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
Senate confirms Gabbard as director of national intelligence
The Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence by a vote of 52-48 on Wednesday.
Former Republican Leader Mitch McConnell was the only Republican to break ranks and vote against Gabbard's nomination. All other Republicans voted for Gabbard and all Democrats voted against her.
Prior to the vote, Majority Leader John Thune laid into Democrats for their unified efforts to block and oppose both her and Robert F. Kennedy Jr's nominations, arguing that their lack of willingness to support Trump's picks demonstrates how "out of step" with America the party has become.
Gabbard cleared a key Senate test vote Monday night and was expected to be confirmed.
– ABC News' Allison Pecorin
Trump admin 'accelerating' foreign aid cuts in wake of litigation, groups claim
A group of non-profits suing the Trump administration over its 90-day foreign aid freeze are accusing government officials of "accelerating their terminations of contracts and suspensions of grants of USAID and State Department partners," according to court documents filed early Wednesday.
The aid groups, who filed their suit Tuesday morning, said many of them "received new purported termination notices, including yesterday and this morning" and suggested that government officials "may be doing so specifically in response to this lawsuit."
The groups asked a federal judge to either issue a temporary restraining order to prevent further terminations or schedule an emergency hearing on Wednesday to discuss the matter.
-- ABC News' Lucien Bruggeman
Federal court will not block Trump from cutting off funding for FEMA migrant housing program
A federal judge in Rhode Island said in an order Wednesday morning that he will not block the Trump administration from cutting off funding to a FEMA program that pays for states to house migrants once they are released from federal custody.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell technically denied the Trump administration’s request for permission to cut off the funding, instead opting to clarify that his earlier order does not prohibit the government from limiting funding “on the basis of the applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms.”
The ruling effectively gives the Trump administration a green light to cut off the funding based on their concern that money was “going to entities engaged in or facilitating illegal activities.”
-- ABC News' Peter Charalambous
Inspectors general fired by Trump file lawsuit to get their jobs back
Eight of the inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump last month have filed a federal lawsuit claiming their firing was illegal and are asking a judge to reinstate them to their positions.
The independent, nonpartisan watchdogs, whose offices oversee trillions in government spending, were abruptly removed from their positions on the first Friday of Trump's term and received short emails from the head of the White House personnel office removing them from their positions.
-- ABC News' Peter Charalambous, Katherine Faulders, Ben Siegel