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

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers, all veterans, have written a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the possible dismissal of high-ranking military officers. They’re asking for details about why the officers might be fired or removed from their posts.

“As your administration contemplates removing numerous General and Flag Officers, it is vital that we have transparency on the criteria and process used to evaluate these officers. There are valid reasons to remove a General or Flag Officer, but there must be clear, transparent, and apolitical criteria and processes associated with any such dismissal," they wrote.

"An apolitical military is an essential component of our democracy and our national security," they added.

ABC News previously reported Gen. CQ Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy's top admiral, are on the list of officers provided to Congress.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

Howard Lutnick, the former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, was sworn in as commerce secretary on Friday at the White House.

Vice President JD Vance and President Trump were in the Oval Office for the ceremony.

Lutnick was confirmed by the Senate in a 51-45 vote. He will help oversee Trump's economic agenda, including tariffs and developing a sovereign wealth fund.

The Pentagon has temporarily delayed mass layoffs of thousands of probationary employees as they continue to review the potential impacts on readiness, two U.S. officials tell ABC News.

One of the officials said the Defense Department did not anticipate making any determination this week while the assessment of impacts continues, particularly since the DOD is a worldwide enterprises with civilian personnel around the world. It’s unclear how long the delay could take.

The officials said that department officials are looking at the third and fourth order effects and impact on the force if there are thousands of layoffs.

The Defense Department has about 55,000 probationary employees worldwide. That’s the universe of civilians who have less one to three years of service in their current jobs. Exemptions have been requested for some of these employees so the actual number of layoffs will be lower, but still significant given that the DOD is the nation’s largest employer.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

The Trump administration's layoffs across agencies have hit the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has laid off over a hundred probationary employees, including some of those who work on the team responsible for producing air traffic navigation maps, multiple sources tell ABC News.

"132 probationary employees represented by PASS" were terminated," a union said. "We believe all of these employees are critical not only to the frontline safety workers, but to the entire aviation ecosystem," Professional Aviation Safety Specialists National President Dave Spero told ABC News in a statement.

Some of the employees affected were part of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization en route charting group, which is responsible for maintaining and updating enroute navigation charts used in the National Airspace System and by air traffic controllers around the country, sources tell ABC News.

"If we're no longer there to create the maps that air traffic air traffic controls are using, mistakes will eventually happen," one of the FAA employees who was laid off told ABC News.

The FAA and the Department of Transportation have insisted no critical employees were let go.

-ABC News' Will Steakin, Sam Sweeney and Ayesha Ali