Here's the latest:
Rubio: It’s ‘absurd’ to charge fees to the U.S. military for using the Panama Canal
Rubio said he had no confusion after meeting with Panama President José Raúl Mulino and canal administrators during his Latin American tour.
“I respect very much the fact that Panama has a process of laws and procedures that they need to follow,” Rubio said.
But he said the United States is obligated to protect the Panama Canal if it comes under attack, and “that treaty obligation would have to be enforced by the armed forces of the United States, particularly the U.S. Navy. I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict.”
▶Read more on Rubio's Latin America tour
Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists relocation of Gazans would be temporary
Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemingly contradicted President Donald Trump on Thursday when talking about the proposal for the U.S. to take over Gaza and relocate Palestinians from the territory, insisting that would just be a temporary move.
“I think that’s just a realistic reality that in order to fix a place like that, people are going to have to live somewhere else in the interim,” Rubio said in a press conference in Santo Domingo with Dominican President Luis Abinader. He said it was “not habitable.”
The U.S. top diplomat and other Trump administration officials has attempted to walk back the idea the president wants the permanent relocation of Palestinians from Gaza.
But Trump earlier on Thursday took to his social media platform to insist the U.S. could take over Gaza without needing to send in troops and that Palestinians would be resettled elsewhere in the region with new and modern homes and “would actually have a chance to be happy, safe and free.”
Dominican president pleads for restoring US humanitarian aid to Haiti
“There’s no time to lose,” Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said. “The leadership of the United States is essential and irreplaceable.”
Abinader warned Thursday during a press conference with the U.S. Secretary of State that Haiti represents a threat to the U.S. as well as the entire region, and without humanitarian aid, a wave of migrants will leave the violence-wracked country.
Marco Rubio said the only option for the U.S. is to keep supporting the current U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police.
“Haiti’s solution is in the hands of Haiti, its people, its elite, but we’re going to help,” Rubio said.
Transportation Secretary argues with Hillary Clinton online
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sparred with Hillary Clinton Thursday on the social media site X over the Trump administration's actions and the plan to have Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency help upgrade aviation safety.
“They have no relevant experience,” Clinton said in response to Duffy’s post about getting help from Musk’s team. “Most of them aren’t old enough to rent a car. And you’re going to let them mess with airline safety that’s already deteriorated on your watch?”
Duffy responded sharply and told Clinton to sit this one out because experienced Washington bureaucrats are the reason the nation’s infrastructure is crumbling.
“I’m returning this department to its mission of safety by using innovative technology in transportation and infrastructure,” Duffy said. “Your team had its chance and failed. We’re moving on without you because the American people want us to make America’s transportation system great again. And yes, we’re bringing the 22-year-olds with us.”
White House press secretary suggests workers should quit instead of trying ’to rip the American people off′
“We encourage federal workers in this city to accept the very generous offer,” Karoline Levitt said.
“They don’t want to come into the office. If they want to rip the American people off, then they’re welcome to take this buyout and we’ll find highly qualified people” to replace them.
The deferred resignation program was orchestrated by Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur serving as a top Trump adviser, to further the Republican president's goal of remaking the federal government, weakening what his allies describe as the "deep state" that undermined his first term.
Administration officials said they can save taxpayer money by presenting employees with “a valuable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Even judges got DOGE emails
Emails from Elon Musk allies went to a wide swath of the federal government, including a judge overseeing a lawsuit filed to try and block the messages.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Daniel Moss said judges around the country got emails, apparently by mistake, preceding the "fork in the road" message from Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Moss ignored it.
He’s overseeing a court challenge filed by federal employees who allege Musk allies set up a server to send the emails without proper privacy protections, leaving their information vulnerable to hacking.
Moss declined to immediately block any future messages, pointing out to a privacy assessment since been completed by the government.
A second federal judge has blocked Trump’s order redefining birthright citizenship
U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle on Thursday decried what he described as the Trump administration’s attempt to change the Constitution through an executive order.
Coughenour had previously called the order “blatantly unconstitutional” and two weeks ago issued a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking its implementation.
