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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
The Defense Department yesterday ordered Pentagon leaders to set up procedures to identify troops diagnosed with or being treated for gender dysphoria by March 26 and begin firing them by late April. Tara Copp and Lolita C. Baldor report for AP News.
The FBI has began investigating the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Biden-era grant program for climate and clean-energy projects and the DOJ in recent weeks advanced its own investigation, with interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin submitting a warrant request in the face of career prosecutors’ refusal and searching for prosecutors in other offices who would take part in the case, sources say. The seizure warrant application was rejected by a D.C. judge over lack of proof a crime occurred, the sources added. Spencer S. Hsu, Maxine Joselow, and Nicolás Rivero report for the Washington Post.
The Justice Department is recruiting new attorneys to help defend President Trump’s policies, public job postings, department officials, and legal experts suggest. Perry Stein reports for the Washington Post.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has urged the White House to strike down the scientific finding that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare underpinning the federal government’s climate change regulations since 2009, sources say. Environmental groups said they would challenge any moves to remove the finding in court. Maxine Joselow reports for the Washington Post.
The Office of Personnel Management on Wednesday instructed federal agencies to create lists of divisions that should be consolidated or cut entirely by March 13 and outline proposals for relocating their D.C.-region offices to areas with lower cost of living by April 14. Eileen Sullivan reports for the New York Times.
The Social Security Administration is preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people, with the overall planned workforce reductions potentially reaching 50% of staffers, sources say. Fatima Hussein reports for AP News.
The EPA is planning to reduce its budget by 65%, a White House spokesperson said yesterday following Trump’s earlier comments suggesting that the figure referred to planned reductions in staffing levels. Separately, sources say the Trump administration has fired 800 employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with more firings expected today. Zack Budryk reports for the Hill; Ella Nilson and Tami Luhby report for CNN.
Private prison company CoreCivic yesterday said it expanded its contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase detention capacity for immigrants at four of its prisons. Russeall Contreras reports for Axios.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Mexico yesterday extradited 29 top cartel operatives wanted by the U.S. authorities to the United States, the U.S. and Mexican governments announced. A delegation from Mexico also arrived in Washington D.C. yesterday to discuss a security agreement with senior U.S. officials amid a White House split on whether to carry out military strikes against Mexican drug cartels or collaborate with Mexican authorities to jointly dismantle them. Alan Feuer reports for the New York Times; Alan Feuer and Maria Abi-Habib report for the New York Times.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) watchdog has postponed the release of two reports critical of the Trump administration’s foreign aid freeze over fears of retaliation from the White House, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post. Lisa Rein and John Hudson report.
The State Department has terminated the funding for multiple projects working on treating polio, H.I.V., or malaria in a sweeping withdrawal of funding from some 5,800 projects financed by USAID, according to the New York Times’ review. Multiple projects affected previously received waivers from the freeze due to providing essential and lifesaving work. Stephanie Nolen reports.
The United States will add an additional 10% tariff on imports from China and impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico “as scheduled” on March 4, Trump said yesterday. Ana Swanson reports for the New York Times.
Trump on Wednesday revoked a Biden-era license allowing Chevron to produce oil in Venezuela over what he described as President Nicolás Maduro’s failure to hold free and fair elections and assist in deporting migrants from the United States. Kejal Vyas and Collin Eaton report for the Wall Street Journal.
Secretary of State Rubio yesterday condemned “in the strongest possible terms” Thailand’s return of at least 40 Uyghur asylum seekers to China. Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom report for Reuters.
Panama and Costa Rica are at risk of turning into a “black hole” for deportees from the United States, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch in the Americas has warned, pointing to reports of migrants being deprived of their passports, cellphones, and access to legal advice. Megan Janetsky, Matias Delacroix, and Joshua Goodman report for AP News.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard this week said she had serious concerns about reports of the British government demanding Apple provide it with access to any cloud-stored data, adding that such a demand would violate U.S. citizens’ privacy. David Klepper reports for AP News.
GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Susan Collins (ME), along with three Democratic senators, have privately written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing alarm over the Trump administration’s failure to notify and consult the Congress on USAID cuts and foreign aid freeze and the scope of those cuts, according to correspondence seen by the Washington Post. Liz Goodwin reports.
Five former Defense Secretaries yesterday criticized Trump’s “reckless” firing of the Joint Chiefs chairman and other senior military officials in a public letter urging Congress to exercise its oversight responsibilities to investigate the dismissals. Dan Lamothe reports for the Washington Post.
