Technology
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Technology
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GOP senators frustrated over Musk's campaign
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Republican senators vented their concerns about Elon Musk’s aggressive approach to freezing federal spending and cutting government jobs during a private meeting with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles this week.
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Gathered in the historic Mansfield Room outside the Senate chamber Wednesday, some GOP senators complained about what they view as a lack of transparency about what Musk and his team of engineers are doing at federal agencies.
They flagged cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which fired 1,400 employees Monday, and said Musk’s team hadn’t responded to their requests for information, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
“Every day’s another surprise,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said of the daily bombshells from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“It would be better to allow Cabinet secretaries to carefully review their departments and then make surgical, strategic decisions on what programs and people should be cut and then come back to Congress for approval,” she said.
Collins argued a methodical approach to reforming government would be better than what she called Musk’s “sledgehammer approach.”
A second GOP senator said colleagues raised concerns about Musk’s leadership of DOGE and shared stories about how funding freezes and firings have impacted constituents.
“They were presenting some of the compelling stories and some of them shared about terminations at VA hospitals and how it impacted constituents and how there was no answer” from Musk’s team, the senator said.
“Another question was, ‘Who do we bring it to when we have these issues?’” the source added.
The Hill's Alexander Bolton has more in a full report at TheHill.com
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Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:
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China’s cyber espionage operations continue to become more aggressive amid the increasing use of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to help carry out attacks, according to a report published Thursday. CrowdStrike’s 2025 Global Threat Report, released Thursday, found China-linked cyber operations surged by 150 percent last year. Attacks targeting the financial services, media, manufacturing and …
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is pressing the social platform X about one of President Trump’s economic nominees seemingly scraping many posts from his account. In a letter addressed to Linda Yaccarino, X’s CEO, Warren asked the company to recover more than 24,000 posts from William Pulte. He was tapped by Trump late last month to serve as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and faced a confirmation …
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Tech billionaire Elon Musk is urging retired air traffic controllers to come back to the workforce amid the nationwide shortage of workers. “There is a shortage of top notch air traffic controllers. If you have retired, but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so,” Musk said in a Thursday post on X, the social media platform he owns. Earlier this month, President Trump’s administration began firing …
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A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Thursday to ban Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek’s products from government devices and networks. The bill, introduced by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jon Husted (R-Ohio) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), comes as DeepSeek’s rapid rise in popularity has sparked data privacy and national security concerns. “As the artificial intelligence landscape continues …
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SEC weighs in on meme coins amid push for clarity
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Welcome to Crypto Corner, a new feature in The Hill's Technology newsletter focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.
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The U.S. Securities and Commodities (SEC)'s Division of Corporation Finance is trying to clear the air on meme coins.
In a statement Thursday, the regulator said meme coins are not securities and akin to collectibles.
What are meme coins? Meme coins are cryptocurrencies typically based on internet trends, memes, characters or current events. They start with no inherent value, though their price can surge if there is a high demand. As a result, they are a highly volatile asset.
What the SEC statement means: By classifying meme coins as not securities, people who buy or sell meme coins are not required to register their transactions with the agency.
The agency says the statement is part of its broader efforts to "provide greater clarity on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto assets."
The big picture: The crypto industry has long called for more clarity when it comes to regulations and definitions following years of confusion.
This statement marks one of the first clarifying actions from the SEC since Trump returned to the White House last month and is likely a hint of what's to come.
Over on Capitol Hill, freshman Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.) is planning to introduce the "Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act" in hopes of stopping the "financial exploitation of the public by corrupt federal officeholders."
The California Democrat pointed to Trump and first lady Melania Trump's launch of meme coins shortly before the inauguration last month and the ethical concerns surrounding the coins.
The price of the $TRUMP meme coin is now 80 percent below its all-time high.
PLUS: The Hill's Emily Brooks scooped former Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) will lead the American Consumer & Investor Institute (ACII) as its chief executive officer.
ACII advocates for more consumer and investor access to financial markets and products, including in cryptocurrency, consumer banking and securities.
