DOGE at the SEC's Door?

DOGE Targets SEC Next for Job Cuts, Priority Shifts: Explained

The government efficiency unit backed by Elon Musk is turning its attention to the SEC as the Trump administration purges federal workers and revamps agencies’ priorities.

Hundreds of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s 5,000 employees may quickly face termination, if the SEC follows the Department of Government Efficiency playbook and dismisses recent hires, who have fewer job protections than longer-time employees….

War In Southern District of New York: Inside the Bloody Battle Over the DOJ’s Crown Jewel

There was a time, not that long ago, when—together—Emil Bove, Hagan Scotten, and Danielle Sassoon were considered to be among the brightest stars at the Justice Department’s most prestigious office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, or SDNY. Scotten was a war hero and former clerk for the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice. Bove had made an almost unheard-of climb from paralegal to prosecutor and then unit chief. Sassoon, Bove’s protege and a former Supreme Court clerk for Antonin Scalia, seemed destined for higher things still.

Last week, they openly went to war—against one another. Sassoon and Scotten resigned, as did a number of prosecutors in Washington, ostensibly over the handling of a single case: that of New York Mayor Eric Adams. But after talking to a number of sources on every side of this, it’s become clear the ultimate stakes are far higher. Their fight has ballooned into a fight over, among other things, the notion the Justice Department and its prosecutors should be at all independent from the president’s will. SDNY has a well-earned reputation as the “sovereign district,” immune to any pressures from Washington. But in the second Trump administration, there is no room for two sovereigns.

Solana Meme Coin Pumps—Then Dumps—After Promoter Climbs Hollywood Sign

A man climbed the iconic Hollywood sign on Saturday, waving a flag promoting Solana meme coin Vigilante (VIGI). Following his action, the token pumped to a $3.85 million market cap, before tumbling 69% to approximately $1 million.

The unidentified man waved a white flag atop the D of the sign for about an hour, NBC Los Angeles reported, before he was coaxed down by park rangers and law enforcement. Police later confirmed to local news station KTLA that the individual was taken into custody. […]

Vigilante claims the Hollywood sign was just the first act of a broader marketing campaign, tweeting that the next stunt will be ten times bigger than this one. The meme coin team did not respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.

‘Would Anyone Say These Are Organs of Congress?’: Trump Exerts Control Over Agencies

“So-called independent agencies … have exercised enormous power over the American people without Presidential oversight,” the White House said in a statement. “These agencies issue rules and regulations that cost billions of dollars and implicate some of the most controversial policy matters, and they do so without the review of the democratically elected President.”

George Washington University Law professor Paul Schiff Berman said the controversial order would effectively eliminate independent agencies and give more power to the president to fire agency heads.

“If the Supreme Court ratifies this executive order, there would no longer be independent agencies,” he said. “There would only be executive branch agencies that are completely answerable to the president, in the same way that the Secretary of State is answerable to the president.”