White House says some employees were fired by mistake
After taking the recent buyout offer, some employees were fired, a source said.
President Donald Trump's administration, including Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, is continuing its sweeping effort to cut much of the federal government -- but it's being met with legal challenges.
Trump is also making his second administration's first forays on the diplomatic front with calls to Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy on ending the 3-year-old war that began in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
And a day after Hamas released more hostages taken when it attacked Israel in October 2023, Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the militant organization needs to be "eliminated."
Latest headlines:
- Some employees who accepted buyout offer were fired by mistake: White House
- Trump asks SCOTUS for permission to fire ethics watchdog
- DOE official warns all schools to end 'discriminatory' DEI policies
- 13 soon to be immigration judges, 2 current judges fired by Trump admin, union says
- US floats proposal to own 50% of revenue of Ukraine's rare earth minerals
Trump admits tariffs could drive prices up in the short term
President Trump, who vowed on the campaign trail to immediately bring down prices for American families, acknowledged that there could be some financial pain associated with tariffs as he signed a memo initiating the process for potential reciprocal tariffs on some U.S. trading partners.
"Prices could go up somewhat short term, but prices will also go down," Trump said as he took questions in the Oval Office.
Trump repeated multiple times that the tariffs will result in job growth, telling reporters "the jobs will go up tremendously." He also argued that they will help American farmers and manufacturers.
"There could be some short-term disturbance, but long term, it's going to it's going to make our country a fortune," Trump said.
Alexander Vinnik on a flight back to Moscow
Cybercrime kingpin Alexander Vinnik is on a flight back to Moscow, his lawyer confirmed to ABC News.
Vinnik is being released into Russian custody as part of an exchange for American Marc Fogel.
Vinnik was sent to Turkey and is now on a flight to Moscow. His attorney said he didn't know the exact airport of arrival but noted that the arrival would be "in a few hours."
-ABC News' William Gretsky
Another lawsuit asks federal court to block resignation program, mass firings
A group of federal unions is suing the Trump administration to block its attempt to “decimate” the federal workforce through its deferred resignation program and the expected mass firings of hundreds of thousands of government employees.
The unions accuse the Trump administration of attempting to “usurp” Congress’s authority and asked a federal court to order the government to declare the resignation program unlawful as well as block planned reductions in force.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous
Senate confirms Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture
The Senate has confirmed Brooke Rollins to serve as the Secretary of Agriculture by a vote of 72-28.
She was confirmed with the support of all Republicans and 19 Democrats.
-ABC News' Allie Pecorin