Sunday, Mar 09th
Last update07:41:45 AM GMT
Political Glance
The ruling by U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island came at the behest of Democratic attorneys generals from 22 states and the District of Columbia and despite the White House saying it was rescinding Monday's memo from its budget office detailing the policy.
The temporary restraining order will be in place until further order of the court while the judge considers whether to issue a longer preliminary injunction.
Senior FBI officials have been asked to resign or retire from top positions within the bureau or be fired, three sources familiar with the moves confirmed to CBS News.
The senior officials at FBI headquarters — including some with executive assistant director status — were responsible for overseeing top priorities for the bureau, for instance, national security, criminal and cyber issues, the sources said.
The changes are part of ongoing scrutiny of FBI leadership, according to the sources.
The Pentagon’s intelligence agency has put on hold observances of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth, Holocaust Days of Remembrance and other annual historical or cultural events due to President Trump’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government, according to a new internal memo.
The instructions, sent in a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) memo dated Jan. 28, affect 11 annual events.
“DIA will pause all activities and events related to Agency Special Emphasis Programs effective immediately and until further notice,” the memo said. “Additionally, Special Observances hosted throughout the year … are also paused.”’
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg hit back after President Trump criticized the Biden administration and diversity initiatives in the aftermath of a deadly midair collision outside Washington, D.C.
“Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch,” Buttigieg said in a post on social platform X.
Security agents escorted the inspector general of the US Department of Agriculture out of her office on Monday after she refused to comply with her firing by the Trump administration, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Phyllis Fong, a 22-year veteran of the department, had earlier told colleagues that she intended to stay after the White House terminated her on Friday, saying that she did not believe the administration had followed proper protocols, the sources said.
In an email to colleagues on Saturday, reviewed by Reuters, she said the independent Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency “has taken the position that these termination notices do not comply with the requirements set out in law and therefore are not effective at this time”.
The Trump administration’s federal government funding freeze instituted Monday and apparently rescinded Wednesday appears to be a part of the White House’s official policy to get courts to hand President Donald Trump the power to pick and choose which congressionally authorized funding he will spend, according to a confidential document obtained by HuffPost.
The confidential Office of Management and Budget document outlining “regulatory misalignment” calls on Trump to issue executive orders blocking the release of appropriated funds in order to provoke a court challenge over the president’s power to impound such funds.
“Use executive orders to impound funds exceeding legislative intent or conflicting with constitutional duties, citing national security, fiscal waste, or statutory ambiguities,” the document states. “Seek legal precedent to affirm the President’s Article II powers under the Take Care Clause and Executive Vesting Clause.”
The Trump administration has offered federal workers buyouts worth more than seven months’ salary if they would leave their jobs by 6 February as the White House attempts to slash the civil service in an unprecedented overhaul of US government.
The office of personnel management, the government’s human resources agency, sent a memo to the federal workforce on Tuesday evening with four directives that it says Trump is mandating, including a full-time return to the office for most employees. It also said that the federal workforce would be subjected to “enhanced standards of suitability and conduct” and warned that most agencies would be downsized.
“If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program,” the email reads. “This program begins effective January 28 and is available to all federal employees until February 6.”
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