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News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
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Amazon launches its first quantum computing chip (CNBC)
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Meta fires about 20 employees for leaking (The Verge)
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Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
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Meta apologizes for ‘error’ that resulted in violent content flooding Instagram feeds
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Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, apologized Thursday for a technical error that resulted in some users’ Reels feeds being filled with graphic or violent content. “We have fixed an error that caused some users to see content in their Instagram Reels feed that should not have been recommended,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement shared with The Hill Thursday. “We apologize for the mistake.” …
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Microsoft is calling on the Trump administration to loosen Biden-era restrictions on artificial intelligence (AI) chip exports that it argues could undermine U.S. leadership on the technology. The AI Diffusion Rule, announced in the final days of the Biden presidency, placed caps on chip sales to most countries around the world, exempting a narrow list of 18 U.S. allies and partners. “As drafted, the rule undermines …
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Two key stories on The Hill right now:
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President Trump on Thursday backtracked on his recent sharp criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as the U.S. aims to strike a deal to … Read more
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began the process of firing hundreds of probationary workers Thursday, the latest mass job … Read more
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Opinions related to tech submitted to The Hill:
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!
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Senate Republicans on Monday criticized Elon Musk’s directive for federal government employees to lose their jobs if they did not send in a bullet-pointed summary of what they did last week at ...
The Hill - 3d
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Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) slammed tech billionaire Elon Musk over an email sent to federal employees requesting information on “what you accomplished last week.” “This is the ultimate d‑‑‑ boss ...
The Hill - 4d
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Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) on Sunday called for “compassion” in tech billionaire Elon Musk’s approach to federal workers. “I just published an op-ed, Deseret News, Deseret.com, and I talk about my ...
The Hill - 4d
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Republican senators vented their concerns about tech billionaire Elon Musk’s aggressive approach to freezing federal spending and cutting government jobs during a private meeting with White House ...
The Hill - 18h
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Politico - 10h
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The budget resolution from Republicans was on the agenda in the Senate, but the nearly all-night debate encompassed so much more
ABC News - 6d
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Multiple Senate Democrats on the Commerce, Science and Transportation on Tuesday pressed President Trump's Federal Trade Commissioner nominee, Mark Meador, over the independence of the agency amid ...
The Hill - 2d
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Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) slammed Elon Musk over an “absurd weekend email” sent to federal employees requiring they send the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) a list of what they ...
The Hill - 4d
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Elon Musk posted on social media about federal workers having to document their work or risk losing their jobs. This comes as more details emerge about USAID worker firings and as Musk persists on ...
CBS News - 3d
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) released a Thursday packet with a flight log and contact information from Jeffery Epstein, a deceased convicted sex offender, and his circle of friends. “The first ...
The Hill - 1h
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A federal judge issued a Thursday order requiring four Trump administration officials to testify in a lawsuit seeking to expose the inner workings of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) ...
The Hill - 1h
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A majority of Americans say their income is not matching pace with inflation, a new survey found. According to the CBS News/YouGov poll released Thursday, 77 percent of respondents say their income ...
The Hill - 2h
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Former Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley is appealing her dismissal from Mayor Karen Bass (D) as the city grapples with tension following the deadly wildfires earlier this year. Crowley ...
The Hill - 3h
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Attorney General Pam Bondi demanded the full release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein in a Thursday letter to FBI Director Kash Patel. “By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February ...
The Hill - 3h
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) released a Thursday packet with a flight log and contact information from Jeffery Epstein, a deceased convicted sex offender, and his circle of friends. “The first ...
The Hill - 1h
-
A federal judge issued a Thursday order requiring four Trump administration officials to testify in a lawsuit seeking to expose the inner workings of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) ...
The Hill - 1h
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A majority of Americans say their income is not matching pace with inflation, a new survey found. According to the CBS News/YouGov poll released Thursday, 77 percent of respondents say their income ...
The Hill - 2h
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Former Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley is appealing her dismissal from Mayor Karen Bass (D) as the city grapples with tension following the deadly wildfires earlier this year. Crowley ...
The Hill - 3h
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A proposal approved by the state's Board of Education exposed divisions over how far should states go to enforce President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
NBC News - 3h
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