Thursday's ruling came a day after a Maryland federal judge issued a nationwide pause in a separate but similar case involving immigrants' rights groups and pregnant women whose soon-to-born children could be affected.
US Army Corps lifts pause on renewable energy projects
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday it has lifted a pause on permitting renewable energy projects. The nationwide pause had affected at least 168 projects for renewable energy such as wind and solar power. It was intended to comply with an executive order by Trump on “unleashing American energy.″
The Army Corps issues permits for projects on private land that affect wetlands and other waters under the Clean Water Act.
Agency spokesman Doug Garman said the Army Corps received direction Thursday to lift the temporary pause. No reason was given.
Environmental group and clean energy advocates had expressed alarm that a prolonged pause on permitting for solar and wind projects on private lands would have slowed renewable energy development. Trump has issued a similar pause on federal lands and waters as he seeks to expand production of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas and move away from renewable energy.
White House says more than 40,000 federal workers have agreed to resign
White House press secretary Karoline Levitt says 40,000-plus federal workers have agreed to resign in exchange for continuing to be paid through Sept. 30.
“We expect that number to increase,” Leavitt said. “We encourage federal workers in this city to accept the very generous offer.”
She spoke as news broke of another federal judge temporarily blocking the plan. The judge ordered the Trump administration to move a midnight deadline for federal employees to take the offer until after a court hearing on Monday.
Millions of lives are at stake in USAID stop-work order
The Trump administration's abrupt closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development is removing a key way of showing American goodwill around the world — with millions of lives at stake.
The stop-work order has closed clinics in more than 25 countries where two-thirds of all child deaths occur globally, said Janeen Madan Keller, deputy director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development.
HIV patients in Africa found locked doors at clinics funded through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which is credited with saving more than 25 million lives. In Congo's conflict zone, American money no longer supports food, water, electricity and basic health care for 4.6 million people. Doctors of the World-Turkey relied on USAID for 60% of its funding in Syria, where it had to shutter 12 field hospitals providing life-saving services.
▶ Read more about the impact on USAID's global health programs
Judge temporarily blocks Trump plan offering incentives for federal workers to resign
A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to push out federal employees by offering them financial incentives.
The ruling came hours before the midnight deadline for workers to apply for the deferred resignation program, which has been commonly described as a buyout.
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. in Boston did not express an opinion on the legality of the program. He scheduled a hearing for Monday at 2 p.m. EST.
He also directed administration officials to extend the deadline to apply for the program until after the hearing.
Several labor unions have sued over Trump’s plans, which were orchestrated by Elon Musk, a top adviser. The Republican president is trying to downsize and reshape the federal workforce.
Trump’s US trade negotiator choice vows hardline policies
Jamieson Greer, President Donald Trump's choice to be the top U.S. trade negotiator, promised to pursue the president's hardline trade policies in testimony Wednesday before the Senate Finance Committee. But he faced pushback from senators unsettled by Trump's unpredictable actions on trade.
Trump’s protectionist approach — involving the heavy use of taxes on foreign goods — will give Americans “the opportunity to work in good-paying jobs producing goods and services they can sell in this market and abroad to earn an honest living,’′ Greer said in remarks prepared ahead of his confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Finance Committee.
As U.S. trade representative, Greer would have responsibility — along with Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick — for one of Trump's top policy priorities: waging or at least threatening trade war with countries around the world, America's friends and foes alike.
▶ Read more about Trump's pick for U.S. trade negotiator
Israeli leader has a one-word answer to the idea of US troops in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared for a photo-op with U.S. senators at the Capitol when a reporter asked the question.
“Mr. Netanyahu, do you think U.S. troops are needed in Gaza to make President Trump’s plan peaceful?”
“No,” he replied, and then press aides shooed journalists from the room.
The deal is ‘exactly what it looks like,’ says Trump official
Trump officials have organized question-and-answer sessions as federal workers decide whether to quit in exchange for several months of pay.
“I know there’s been a lot of questions out there about whether it’s real and whether it’s a trick,” Rachel Oglesby, now chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education, told employees, according to a recording obtained by The Associated Press.
