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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
President Trump yesterday said that Elon Musk “can’t do and won’t do anything without [White House] approval.” Separately, White House sources said Musk is a “special government employee” and has a top secret security clearance. Sareen Habeshian reports for Axios; Kaitlan Collins and Tierney Sneed report for CNN.
Elon Musk and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees do not control the Treasury payment system, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Republican lawmakers in a closed-door meeting yesterday. Jasper Goodman and Michael Stratford report for POLITICO.
FBI executives will turn over the names of FBI personnel involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack cases to the Justice Department to comply with what the FBI General Counsel deemed a lawful order, according to FBI officials. Ken Dilanian, Jonathan Dienst, Ryan J. Reilly, and Tom Winter report for NBC News.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin (IL), received “credible information” that at least 25 FBI special agents in charge might be removed this week and that a loyalty test asking about the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 Capitol attack is being implemented in the leadership hiring process, according to a letter to the acting Attorney General and the acting FBI Director signed by all Democratic members of the committee. Derek Hawkins, Perry Stein, and Jeremy Roebuck report for the Washington Post.
The acting U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., Ed Martin, yesterday stated that he is probing reports of individuals committing “acts that appear to violate the law in targeting DOGE employees.” Martin also asked Musk to “utilize [Martin] and [his] staff to assist in protecting DOGE work.” Martin made the public announcement on X. Andrew Goudsward reports for Reuters; Rebecca Beitsch reports for the Hill;
The State Department has fired about 60 contractors working for its democracy, human rights, and labor bureau, former and current U.S. officials said. Edward Wong, Michael Crowley, and Alan Rappeport report for the New York Times.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday named Darren Beattie, who claimed the FBI was responsible for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, as acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy. Beattie was previously dismissed from his job as a speechwriter in the first Trump administration after he spoke at a White nationalist meeting. Tavleen Tarrant and Dareh Gregorian report for NBC News.
Trump yesterday appointed Michael Ellis as CIA Deputy Director. Isaac Stanley-Becker and Warren P. Strobel report for the Washington Post.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS — USAID DEVELOPMENTS
Rubio yesterday announced that he has taken over as the acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and notified Congress that USAID is currently under review pending potential reorganization. Laura Kelly reports for the Hill; Michael Crowley, Karoun Demirjian, and Edward Wong report for the New York Times.
A group of House and Senate Democrats was denied entry to the USAID headquarters yesterday, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) said. Andrew Solender reports for Axios.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Trump yesterday agreed to pause the imposition of tariffs on Mexico and Canada for 30 days after both countries pledged they would intensify efforts to prevent migrants and illicit drugs from entering the United States. David J. Lynch and Mary Beth Sheridan report for the Washington Post.
China today retaliated against Trump’s tariffs by imposing levies on a number of U.S. goods and opening an antitrust investigation into Google. Katrina Northrop, Lyric Li, and Vic Chiang report for the Washington Post.
Trump will sign an executive order today withdrawing the United States from the U.N. Human Rights Council and stopping funding for the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), a White House official said. Megan Messerly reports for POLITICO.
El Salvador has offered to house violent U.S. criminals and receive deportees “including those of US citizenship and legal residents” in exchange for a fee, Secretary of State Rubio said yesterday. It is unclear whether the U.S. government will accept the offer, which legal experts say could be unlawful. Stefano Pozzebon, Jessie Yeung, Marlon Sorto, and Lex Harvey report for CNN.
New U.S. intelligence suggests Iran is exploring a faster, cruder approach to develop an atomic bomb, U.S. officials said, adding that Teheran has not yet decided to develop such a weapon. David E. Sanger and Julian E. Barnes report for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A D.C. federal judge yesterday issued a restraining order temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze federal funding, saying the move is potentially unconstitutional “by interfering with Congress’s appropriation of federal funds.” Charlie Savage reports for the New York Times.
Unions representing federal workers yesterday sued the Treasury Department and its head, Scott Bessent, alleging that Elon Musk’s access to the federal payment system amounts to an unlawful disclosure of the personal and financial information of millions of people. Chris Cameron reports for the New York Times.
Immigrant advocacy groups yesterday filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s executive order purporting to suspend migrants’ ability to apply for asylum in the United States. Maria Sacchetti reports for the Washington Post.
[Editor’s note: Readers may be interested in Just Security’s Litigation Tracker aggregating the legal challenges to the Trump administration’s actions.]
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Senate yesterday voted 59-38 to confirm Chris Wright as Energy Secretary. Kati Perry and Szu Yu Chen report for the Washington Post.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) yesterday said he would place a “blanket hold” on all of Trump’s State Department nominees until the Trump administration stops undermining USAID. Alexander Ward reports for the Wall Street Journal.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) yesterday requested the NPR and PBS CEOs to testify before a DOGE panel over what she described as the “systemically biased content” produced by the federally-funded outlets. Erin Doherty and Andrew Solender report for Axios.
Trump’s Commerce Department nominee Howard Lutnick yesterday said he would review the former Biden administration’s restrictions on firearms exports. David Shepardson reports for Reuters.
Some migrants arrested in the Trump administration’s crackdown have already been released back into the United States on a monitoring program due to detention facility space constraints, sources say. Julia Ainsley reports for NBC News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. AND REGIONAL RESPONSE
The Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, together with a senior Palestinian official, this week sent a joint letter to Secretary Rubio opposing plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza and demanding Palestinian involvement in its reconstruction. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
The Trump administration has asked Congress to approve new transfers of roughly $1 billion worth of bombs and other military hardware to Israel, according to U.S. officials. Jared Malsin and Nancy A. Youssef report for the Wall Street Journal.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
A Moscow explosion yesterday killed the leader of a pro-Russian paramilitary group in eastern Ukraine, according to Russian media. Ukraine has yet to comment on the blast. Laura Gozzi reports for BBC News.
Trump yesterday said he wants to strike a minerals-for-aid deal with Ukraine, with Kyiv “secur[ing]” U.S. aid with its “rare earths and other things.” Constant Méheut reports for the New York Times.
Russian armed forces have reportedly killed an “alarming” number of Ukrainian POWs in the last six months, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission said yesterday, citing photo material analysis and interviews with witnesses. Csongor Körömi reports for POLITICO.
SYRIA
A car bomb attack killed at least 20 people in northern Syria yesterday, the Syrian presidency said. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack, the second to strike the town of Manbij in a week. Reuters reports.
Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are expected to discuss a bilateral defense pact today, sources say. Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Maya Gebeily, and Khalil Ashawi report for Reuters.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
The rebel alliance fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo unilaterally declared a “humanitarian ceasefire” starting today. Will Ross and Hafsa Khalil report for BBC News.
Rwandan President and commander-in-chief of the Rwandan Defense Force Paul Kagame yesterday said he “doesn’t know” if Rwandan troops are in east Congo. Larry Madowo, Catherine Nicholls, Nimi Princewill, and Sarah Dean report for CNN.
The mayor of the occupied West Bank’s Jenin city yesterday compared Israel’s assault on the Jenin Refugee Camp to the war in Gaza, stating that 15,000 people have been displaced in the offensive. Kareem Khadder, Zeena Saifi, and Mostafa Salem report for CNN.
Greenland’s lawmakers will today vote on a bill to ban foreign political donations ahead of its April elections. Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios.