INSIDE OUT: Tesla billionaire Elon Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed over staff reductions in the Cabinet Room of the White House Thursday while President Trump sat by the NY Times reports.

  It’s an indication of a growing power struggle between Musk and congressionally confirmed members of the administration.

  Musk accused Rubio of firing “nobody,” Rubio retorted that 1500 people at the State department took buyouts and he asked Musk whether he wanted Rubio to rehire them so he could fire them. Rubio is also reported to have been furious with Musk for shutting down US Aid for International Development, which came under his command.

  Musk dismissed  Rubio saying he was “good on TV,” according to the account. The Times reports that, “Throughout all of this, the president sat back in his chair, arms folded, as if he were watching a tennis match.”

  As many as 20 people were in the room at the time. The details of the Times account demonstrates that at least five people in the room wanted to expose the power battle with Musk.

  Trump is reported to have finally spoken up saying Rubio was doing a “great job” and that he is very busy, he is always traveling and on TV, and he has an agency to run. So everyone just needs to work together.

  That’s not all. Musk also got into it with Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, who accused Musk’s team of trying to lay off air traffic controllers at a time when he’s dealing with multiple plane crashes and, according to the account, your people want me to fire air traffic controllers?

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: 

— Energy Secretary Chris Wright told African leaders during a conference this week that fossil fuels are the energy source of the future. It’s contrary to the worldwide drive for sustainable energy.

  “We’ve had years of Western countries shamelessly saying don’t develop coal, coal is bad,” Wright said. “That’s just nonsense, 100 percent nonsense. Coal transformed our world and made it better.”

  Wright said climate change is real but does make his top ten list of problems in the world.

— Asked in a Fox News interview whether the federal government needs a department of education, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon answered, “No, we don’t.”

— President Trump signed an executive order barring student loan forgiveness for people who work with groups supporting undocumented immigrants, diversity initiatives, or gender-affirming care for children, among others he described as having a “substantial illegal purpose.”

— The Trump administration announced that it is cutting off about $400 million in federal contracts and grants to Columbia University, saying the school failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitism.  

THE WAR ROOM: The war in Gaza led to the deaths of more than three dozen hostages, Israeli authorities say, some killed by Hamas and others by Israeli air strikes and gunfire. At least 41 have died in captivity.

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has always said that Hamas would free the hostages only under military force. His opponents have contended that the longer they are held, the more likely the hostages are to die.

  The government says that 59 hostages are still held in Gaza and that they believe only 24 of them are still alive. 

ALONE AND CONFUSED: Actor gene Hackman’s wife died seven days before him, leaving the 95-year-old Oscar winner alone with advanced Alzheimer’s disease, investigators say.

  Authorities say that Betsy Arakawa, Hackman’s sole companion and caregiver, died of  hantavirus, a rare disease carried by rodents. She was found on the floor of a bathroom near a medicine bottle and spilled pills, beginning to decompose. One of the couple’s three dogs was dead in a crate in a closet. 

  Hackman was found on the floor in another part of the house. Authorities say he died of heart disease and Alzheimer’s was a contributing factor. 

THE SPIN RACK: Sixty-seven year old double murderer Brad Sigmon  was executed by firing squad yesterday in a South Carolina prison. Back in 2002 Sigmon beat to death the parents of his ex-girlfriend. In his final words read out loud by his lawyer, Sigmon said, “I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty.” Sigmon chose firing squad over the electric chair. — Two active-duty American soldiers stationed in Washington state and another former soldier in Oregon were arrested this week on charges of passing classified information including weapons documents and hard drives to contacts in China. One of the soldiers, Sgt. Jian Zhao, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in western Washington, is accused of turning over about 20 government hard drives along with documents detailing missile-launcher technology and military exercises in the Indo-Pacific. — Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding, now 43, made the list of the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted as an alleged international drug dealer. Wedding competed in the Giant Slalom snowboarding during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The State Department is offering a $10 million award for information leading to his arrest.

BELOW THE FOLD: The Defense Department is removing from its archives of images, online posts, and bulletins anything that smacks of Diversity and Equity initiatives, largely targeting mentions of women and minorities including a Black recipient of the Medal of Honor in WWII and the first woman to pass Marine infantry training.

  The Associated Press reports that the DOD is scanning its archives for any mention of the word “gay,” and eliminating them, including service members with that last name Gay and an image of the Enola Gay aircraft, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

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