DOGE’s access to swathes of federally-held data and sensitive systems poses a “grave” risk to national security, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) argued in a letter to the White House yesterday. David Klepper reports for AP News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
The Israeli military vastly underestimated Hamas, misinterpreted early warnings, and failed to coordinate with other agencies in the runup to the Oct. 7 2023 attacks, according to the first findings from the military’s internal investigations into the failures to lead to the death of about 1,200 people and capture of 250 others. Isabel Kershner reports for the New York Times.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the Gaza ceasefire’s second phase began yesterday, Egypt announced. The move potentially averts a collapse of the truce ahead of the first phase’s planned end tomorrow. Mohammad Jahjouh, Wafaa Shurafa, and Natalie Melzer report for AP News.
Arab foreign ministers are aiming to travel to the United States “within weeks” to present Trump with a proposal for reconstructing Gaza without displacing its population, according to Jordanian sources. Jomana Karadsheh and Mostafa Salem report for CNN.
Israel has systematically targeted healthcare workers in Gaza, including by detaining them without charge or access to legal counsel, and submitting them to torture and abuse, a report by advocacy group Physicians for Human Rights Israel released on Wednesday suggests. Sana Noor Haq and Abeer Salman report for CNN.
The International Criminal Court’s investigation into crimes committed in Palestinian territories continues with urgency despite the withdrawal of a Hamas leader reported to be dead, the ICC head prosecutors’ office said yesterday. Stephanie van den Berg reports for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russian President Vladimir Putin would “keep his word” and not violate the terms of a potential peace deal with Ukraine, Trump said yesterday. The President also appeared uncommitted on whether the United States would intervene if Russia reneged on a peace promise, seemingly suggesting the U.S. presence tied to the minerals deal is a sufficient security guarantee. Michael D. Shear and Shawn McCreesh report for the New York Times; Patrick Jackson reports for BBC News.
Trump yesterday predicted a “very good meeting” with “brave” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today, a change of tone from last week’s critical remarks about the Ukrainian leader. Patrick Jackson reports for BBC News.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s comments about Ukraine and Russia “coming close to signing something” during talks in Istanbul nearly three years ago were not intended to be an endorsement of Moscow’s stances that Ukraine should be largely demilitarized or that Russia should have a veto over security assurances for Ukraine, a source close to Witkoff said. Yaroslav Trofimov and Michael R. Gordon report for the Wall Street Journal.
Two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine while fighting in Russia’s Kursk region said they were told they would be facing South Koreans who were aiding Ukraine and instructed to evade capture at all costs in the Wall Street Journal’s first interview with Pyongyang’s troops by a Western media outlet. Matthew Luxmoore and Dasl Yoon report.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
The imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, yesterday issued a call asking the movement to lay down its arms and dissolve, raising the prospect of an end to its decades-long conflict with Turkey. Kareem Fahim and Beril Eski report for the Washington Post.
Explosions at a rally held by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s city of Bukavu killed at least 11 people and wounded 65 others, the rebels said, accusing President Felix Tshisekedi’s government of orchestrating the attack. Tshisekedi denied the allegations. Reuters reports; Danai Nesta Kupemba and Emery Makumeno report for BBC News.
Nicaragua yesterday announced it would withdraw from the U.N. Human Rights Council, following the publication of a report that urged the international community to address the human rights violation carried out by the Nicaraguan government. Reuters reports.
A ramming attack at a bus stop in north Israel yesterday injured seven people, Israeli medics said. Israeli police said the suspected attacker had “nationalistic motivations” and was a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank’s city of Jenin. Reuters reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The OPM “does not have any authority whatsoever” to fire other agencies’ employees, a federal judge ruled yesterday, ordering the agency to inform certain other departments that it cannot order the firings of probationary employees. Katelyn Polantz reports for CNN.
A federal judge yesterday allowed the CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, to fire intelligence officers working on diversity, equality, and inclusion issues, finding that the law and regulations gave Ratcliffe unfettered authority to fire employees at will without court review. Julian E. Barnes reports for the New York Times.
Officials connected to Musk’s effort to reshape the federal government must testify in one of the cases challenging the reforms, a federal judge ruled yesterday, in what appears to be the first decision requiring a DOGE worker to testify in court. Chris Cameron reports for the New York Times.
Refugee aid groups yesterday alleged in a federal court filing that the Trump administration appears to be trying to circumvent a ruling blocking its efforts to suspend the U.S. refugee admissions program. Gene Johnson reports for AP News.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
