HHS Pulls $11.4B in COVID Funds From Health Departments
By Laura Ungar Federal health officials said Tuesday they are pulling back $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds for state and local public health departments and other health organizations throughout the nation. “The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement. The statement said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to recover the money beginning 30 days after termination notices, which began being sent out on Monday. Officials said the money
Waltz Takes Blame for Yemen Strike Chat Leak with Journalist
By Barbara Tasch US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for a group chat in which high-ranking officials planned military strikes in Yemen in the company of a journalist who was inadvertently added. “I take full responsibility. I built the group,” Waltz told Fox News on Tuesday, adding it was “embarrassing”. President Donald Trump and US intelligence chiefs have downplayed the security risks and said no classified material was shared. But Democrats and some Republicans have called for an investigation into what several lawmakers have described as a major breach. Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported that he
Trump Slashes Minority Business, CDFI Agency Operations
By Brandon Patterson On March 14, President Trump signed an executive order slashing the operations of two federal agencies supporting growth in minority business and neighborhoods as he continued his attacks on programs supporting people of color and on the size of the federal bureaucracy. The latest executive order targeted several federal agencies, including the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, ordering that their programs and staff be reduced “to the minimum presence and function required by law.” The executive order targeted more agencies that Trump “has determined are unnecessary,” the order stated. The
Trump Orders Proof of Citizenship to Register to Vote
By Jude Joffe-Block President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order that would require prospective voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. The order’s sweeping changes test the power of Trump’s presidential authority. Voting rights advocates worry the new provisions could block millions of Americans from voting if enacted, and say Trump lacks the legal authority to make such changes. The order claims the United States “fails to enforce basic and necessary election protections.” The order calls for updating the federal form voters can use to register to vote, to include a requirement that voters show proof of
Federal Worker Job Searches Surge Amid DOGE Cuts: Report
By Jasmine Cui As the Department of Government Efficiency upends federal agencies, a new report released Tuesday by the job listing website Indeed shows the number of workers looking for new jobs has spiked. Job applications from workers at agencies targeted by DOGE are up 75% compared with 2022, according to the report’s data. And while job applications among all workers increased after the Trump transition, the spike in applications from DOGE-targeted workers is especially pronounced. Applications from federal workers in DOGE-targeted agencies, which include the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Agency for International Development, surged 60 percentage points from
Trump Officials Leaked Yemen Strike Plans in Signal Chat
Top Trump administration officials mistakenly texted war plans to a group that included a journalist, the White House said on Monday, in a misstep that has drawn swift condemnation by Democratic lawmakers. The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, said in a report on Monday that on March 13 he was unexpectedly invited on to an encrypted group chat on Signal messenger called the “Houthi PC small group.” Messages in the group made Goldberg aware that large-scale U.S. strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels were coming hours before they started. The strikes, over Houthi attacks against Red Sea shipping, came on
Trump targets lawyers who he says file ‘frivolous’ lawsuits against his administration
By David Rohde A new memo from President Donald Trump that authorized the attorney general and the homeland security secretary to sanction law firms that file lawsuits they deem “frivolous” is a major escalation of his intensifying assault on law firms, legal experts and former Justice Department officials told NBC News. The presidential memorandum, “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court,” also ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to recommend revoking attorneys’ security clearances or terminating law firms’ federal contracts if she deems their lawsuits against the administration “unreasonable” or “vexatious.” The memo, which was issued Saturday, follows executive orders
Trump Moves to Eliminate U.S. Department of Education
By Joey Garrison President Donald Trump is set to sign a long-anticipated executive order Thursday that seeks to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, delivering on a signature campaign promise to try to dismantle the agency, according to senior Trump administration officials. Trump is expected to sign the order, which has been in the works for weeks, at a White House ceremony attended by several Republican governors and state education commissioners. Trump will direct his education secretary, Linda McMahon, to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States,” according to a White House
Social Security to End Phone ID Checks, Impacting Millions
By Stephanie Sy Significant changes will be coming for Social Security recipients. Millions will no longer be able to verify their identity over the phone, creating a challenge for older Americans and those with disabilities. Advocates are raising concerns about the burden this could place on an already vulnerable population. Stephanie Sy discussed more with Kathleen Romig. Amna Nawaz: Significant changes will be coming for Social Security recipients starting on March 31. Millions of Americans will no longer be able to verify their identity over the phone, creating a challenge for older Americans and those with disabilities. Stephanie Sy joins
Trump to Sign Order to Shut Down Education Department
By Collin Binkley And Chris Megerian President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday calling for the shutdown of the U.S. Education Department, according to a White House official, advancing a campaign promise to eliminate an agency that’s been a longtime target of conservatives. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity before an announcement. Trump has derided the Department of Education as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However, finalizing its dismantling is likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979. A White House fact sheet said the order would direct Secretary Linda McMahon “to take
