Here's what's going on in the federal bureaucracy

Federal agencies are firing hundreds of probationary employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration .

Elon Musk says the goal is to make the federal government a meritocracy as much as possible.

A federal judge ruled that the firings were probably illegal, as a group of labor unions argued in court.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose by 22,000 to 242,000 for the week ending Feb. 22 .

Matt Taibbi on Just Asking Questions: "Pre-bunking is this idea of introducing a potentially controversial or difficult idea to an audience early so that they'll be more accepting of it later" China warned it would hit back at Donald Trump's trade threats after the US president unveiled additional tariffs on Chinese imports.