Trump expands exemptions from Canada and Mexico tariffs
By Natalie Sherman & Michael Race US President Donald Trump has signed orders significantly expanding the goods exempted from his new tariffs on Canada and Mexico that were imposed this week. It is the second time in two days that Trump has rolled back his taxes on imports from the US’s two biggest trade partners, measures that have raised uncertainty for businesses and worried financial markets. On Wednesday, he said he would temporarily spare carmakers from 25% import levies just a day after they came into effect. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum thanked Trump for the move, while Canada’s finance minister said
Judge orders Trump administration to speed payment of USAID and State Dept. debts
By Ellen Knickmeyer A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to speed up its payment on some of nearly $2 billion in debts to partners of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, giving it a Monday deadline to repay the nonprofit groups and businesses in a lawsuit over the administration’s abrupt shutdown of foreign assistance funding. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali described the partial payment as a “concrete” first step he wanted to see from the administration, which is fighting multiple lawsuits seeking to roll back the administration’s dismantling of USAID and a six-week freeze on
Tulsi Gabbard fires more than 100 intelligence officers over messages in a chat tool
By Dan De Luce Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired more than 100 intelligence officers from 15 agencies for using a government chat platform for discussions that included topics like polyamory, gender transition surgery and politics. “I put out a directive today that they all will be terminated and their security clearances will be revoked,” Gabbard told Fox News on Tuesday. The chat tool was overseen by the National Security Agency, according to Gabbard. Each intelligence agency has internal collaboration chat tools, former intelligence officials said. Gabbard said the fired intelligence officers’ conduct represented “an egregious violation of trust”
Trump administration plans to cut 80,000 employees from Veterans Affairs, according to internal memo
By Stephen Groves The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a reorganization that includes cutting over 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care and other services for millions of veterans, according to an internal memo obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The VA’s chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, told top-level officials at the agency Tuesday that it had an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by
As Trump delivers joint address, Black women of Congress help lead the resistance
By Gerren Keith Gaynor Donald Trump’s first joint address to Congress as the 47th president of the United States on Tuesday night was met with resistance from Democrats on Capitol Hill. But it’s the elected Black members, particularly Black women, of Congress who are working to lead and shape the opposition to Trump’s agenda. Ahead of Trump’s State of the Union-styled speech, members of the Congressional Black Caucus gathered on Capitol Hill to speak with Black reporters about how they are responding to the flood of executive actions that have left thousands unemployed and billions of dollars for critical programs
Federal judge blocks Trump administration’s drastic funding cuts to medical research
By Lauren Neergaard A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from drastically cutting medical research funding that many scientists say will endanger patients and cost jobs. The new National Institutes of Health policy would strip research groups of hundreds of millions of dollars to cover so-called indirect expenses of studying Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and a host of other illnesses — anything from clinical trials of new treatments to basic lab research that is the foundation for discoveries. Separate lawsuits filed by a group of 22 states plus organizations representing universities, hospitals and research institutions nationwide sued to stop the
IRS drafting plans to slash as much as half of its 90,000-person workforce leaving agency ‘dysfunctional,’ AP sources say
By Fatima Hussein The IRS is drafting plans to cut its workforce by as much as half through a mix of layoffs, attrition and incentivized buyouts, according to two people familiar with the situation. The people spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose the plans. The layoffs are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce through billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency by closing agencies, laying off nearly all probationary employees who have not yet gained civil service protection and offering buyouts to almost all federal employees
Trump says Americans should get ready for ‘a little disturbance’ from tariffs
By Bailey Schulz President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Americans should be prepared for “a little disturbance” from tariffs. “Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again, and it’s happening and it will happen rather quickly,” Trump said during a formal address before a joint session of Congress. “There will be a little disturbance. But we’re okay with that. It won’t be much.” The remarks came just hours after Trump imposed 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico a doubling of duties on some Chinese goods to 20%, prompting quick retaliatory tariffs from China and Canada. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is
Democratic Rep. Al Green removed after disrupting Trump’s speech
By Henry J. Gomez, Frank Thorp V and Scott Wong Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, was removed from the House chamber Tuesday night after he disrupted President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress. Green, who has long pushed to impeach Trump dating to his previous term in office, stood and shook his cane toward the president in the opening minutes of his speech. Other lawmakers cheered and booed Green, causing further chaos on the House floor as Trump paused. The uproar prompted House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to read aloud from House rules. “Members are directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House and
President Donald J. Trump Proceeds with Tariffs on Imports from Canada and Mexico
President Donald J. Trump is proceeding with implementing tariffs on Canada and Mexico under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to combat the extraordinary threat to U.S. national security, including our public health posed by unchecked drug trafficking. While President Trump gave both Canada and Mexico ample opportunity to curb the dangerous cartel activity and influx of lethal drugs flowing into our country, they have failed to adequately address the situation. The flow of contraband drugs like fentanyl into the United States, through illicit distribution networks, has created a national emergency, including a public health crisis. Mexican drug trafficking