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First Read's Morning Clips: A Winter of (Town Hall) Discontent

A roundup of the most important political news stories of the day
Image: People hold signs at a rally in New York, Feb. 20, 2017.
People hold signs at a rally in New York, Feb. 20, 2017.Seth Wenig / AP

TRUMP AGENDA: The Winter of our Discontent (at town halls)

Vaughn Hillyard and Phil Helsel report on the angry constituents pressing lawmakers on Trump’s policies at this week’s town halls.

Check out our new feature on the men and women leading Trump’s Cabinet.

From the Washington Post, on CPAC: “Thousands of activists will arrive in Washington this week for an annual gathering that will vividly display how Trump has pushed the Republican Party and the conservative movement toward an “America first” nationalism that has long existed on the fringes.”

POLITICO looks at how the Milo flap has cast a pall over CPAC.

The Wall Street Journal, on Tillerson and Kelly’s trip to Mexico: “Messrs. Tillerson and Kelly will meet over Wednesday night and Thursday with Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto, as well as the Mexican ministers of foreign relations, finance, interior, national defense and the navy. They will discuss border security, law-enforcement cooperation, trade and other issues, the State Department said.”

NBC’s Suzanne Gamboa reports on how immigrants are bracing for raids and deportations.

And from the AP: “Mexicans weigh the daunting prospect of deportee camps.”

From the New York Times: “Documents released on Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security revealed the broad scope of the president’s ambitions: to publicize crimes by undocumented immigrants; strip such immigrants of privacy protections; enlist local police officers as enforcers; erect new detention facilities; discourage asylum seekers; and, ultimately, speed up deportations.”

The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent asks how congressional Republicans will pay for Trump’s stepped-up enforcement of illegal immigration.

And from the Washington Post: “With NAFTA in Trump’s crosshairs, Mexico’s border factories brace for the unknown.”

POLITICO: “The White House’s deep involvement in hiring decisions across the government is frustrating some of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet secretaries, spurring early tussles between the president’s advisers and leaders of federal agencies. White House officials have sometimes rejected candidates who have previously criticized the president — even if they boast sterling credentials or have the endorsement of top Republicans. And they’ve often imposed their choices on agencies, according to more than a dozen people inside and close to the administration.”

“Nearly two-thirds of Americans, divided sharply along party lines, are worried that the United States will become engaged in a major war in the next four years, according to results from the latest NBC News|SurveyMonkey poll.”

The New York Times: “President Trump’s appointment of H. R. McMaster, an Army lieutenant general, as his new national security adviser creates a powerful troika of senior officers who served in Iraq, teaming him up with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and John F. Kelly, the secretary of homeland security, both retired four-star Marine generals. This administration is the first to have all three security jobs filled by senior military veterans at the same time.”

POLITICO looks at how Republicans are trying to make Elizabeth Warren the face of the Democratic Party in advance of the 2018 midterms.