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Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Nearly 40% of contracts canceled by Musk’s DOGE are expected to produce no savings
Nearly 40% of the federal contracts President Donald Trump’s administration claims to have canceled as part of its signature cost-cutting program aren’t expected to save the government any money, the administration’s own data shows. The Department of Government Efficiency, run by Trump adviser Elon Musk, published an updated list Monday...
21 federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE slash size of government
WASHINGTON — More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.” “We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential...
Ending diversity push or fueling student anxiety? Trump administration’s anti-DEI stance sparks debate
The Trump administration’s plan to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs and initiatives on college campuses has sent universities scrambling to determine how to follow the guidelines or risk losing federal funding. Local colleges said they still are considering how to respond to U.S. Department of Education demands issued Feb....
Gov. Shapiro says the Trump administration has unfrozen billions in grants, loans 
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday that President Donald Trump‘s administration has freed up billions in federal aid that the Democrat had accused it of withholding illegally and unconstitutionally. Shapiro said in a news conference that more than $2 billion that his administration had identified as either frozen...
Judge rejects immediately restoring AP’s access to White House but urges government to reconsider
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday refused to immediately order the White House to restore The Associated Press’ access to presidential events, saying the news organization had not demonstrated it had suffered any irreparable harm. But he urged the Trump administration to reconsider its two-week-old ban, saying that case...
Trump’s Justice Department enforcer is no stranger to complaints about his conduct
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of Manhattan criminal defense attorneys was so concerned about prosecutor Emil Bove’s professionalism that they banded together to send an email to his bosses. One lawyer complained in the 2018 email that Bove was “completely reckless and out of control” in how he handled his...
Ex-Secret Service agent and conservative media personality Dan Bongino picked as FBI deputy director
WASHINGTON — Dan Bongino, a former U.S. Secret Service agent who has penned best-selling books, ran unsuccessfully for office and gained fame as a conservative pundit with TV shows and a popular podcast, has been chosen to serve as FBI deputy director. President Donald Trump announced the appointment Sunday night...
Pete Hegseth defends Trump’s firings of Pentagon leaders and says there may be more dismissals
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insists President Donald Trump ‘s abrupt firing of the nation’s senior military officer amid a wave of dismissals at the Pentagon wasn’t unusual, brushing aside outcry that the new administration is openly seeking to inject politics into the military. He also suggested more firings...
Trump administration is firing 2,000 USAID workers and putting thousands of others on leave
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Sunday that it was placing all but a fraction of staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave worldwide and eliminating 2,000 U.S.-based staff positions. The move was the latest and one of the biggest steps yet toward what President Donald Trump...
Kathy Hochul says she made a case to Trump for NYC’s congestion pricing, yet predicts courts will decide
NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says she told President Donald Trump in a private meeting at the White House that congestion pricing tolls in New York City are necessary and working, yet the Democrat predicted the courts will likely decide the matter. Last week Trump withdrew federal...
Key agencies, including some led by Trump loyalists, refuse to comply with Musk’s latest demand
NEW YORK — Key U.S. agencies, including the FBI, State Department and the Pentagon, have instructed their employees not to comply with cost-cutting chief Elon Musk’s demand that federal workers explain what they accomplished last week — or risk losing their jobs. That resistance has intensified a pervasive sense of...
Trump and Musk aren’t the first to make deep cuts, Clinton-era Reinventing Government saved billions
DENVER — A new administration swept into Washington and announced plans to shake it up, using corporate know-how and new technology to streamline the federal bureaucracy. It offered millions of government employees buyouts and slashed costs to balance the budget. It might sound like the controversial cost-cutting push led by...
Hegseth defends Trump’s firings of Pentagon leaders and says there may be more dismissals
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is defending President Donald Trump ‘s firing of the nation’s senior military officer and a wave of dismissals at the Pentagon, insisting that they weren’t unusual despite accusations that the new administration is injecting politics into the military. “Nothing about this is unprecedented,” Hegseth...
Michigan state lawmaker beats out loyal Trump ally charged in fake elector case for GOP party chair
DETROIT — Michigan Republicans gathered in Detroit on Saturday to elect a new chair who will lead the party into the 2026 midterms in the battleground state, when several key races will be decided including a critical U.S. Senate seat. A state lawmaker beat out two other candidates, including a...
Trump revels in mass federal firings and jeers at Biden before adoring conservative crowd
OXON HILL, Md. — President Donald Trump said Saturday that “nobody has ever seen anything” like his administration’s sweeping effort to fire thousands of federal employees and shrink the size of government, congratulating himself for “dominating” Washington and sending bureaucrats “packing.” Addressing an adoring crowd at the Conservative Political Action...
Kash Patel sworn in at White House as new FBI director, calls it the ‘greatest honor’
WASHINGTON — Kash Patel was sworn in Friday as the FBI director, calling the opportunity to lead the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency the “greatest honor” of his life. Patel was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday by a 51-49 margin, with two Republican lawmakers, Susan Collins of Maine...
Supreme Court won’t allow Trump to immediately fire head of whistleblower office
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily kept on the job the head of the federal agency that protects government whistleblowers, in its first word on the many legal fights over President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda. The justices said in an unsigned order that Hampton Dellinger, head of the...
Pentagon says it will cut 5,400 probationary workers starting next week
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department said Friday it’s cutting 5,400 probationary workers starting next week and will put a hiring freeze in place. It comes after staffers from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, were at the Pentagon earlier in the week and received lists of such employees, U.S....
Steve Bannon, accused of doing a straight-arm Nazi salute at CPAC, says it was just ‘a wave’
OXON HILL, Md. — Steve Bannon was accused of making a Nazi salute as he concluded a speech at a conservative gathering where President Donald Trump is slated to speak this weekend, but Bannon said Friday the gesture was merely a “wave.” Bannon, who once served as Trump’s chief strategist...
Senate Republicans approve budget framework, pushing past Democratic objections after all-night vote
WASHINGTON — Republican senators pushed a $340 billion budget framework to passage early Friday, chugging through an all-night session and Democratic opposition in a step toward unleashing money the Trump administration says it needs for mass deportations and border security that top their agenda. The hours-long “vote-a-rama” rambled along in...
Federal judge allows Trump’s mass firings of federal workers to move forward
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington has allowed President Donald Trump’s mass firings of federal workers to move forward. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper decided Thursday he could not grant a motion from unions representing the workers to temporarily block the layoffs. He found that their complaint amounted to...
Dr. Mehmet Oz holds millions from companies that he’d wield power over if confirmed, report shows
WASHINGTON — The wealth of Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity heart surgeon nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has swelled in part from for-profit health care companies over which he’d wield significant power if confirmed, according to a newly filed government ethics...
Trump administration flouting order to temporarily lift freeze on foreign aid, judge says
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has kept withholding foreign aid despite a court order and must at least temporarily restore the funding to programs worldwide, a federal judge said Thursday. Judge Amir H. Ali declined a request by nonprofit groups doing business with the U.S. Agency for International Development to...
IRS layoffs could hurt revenue collection and foil efforts to go after rich tax dodgers, experts say
WASHINGTON — The layoffs of roughly 7,000 IRS probationary workers beginning this week likely mean the end of the agency’s plan to go after high-wealth tax dodgers and could spell disaster for revenue collections, experts say. The majority of employees shown the door at the federal tax collector are newly...
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro appointed by Trump to bipartisan governors panel, will visit White House
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve on a little-known panel alongside other governors to strengthen partnerships between states and the federal government. Shapiro joins the council at a challenging time for governors — particularly Democratic ones — as Trump’s administration tries to slash the...


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