Take away his passes.” And it was done. Other recipients of the revocation were New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, former Biden Deputy AG Lisa Monaco, Mueller Commission puppeteer Andrew Weissmann, and Trump impeachment tools Mark Zaid and Norm Eisen. This motley crew thus joins Joe Biden, whose clearance Trump pulled on Friday, perhaps in a tit-for-tat move that he rightly notes his predecessor pioneered four years ago.

• Republicans to introduce bills to reform regulatory process: In order for the reforms that Donald Trump is forging in Washington to remain long term, it will require action from Congress. Of import is the problem of the existing regulatory state, thanks largely to an army of unelected bureaucrats that has produced a litany of regulations limiting Americans’ freedoms and costing them more money. In light of this, Senator Joni Ernst and Representative Brad Finstad will soon introduce bills to reform the regulatory process. Dubbed the Prove It Act of 2025, the legislation will require any newly proposed regulations to demonstrate conformity to existing law as well as report impact, both direct and indirect, on small business. “We are curbing the bloated bureaucracy and empowering job creators to innovate and lead us forward,” Ernst explained. “If Washington thinks more regulations are needed, it will have to prove it.”

• Judges stymie Trump’s agenda actions: As the oppositional Democrats’ political ice floe continues to melt, they’re falling back on sympathetic judges. Whether banning birthright citizenship, or sending illegal immigrant thugs to Gitmo, or buying out the services of willing federal employees, or digging through the Treasury Department’s labyrinthine payment system, or putting the entire USAID workforce on leave, the Trump administration’s efforts are being thwarted by one-off judges whose rulings apply across the country. “It has become ever more apparent that to our president the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals,” said U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour in a representative comment. “The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain.” Perhaps a Supreme Court ruling would determine once and for all whether what Thomas Jefferson called “The Despotic Branch” should have that kind of power over the other two coequal branches.

• Judge rules against unions’ objections to DOGE: Objecting to DOGE’s audit of the federal government’s numerous agencies, a number of the nation’s more powerful unions sued to block DOGE from accessing the Department of Labor’s data. Six major unions, headed by the AFL-CIO, accuse DOGE of “violating multiple laws, from constitutional limits on executive power, to laws protecting civil servants from arbitrary threats and adverse action, to crucial protections for government data collected and stored on hundreds of millions of Americans.” However, on Friday, U.S. District Judge John Bates rejected the unions’ lawsuit because they failed to establish standing. As a result, DOGE is moving forward in its audit of these government departments. Its revelations of financial connections between these government agencies and labor unions will likely not be pretty.

• Wheaton caves: Following the Senate’s confirmation of Russell Vought to head Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, Vought’s alma mater, Wheaton College, posted a social media message of congratulations and prayer on his behalf. However, following some negative responses by Facebook users, Wheaton pulled its congratulations, replacing it with the following: “The recognition and prayer is something we would typically do for any graduate who reached that level of government. However, the political situation surrounding [Vought’s] appointment led to a significant concern expressed online. It was not our intention to embroil the College in a political discussion or dispute." Wheaton added a disingenuous excuse that "as a non-profit institution, [it] does not make political endorsements.” Yet the school apparently had no qualms over hosting The After Party event this past fall, a specifically partisan organization created by anti-Trumpers David French, Russell Moore, and Curtis Chang.

• DOGE cancels Fauci museum exhibit: Dr. Anthony Fauci was the highest-paid bureaucrat in Washington before his retirement in August 2022. In 2019, his salary was a whopping $417,608. Fauci, whom Donald Trump tapped to help advise and direct the national response to the COVID pandemic, infamously demonstrated the adage of how power corrupts. Rather than seek to inform the public, he often misinformed Americans in favor of narratives that served the aims of the Washington establishment rather than the country. Therefore, when DOGE uncovered a $168,000 contract from the Department of Health and Human Services to create an exhibit dedicated to Fauci in the NIH Museum, Trump’s administration nixed it, noting that this expenditure was irrelevant to meeting actual healthcare.

Headlines

• Federal judge blocks DOGE from Treasury system (WSJ)

• CFPB gutted in latest move to cut government waste (Daily Wire)

• Trump signs order freezing aid to South Africa over land law (BBC)

• Trump orders stop to “wasteful” production of pennies (Washington Examiner)

• Fentanyl’s financial grip on U.S. skyrocketed to $2.7T at height of Biden admin (Fox News)

• California plans to continue allowing male athletes to compete in girls’ sports (Fox News)

• Hamas releases three frail-looking Israeli hostages (AP)

• Humor: 10 inefficiencies in government computer systems identified by DOGE workers (Babylon Bee)

For the Executive Summary archive, click here.