• Kash Patel confirmed: The Senate has narrowly voted to confirm Kash Patel Feb. 20 as President Donald Trump’s FBI director.
• Mexico sovereignty move: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she will propose reforms to the country’s constitution to protect Mexico’s sovereignty. The move comes after U.S. President Trump’s administration Feb. 20 designated six Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
  • Related Monitor story: Trump calls Mexican cartels ‘terrorists.’ Could he send in the US Army?
• Mitch McConnell to retire: Sen. Mitch McConnell Feb. 20 shared his decision to retire when his current term ends in 2027. Mr. McConnell is the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history
• New York governor won’t fire Adams: Gov. Kathy Hochul won’t immediately remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office, but will instead push for increased oversight of City Hall as he faces intense scrutiny over his relationship with the Trump administration.
  • Related Monitor story: Uproar over Mayor Adams deepens concern about Justice Dept. politicization under Trump

Is he a co-president? An adviser? A modern-day Rasputin? Elon Musk’s role may be undefined, but his influence and impact seem to be growing by the day – putting America in an unprecedented situation. The world’s richest man is disrupting or even dismantling the federal bureaucracy, at times perhaps to the advantage of his own businesses. Please also check back Monday for our story on how the government normally audits fraudulent spending – and how the Department of Government Efficiency is not following that playbook.

Germany has built its postwar democracy specifically to repel the forces of populism now sweeping the West. Recently, that has meant international attention on the “firewall” that keeps the Alternative for Germany party favored by Elon Musk out of power. Nationwide elections on Sunday will be a test of whether this bulwark can – and should – hold. But beneath the rhetoric is the question of whether frustrated German voters are ready to embrace a profound change in the nation’s postwar political identity.

The United States has maintained the most open defense department in the world for journalists, our military reporter writes. In her 19 years as a military reporter, she’s seen firsthand what that means. Yes, there is tension and secrecy between the press and public officials. But there’s also camaraderie and warmth. The Trump administration is changing that in ways not seen before. It risks not only what the American people see about the most expensive military in the world, but also a relationship that brings beautiful moments of shared purpose in serving the nation.

In a matter of weeks, President Donald Trump has effectively undone previous hard-fought efforts to isolate Russia on the international stage. He also appears to be increasingly taking the Russian view regarding the war on Ukraine. There is a precedent for this. In his first term, Mr. Trump made overtures to North Korea in hopes of ending its nuclear program. In that case, it didn’t work. Whatever happens here, a confused Europe is realizing it might now be alone in supporting Ukraine.

Never in American history has a president had his claims of executive powers so regularly tested by the courts. For a reporter, that means staying clear of loaded language, keeping the work fair – and remembering to breathe. The Constitution was drafted with “a very explicit goal in mind of forming a government where power is not concentrated in one person,” says Henry Gass, the Monitor’s justice reporter, speaking with guest host Gail Russell Chaddock on our podcast. “The question for our times now, I think, is: Is that power becoming more concentrated in the presidency, for example, or is it becoming too concentrated in these federal agencies and bureaucracies that the public doesn’t vote for and doesn’t elect?”

Find story links and a transcript here. 

February means time to curl up under a warm blanket with a good read. And we have 10 of them for you. Among our favorites is the story of a real-life orphaned girl taken to the New World in 1542 and abandoned on a desolate island – and the faith that ignites. There are the three British men who learn friendship and caregiving in taking responsibility for a 4-year-old boy. And there’s a moving history of formerly enslaved people seeking their loved ones after the U.S. Civil War.

Is “Severance,” the Apple TV+ show about workplace drudgery, the greatest exploration of work-life imbalance ever filmed? In its satirical moments, the series raises questions about what makes work – and, indeed, life – meaningful. What is meaningful work? It is understanding that your job improves the lives of others, one expert says. “It means that we’re inherently good and that we care about the welfare of others.”

Many famous rights activists over decades have been known for expressing a mental liberation while in prison. Nelson Mandela sang Scottish ballads. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter from an Alabama jail in defense of anti-segregation protests. Anti-communist dissident Václav Havel wrote a treatise on human rights when the Czech playwright wasn’t thinking of his next play. China’s Liu Xiaobo wrote poems, such as one about God as “the embodiment of love.”

For Iran’s Narges Mohammadi, winner of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize and temporarily out of prison for medical care, her personal liberation – from torture, humiliation, and isolation – has been dancing.

Videos have surfaced in recent weeks showing her in Tehran’s Evin Prison rejoicing in dance and song. “Narges’s love for life, freedom and happiness is not something that can be taken away from her,” Ms. Mohammadi’s brother, Hamidreza Mohammadi, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

A trained singer in Persian classical music, “She sings [and] dances with the other women in the prison whenever she gets the opportunity,” the brother added.

In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Iran’s most famous activist said, “The Evin women’s wing is one of the most active, resistant and joyful quarters of political prisoners in Iran.” The dancing and singing has “kept the hope of seeing the light of freedom and hearing its voice.”

Her colleagues say Ms. Mohammadi’s best trait is not seeing herself as a victim. “Whatever punishment they impose on me,” she told CNN, “it makes no difference because I have my belief.”

“The Islamic regime,” she wrote in a book, “cannot separate a woman from her love for ... her God.”

Women in Iran, many of whom choose not to wear head coverings, have been subjected to the most repression. Those sent to prison for claiming their freedoms in public find they can still express a freedom in their heart. For many, like Ms. Mohammadi, dancing is a place to start.