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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 signed an executive order seeking broad changes to how elections are run. Amongst other changes, the order introduces a requirement for voters to show proof of citizenship and instructs states to turn over their voter lists to DOGE and the Homeland Security Department for review. Voting rights experts say Trump might not have the legal authority to issue some of the order’s directions. Andrew Howard reports for POLITICO; AP News reports.
Trump yesterday also signed executive orders targeting Jenner & Block, a law firm, and ordering the declassification of files related to an FBI investigation of alleged collusion between his 2016 campaign and Russia. Jenner & Block formerly employed a prosecutor involved in the collusion investigation and currently represents clients challenging some of Trump’s policies. Mike Scarcella and David Thomas report for Reuters; Daniel Barnes reports for POLITICO.
The senior administration officials’ unprecedented use of Signal to discuss sensitive military information was “not a serious glitch” and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has “learned a lesson,” Trump told NBC News yesterday. Waltz said he takes “full responsibility” for including the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg in the chat while denying knowing Goldberg and accusing the publication of spreading falsehoods on other topics. Garrett Haake and Megan Lebowitz report; Ali Bianco reports for POLITICO.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard yesterday said they defer to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the National Security Council’s assessment of whether the information shared in a Signal chat that included a journalist was or should have been classified. Zachary Cohen and Katie Bo Lillis report for CNN.
Trump yesterday issued a full and unconditional pardon for Devon Archer, who testified about his former business partner Hunter Biden’s business dealings in a 2023 House Republican investigation into the Biden family. Luke Broadwater and Kenneth P. Vogel report for the New York Times.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she would “eliminate” the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during a Cabinet meeting yesterday. Rachel Frazin reports for the Hill.
The Homeland Security Department has recently paused the processing of green card applications filed by individuals including approved refugees, sources say. Camilo Montoya-Galvez and Nicole Sganga report for CBS News.
Trump floated the possibility of distributing financial compensation to people prosecuted for taking part in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot yesterday, stating that “a lot of the people in government really like that group of people.” Seb Starcevic reports for POLITICO.
The Justice Department is reconsidering its defense of long-standing federal restrictions on gun silencers, according to the DOJ’s court filing in a case against a firearms dealer found with an unregistered silencer made late last week. Hannah Rabinowitz reports for CNN.
Trump yesterday nominated Thomas March Bell to lead the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Inspector General. The former Republican attorney was once terminated from a state government position over accusations of mishandling taxpayer funds and has served as staff director for House Republicans’ 2016 investigation into Planned Parenthood. Amanda Seitz reports for AP News.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russia and Ukraine agreed to stop using military force in the Black Sea and to implement a pause on attacks against energy infrastructure, the White House said yesterday. According to the Kremlin, Russia’s implementation of the agreement is conditional on the sanctions on its banks and exports imposed over its invasion of Ukraine being lifted. The United States is currently “looking at all of” Russia’s conditions for the ceasefire, Trump said yesterday. Ivana Kottasová, Christian Edwards, Anna Chernova, Svitlana Vlasova, Kevin Liptak, and Angus Watson report for CNN; Hanna Arhirova reports for AP News; Gleb Bryanski reports for Reuters.
Russia has the upper hand in the Ukraine war and leverage to press Kyiv to negotiate a resolution to the conflict “that grants Moscow concessions it seeks,” according to an annual report by the U.S. intelligence agencies released yesterday. Russia remains an “enduring potential threat to U.S. power, presence and global interests,” the report added. Julian E. Barnes reports for the New York Times.
A Russian court yesterday convicted 23 captured Ukrainians involved in fighting in Ukraine on terrorism charges, according to Russian media reports and rights activists. Kyiv said the trial was a sham and a violation of international law. AP News reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Hundreds of Palestinians yesterday protested against Hamas in Gaza in a rare show of overt dissent against the militant group’s presence in the territory. Iyad Abuheweila, Abu Bakr Bashir, Aaron Boxerman, and Malachy Browne report for the New York Times.
Israeli airstrikes killed Al Jazeera reporter Hossam Shabat and Palestine Today journalist Mohammad Mansour in Gaza this week, the Committee to Protect Journalists nonprofit said. The Israeli military has previously accused Shabat of being a member of Hamas, an allegation the CPJ condemned as a “smear campaign.” Sammy Westfall reports for the Washington Post.
