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Consumer shutdown, Baltic grid switch and Eagles fly high

 
Today's National story

Trump team aims to shut consumer finance watchdog

What happened
The Trump White House yesterday told all 1,700 employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that the Washington, D.C., headquarters was closed for the week, and employees who went to the office to retrieve their laptops or other belongings were reportedly turned away. President Donald Trump on Friday named Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought acting head of the CFPB. On Saturday, Voght ordered "all employees at the consumer watchdog to stop virtually all work — including fighting financial abuse," CNN said, and said he would eliminate its budget.

Who said what
The CFPB, created as an independent agency in the wake of the 2008 financial collapse, has "clawed back $21 billion for consumers," transformed mortgage lending rules, "slashed overdraft fees" and "forced banks and money transmitters to compensate fraud victims," The New York Times said. All that has "made it a lightning rod for criticism from banks and Republican lawmakers," including Trump and his allies.

Elon Musk tweeted "CFPB RIP" on Friday, hours after his "Department of Government Efficiency" operatives gained access to the bureau's headquarters and computer systems. Vought's Project 2025 called for the bureau's elimination. As acting director, he can sharply curtail its activity, but "since the CFPB is a creation of Congress, it would require a separate act of Congress to formally eliminate it," The Associated Press said.

DOGE has already gutted USAID, without assent from Congress, but going after the CFPB "highlights the tensions between Trump's more populist promises to lower costs for working-class families and his pledge to reduce government regulation," the AP said. The CFPB, for example, had already started work on how to implement Trump's campaign proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 10%.

What next?
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CFPB employees, filed lawsuits last night seeking to prevent Vought from freezing its congressionally mandated work and bar DOGE employees from accessing employee records.

 
 
Today's INTERNATIONAL story

Baltic States unplug from Russian grid, join EU's

What happened
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined Europe's power grid yesterday, 24 hours after disconnecting the final cables linking them with the Russian electricity network on Saturday. The three Baltic countries had been connected to Moscow's power grid since Soviet days, along with Belarus and the tiny Russian enclave Kaliningrad.

Who said what
The switch from the Soviet-era grid, "controlled almost entirely by Moscow," had "been in the works since 2007" but was spurred forward after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the BBC said. The Baltic countries, which joined NATO and the European Union in 2004, "have not purchased electricity from Russia since 2022," but their link to the grid still "left them dependent on Moscow for energy flow" if their own power generation fell short.

"This is freedom," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said at a ceremony in Lithuania's capital, "freedom from threats, freedom from blackmail." Polish President Andrzej Duda called the Baltic power switch their "final step toward emancipation from the post-Soviet sphere of dependence."

What next?
The Baltic countries are connected to the EU grid through Finland, Sweden and Poland, and officials expressed concerns that the undersea cables to the two Nordic nations could be severed by Russia's "shadow fleet." But Kaliningrad, which has "historically relied on the Baltic grid to import electricity," may "actually face the most serious challenges," Politico said, though Moscow insists it "can be self-sufficient." 

 
 
Today's Sports Story

Eagles trounce Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX

What happened
The Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Kansas City Chiefs in yesterday's Super Bowl LIX, beating them 40-22. It was Philadelphia's second Super Bowl victory, following their 2018 win over the New England Patriots. The Chiefs narrowly beat the Eagles in 2020, and victory yesterday would have made Kansas City the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls.

Who said what
The Eagles "delivered a Super Bowl beatdown for the ages," The Wall Street Journal said. It was "an even bigger blowout than the final score suggested," with the Chiefs going scoreless until the end of the third quarter, "when they were already down 34-0" and the game was "effectively over." 

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (pictured above), the game's MVP, threw for two touchdowns, ran one in on a push-play quarterback sneak, passed for 221 yards and ran for 72, setting a Super Bowl rushing record for a quarterback. Philadelphia's "ferocious defense" absolutely "tormented" Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, sacking him six times and pressuring him into throwing two interceptions, including a pick-six nabbed by rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean, The Associated Press said.

What next?
The Eagles are the early "betting favorites" to win Super Bowl LX, followed by the Baltimore Ravens, The New York Times said, citing BetMGM. The Chiefs were "co-favorites along with the Eagles to win it all next year" going into the Super Bowl, but after their "lopsided" loss they were tied for third with the Buffalo Bills.

 
 

It's not all bad

A 102-year-old Philadelphia Eagles super fan was surprised last week when the team invited her to join them at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. Eloise Brown was welcomed to the Big Easy by Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown, who gave her an autographed jersey. Eloise Brown has not missed a televised Eagles game since the 1960s, and the team sees her as a lucky charm. Getting to watch the Eagles play in the Super Bowl was "exciting, exciting, exciting," she told ABC 6.

 
 
Under the radar

The answer to fighting a growing number of superbugs may be in the water. Researchers in Australia have pinpointed an antimicrobial protein in Sydney rock oysters that could make antibiotics more effective, according to a new study published in the journal PLOS One. 

The protein, called hemolymph, is "effective at killing the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae, which mainly causes pneumonia, and Streptococcus pyogenes, the culprit for strep throat and scarlet fever," said The Guardian. 

Many bacteria are able to evade antibiotics by forming a biofilm, a community of "microorganisms that attach themselves to surfaces" in a "protective matrix," said Popular Science. However, hemolymph was effective at killing the bacteria on its own, and "when paired up with antibiotics," the protein also "helped improve their effectiveness against other infection-causing bacteria," said Smithsonian Magazine. Scientists speculate that the protein disrupts the bacteria's biofilm. 

Most organisms have "natural defense mechanisms to protect themselves against infection," Kirsten Benkendorff, a marine scientist and the study co-author, said in a statement. Oysters are "constantly filtering bacteria from the water," so they are a "good place to look for potential antibiotics."

Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem, thanks to a high number of infections and the overuse of antibiotics. This has led the microorganisms to evolve into stronger superbugs. 

By 2050, approximately 2 million people could die from drug-resistant infections annually, according to a 2024 study. Antibiotic treatments that can "inhibit, disrupt or penetrate biofilms are very valuable," said Benkendorff and Kate Summer, another co-author of the study, at The Conversation.

 
 
On this day

February 10, 1939

"Stagecoach," the film that turned John Wayne into a bona fide star, had its world premiere. The movie was one of the first notable adult Westerns and is widely considered one of the most influential films ever made. Wayne became a household name with his turn in the movie and would become one of Hollywood's most enduring actors.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

"Front line to resist Trump coalesces in federal court" as "angry callers tie up phones at the Capitol," The New York Times says on Monday's front page. "Trump memecoin is a bonanza for a few, but a loser for most." Trump's "acting director halts CFPB operations" and the "consumer protection agency's funds to be cut," USA Today says. "Democrats weigh a stand on spending," with some saying they "will not help avert a shutdown," The Washington Post says. "Trump sees early defeats in court battles," the Detroit Free Press says. But "judge's pause order on DOGE brings defiant response," The Wall Street Journal says. 

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Nature's engineers

Beavers in the Czech Republic saved the country's government more than $1.2 million by building a dam that local authorities had spent seven years planning. A colony of beavers in the Brdy Protected Landscape Area built several dams in one night, "completing a project that officials had been arguing about," said Metro. Their hard work means that construction in the area is no longer necessary, as the space is back in its natural wetland state.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Stefani Reynolds / Bloomberg via Getty Images; Yauhen Yerchak / Anadolu via Getty Images; Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images