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Trump 2nd term live updates: Dan Bongino named as deputy FBI director

He hosts the popular right-wing and pro-Trump podcast "The Dan Bongino Show."

Last Updated: February 23, 2025, 5:03 PM EST

President Donald Trump's administration is continuing its radical effort to cut much of the federal government and crackdown on immigration -- and is being met with dozens of legal challenges.

On the foreign policy front, Trump's press secretary said the White House believes it can reach a deal to end the war in Ukraine this week even as Trump attacks Ukraine's president and blames it for starting the war, which even some in his own party are calling him out over.

Meanwhile, heads of federal government agencies were telling employees not to reply to an email from Elon Musk, Trump's ally who he picked to cut government waste, which asked for them to list their accomplishments for the week or face termination.

Feb 16, 2025, 10:43 PM EST

Some employees who accepted buyout offer were fired by mistake: White House

President Donald Trump's administration acknowledged on Sunday night that some federal government employees who took the "Fork in the Road" buyout offer were also, subsequently, fired or let go — and that this was an error.

An Office of Personnel Management official told ABC News that some employees who responded to the buyout offer ahead of the deadline last week may have received termination notices by mistake but, for those personnel, the buyouts agreements would be honored.

A view shows the logo of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), after probationary staff at the OPM were fired in a conference call and given less than an hour to leave the building, outside OPM in Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2025.
Tierney L. Cross/Reuters

Nick Detter told ABC News that he is one of those workers. Detter, a natural resource specialist with the USDA, said he was fired Thursday even though he already accepted the administration's buyout offer, meaning that he should have been paid through September.

Despite OPM’s explanation, Detter says he hasn’t been able to get any guidance directly. He said that his supervisors in Kansas, where he’s based, told him they have no information.

"I frankly find it pretty insulting and chaotic and disorganized," Detter told ABC News.

"I would never say that there's no room for improvement efficiency in the federal government," he said. "But in my experience over the last month with this whole thing, that's not what this has been. This has just been slash and burn."

-ABC News' Rachel Scott, Cheyenne Haslett, Sarah Lang and Ariana Nalty

Feb 16, 2025, 8:04 PM EST

Musk's DOGE seeks access to IRS database housing Americans' tax information: Sources

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has requested access to an IRS data system that retains the personal tax information on millions of Americans, two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

The system, known as the Integrated Data Retrieval System, or IDRS, is used by IRS employees to review tax information, issue notices to taxpayers and update taxpayer records.

Elon Musk leaves Blair House after a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Blair House, in Washington, Feb. 13, 2025.
Will Oliver/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Access to the data, which is tightly controlled within the agency, had not been granted as of this weekend, several sources told ABC News.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty, Soo Youn, Benjamin Siegel, Olivia Rubin and Hannah Demissie

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