Israel’s move of detainees away from the Sde Teiman detention center has not corrected alleged abuses against Palestinian detainees, according to Israeli human rights organizations, who say that the conditions in the new camps are just as bad. Julia Frankel and Sam Mednick report for AP News.
SYRIA
The United States has given Syria a list of conditions to fulfil to obtain partial sanctions relief calling for, amongst other demands, Damascus’ destruction of any remaining chemical weapons stores, cooperation on counter-terrorism, and not installing foreign fighters in senior roles, sources say. Humeyra Pamuk and Maya Gebeily report for Reuters.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Vice President JD Vance yesterday said he would head to Greenland’s U.S. Space Force base and “check out what’s going on with the security there,” joining his wife, Usha, in her planned trip to the territory. Irie Senter reports for POLITICO.
China remains the main military and cyber threat to the United States and is making “steady but uneven” progress on capabilities that could allow it to capture Taiwan, according to a report published by U.S. intelligence agencies yesterday. Michael Martina, Patricia Zengerle, and Erin Banco report for Reuters.
Trump plans to nominate L. Brent Bozell III, a conservative media critic, to be the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, according to a Congressional records page. John Eligon reports for the New York Times.
The United States has sanctioned three Iranian intelligence officers over their alleged involvement in the disappearance of former FBI Special Agent Robert Levinson, the Treasury and State Departments announced yesterday. Ryan Patrick Jones reports for Reuters.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
DOGE staffer Edward Coristine, known as “Big Balls,” ran a company that provided network services to users that included a website run by a ring of cybercriminals who boasted of hacking government emails and cyberstalking an FBI agent, according to corporate and digital records reviewed by Reuters. Raphael Satter reports.
Law firms are less willing to represent the Trump administration’s opponents in the wake of Trump’s executive orders targeting the legal industry, according to Biden-era officials, volunteers, and non-profits who say they are having trouble finding lawyers willing to defend them. Michael Birnbaum reports for the Washington Post.
Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS) yesterday confirmed the committee will investigate reports of senior administration officials using a Signal group chat to discuss war plans and inadvertently share them with a journalist. Ashleigh Fields reports for the Hill.
A network of companies backed by a Chinese tech firm has been trying to recruit recently terminated U.S. federal government workers, according to an analysis by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. A.J. Vicens reports for Reuters.
Hundreds of U.S. troops accompanied by armored infantry vehicles will be deployed to conduct surveillance across the southern border in the coming days, defense officials say. Paul McLeary and Jack Detsch report for POLITICO.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
A Turkish court yesterday placed seven journalists arrested while covering the protests in Istanbul in custody, according to AFP. A Turkish free speech nonprofit said six other journalists were also arrested yesterday, as the Turkish interior minister said that 1,418 protesters have been detained since last week. Isil Sariyuce and Lauren Kent report for CNN.
A Monday airstrike on a crowded market in Darfur by Sudan’s military killed at least 54 people and wounded dozens more, according to local monitoring groups, who described the attack as a likely war crime. Malachy Browne reports for the New York Times.
The Rapid Support Forces paramilitary has been introducing new constraints on aid deliveries to territories it controls in Sudan since late last year, including in areas where famine is spreading, relief workers warn. Nafisa Eltahir and Khalid Abdelaziz report for Reuters.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
An appeals court yesterday ruled that the Trump administration may halt the admission of new refugees but must admit thousands of people granted refugee status before Jan. 20 into the United States. Mattathias Schwartz reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge yesterday ordered the immigration authorities to temporarily halt their attempts to detain Yunseo Chung, a Columbia University student who says her green card was revoked over participation in pro-Palestine protests. Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
The Trump administration is temporarily blocked from terminating Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s federal funding after a judge yesterday granted RFE/RL’s request for an order restraining the administration from shuttering the news outlet. Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing reports for POLITICO.
A watchdog group yesterday sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior Trump administration officials, arguing their use of an unclassified commercial app to discuss military plans violated federal records laws. Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios.
Multiple academic groups yesterday filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s attempts to deport foreign students and faculty who took part in pro-Palestinian protests. Lexi Lonas Cochran reports for the Hill.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
