Today is Friday, 28 February 2025. Federal agencies in the Washington, DC area are Open. Employees are expected to begin the workday on time. Normal operating procedures are in effect. Partly cloudy, with a low around 41. West wind around 10 mph.

Govcon

"Trump Team Tightens Control Over Government Lawyers Who Might Say ‘No’," New York Times

"His appointees have swiftly cleared the Justice Department’s top ranks of career lawyers, even as Mr. Trump stocked leading posts with his own defense attorneys. His aides sidelined the department’s Office of Legal Counsel, bypassing its traditional role of vetting draft executive orders and giving it no acting chief. Last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi added to the purge by firing the top lawyer at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"This subjugation of lawyers has now extended to the Pentagon. Late last Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the top judge advocates general for the military."

"Mr. Hegseth, a former midlevel Army infantry officer, has long exhibited a hostile view toward military lawyers. He has insulted them in his memoir as 'jagoffs,' questioned whether it made sense to obey the Geneva Conventions and blamed them for what he saw as unduly restrictive rules of engagement on the battlefield. ... Mr. Hegseth appeared to not have understood that top commanders, not their legal advisers, decide what standards to set."

"Republicans’ agenda battles aren’t over, just changing shape," Semafor

"Republicans now have to do a ton of heavy lifting as they attempt to reconcile their competing budget frameworks while under pressure from a demanding president at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson met with Trump alongside each chamber’s tax chairs on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the tax cuts and how to work together."

"And if the Senate ends up taking up the House’s budget, senators are already talking about making big changes to allow for permanent tax cuts, remove a $4 trillion increase in the debt ceiling and possibly even trim spending cuts. While most Republicans are aligned on the first change, there are some serious differences of opinion on the other two."

"The Dubious Theory Behind Trump’s Power Grab," the Times

"Mr. Trump is operating under the theory that the executive branch is unitary, in the sense that Article II of the Constitution places executive power in a single person, the president, who gets to control every high-level official who executes federal law (and plenty of lower-level ones, too)."

"The theory of the unitary executive means that the president can fire, at his pleasure, the heads of the Federal Trade Commission, the National Labor Relations Board and other independent agencies. In its strongest form, the unitary executive theory means that the president can control the policy choices of those agencies. So if the F.T.C. wants to issue a rule to protect consumers, and the president thinks that’s a terrible idea, then he can prevent that rule from seeing the light of day."

"The AI Data-Center Boom Is a Job-Creation Bust," Wall Street Journal

"Politicians and business leaders have touted data centers as a boon for employment. At the press conference unveiling Stargate, President Trump said more than 100,000 new jobs would be created 'almost immediately.' ... The reality is data centers can employ more than 1,000 people in the several months or years it takes to build them, but rarely need more than one or two hundred once they open, according to Synergy chief analyst John Dinsdale. Stargate would have to be much larger than currently planned to create hundreds of thousands of construction jobs, let alone permanent ones."

"VA gets GSA request to slash total number of employees who hold purchase cards," FedNewsNetwork

"The General Services Administration, in a memo obtained by Federal News Network, is asking the VA to reduce the spending limit of all its purchase and travel cards through its SmartPay program to $1, with a few narrow exceptions. ... The VA spends about $6 billion annually on its purchase cards — including essential medical supplies for the Veterans Health Administration to provide health care to veterans. A VHA official told Federal News Network the department uses its purchase cards to buy medications and medical supplies."

"Air Force envisions air-to-air combat role in Golden Dome missile defense," Defense Coop

"The Golden Dome for America initiative — previously referred to by Trump as the Iron Dome for America — calls for a multi-layered shield for the U.S. homeland. The Space Force is expected to play a central role in setting up the architecture — which emphasizes the need for space-based sensors and interceptors ... However, while Golden Dome is expected to include next-generation technologies, there could also be a role for some of the Air Force’s 'traditional' capabilities such as fighter jets, suggested Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel, the service’s director for force design, integration and wargaming."

"DOD Launches Weekly Video Update to Keep Public, Warfighters Informed," DOD press release

"'Dubbed Weekly Sitrep — sitrep being a military acronym for situation report — the intent of the approximately 90-second address is to convey transparency on the part of DOD. The purpose of this is to be the most transparent DOD in American history for the warfighters and the American people,' Parnell said at the outset of his report, then added that it was "an action-packed, 'America first' week. The sitreps are scheduled to air weekly across DOD's various social media channels."

Travel

"Air Traffic Control Trainees to Get Raise of 30 Percent," the Times

"In a briefing for reporters at the F.A.A. Academy in Oklahoma City, where air traffic controllers train, Mr. Duffy said the raise would boost the trainees’ pay to $22.84 an hour, from $17.61. He expects the pay increase to go into effect within the next month, he said. ... The funds to provide the increase are available, Mr. Duffy said, and will not necessitate a request to Congress."

"Alaska Airlines exits Dallas Love Field as it focuses on American Airlines' big DFW hub," the Points Guy

"The Seattle-based carrier will cease operating from Dallas Love Field (DAL) on May 14, as first seen in Cirium schedules and later confirmed by a carrier spokesperson. Alaska currently operates five weekly flights between DAL and its hub at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), and this 1,670-mile route will be cut in tandem with the closure of Alaska's DAL outstation. Going forward, Alaska will consolidate all its Dallas-area operations at the far larger Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), which is located about 15 miles from DAL."

"‘The Point Of Flying Is To Get Somewhere Quickly’ Yet Every American Airlines Trip Will Take 5 Minutes Longer Starting May 1," View from the Wing

"American Airlines has started enforcing boarding groups, to stop line jumpers. If you board before your group is called, the gate reader will buzz and you’ll be rejected until it’s your turn.

"Now, starting May 1, they’re going to start boarding planes earlier as well. They think this will reduce the chaos of boarding. Most domestic mainline flights will board 5 minutes earlier than before. This was just shared with the airline’s employees today – most domestic flights will start boarding 40 minutes prior to departure."

"Report: Delta Launching Atlanta To Marrakech Flights," One Mile at a Time

"While there’s not an official announcement yet, Delta is expected to shortly announce a new route between Atlanta (ATL) and Marrakech (RAK). The always in-the-know @xJonNYC hinted at this yesterday. ... We should learn all the details soon (probably tomorrow), including when the route will launch, which plane will be used, and what frequencies will be like. I would guess we’re looking at a winter seasonal, 3x weekly service with a Boeing 767, but that’s just because that’s exactly what United operates to Marrakech."