“And it’s exactly what it looks like. It’s one of the many tools that he’s using to try to achieve the campaign promise to bring reform to the civil service and changes to D.C,” she said.
A similar discussion was recorded at the Department of Agriculture.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have all the answers,” said human resources official Marlon Taubenheim. “These are very trying times.”
▶ Read more about Trump's effort to reduce the federal workforce
McMahon faces first test for confirmation as education secretary
President Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary will face her first confirmation test next week.
Linda McMahon is scheduled to go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Feb. 13. If confirmed, Trump said her top priority will be dismantling the agency, saying he wants McMahon "to put herself out of a job."
McMahon, 76, is a longtime Trump ally and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. She led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term.
Trump blames ‘obsolete’ US air traffic control system for the plane and chopper collision near DC
President Donald Trump on Thursday blamed last week’s deadly collision of a passenger jet and Army helicopter on what he called an “obsolete” computer system used by U.S. air traffic controllers, and he vowed to replace it.
Trump said during an event that "a lot of mistakes happened" on Jan. 29 when an American Airlines flight out of Wichita, Kansas, collided with an Army helicopter as the plane was about to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, killing all 67 people on board the two aircraft.
In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Trump blamed diversity hiring programs for the crash. But on Thursday, he blamed the computer system used by the country's air traffic controllers.
"It's amazing that it happened," Trump said during a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast at the U.S. Capitol. "And I think that's going to be used for good. I think what is going to happen is we're all going to sit down and do a great computerized system for our control towers. Brand new — not pieced together, obsolete."
▶ Read more about Trump's response to the crash
Trump says he’ll create a task force to stop ‘Christian bias’
Trump is tapping Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead an effort to root out “anti-Christian bias” nationwide.
The president said during the National Prayer Breakfast that the task force would be directed to “immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination.”
It’s envisioned as an office within the White House that Trump said would place a special emphasis on bias within the federal government, “at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI — terrible — and other agencies.”
Harvard expert: Musk now has ‘unthinkable’ power for a democracy
The emergence of X owner Elon Musk as the most influential figure around President Donald Trump has created an extraordinary dynamic — a White House adviser using one of the world's most powerful information platforms to sell the government's talking points while intimidating its detractors.
The world's richest man is using the social media platform as a cudgel and a megaphone for the Republican administration at a time when his power to shape the electorate's perspective is only growing, with more Americans getting their news from 'influencers' online. Musk alone has 215 million followers.
Requests for comment from Musk's special commission, the Department of Government Efficiency, and X were not returned.
Steven Levitsky, a political scientist at Harvard University and the author of “How Democracies Die,” said “This is a combination of economic, media and political power that I believe has never been seen before in any democracy on Earth.”
▶ Read more about how Musk is wielding his power
IRS workers are told to keep working until a month after the tax deadline
IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season will not be allowed to accept the Trump administration's offer to be paid to quit until after the taxpayer filing deadline.
A letter to IRS employees Wednesday says such workers are exempt until May 15.
Union leaders and worker advocates have criticized the proposal and question whether the Trump administration will honor its terms.
“This country needs skilled, experienced federal employees,” said Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union. “We are urging people not to take this deal because it will damage the services to the American people and it will harm the federal employees who have dedicated themselves and their career to serving.”
▶ Read more about how Trump's push to get federal workers to quit affects the IRS
From fighting disease to protecting the Amazon rainforest, USAID has big impact across the globe
The Trump administration's decision to close the U.S. Agency for International Development has drawn widespread criticism from congressional Democrats and raised questions and concern about the influence billionaire ally Elon Musk wields over the federal government.
The United States is by far the world's largest source of foreign assistance, although several European countries allocate a much bigger share of their budgets to aid. USAID funds projects in some 120 countries aimed at fighting epidemics, educating children, providing clean water and supporting other areas of development.
▶ Read more about the global impact of closing USAID
Heritage Foundation on Prince Harry: ‘If he lied, that gets you deported’
A federal judge is considering next steps in a slow-moving court case over whether to release documents that could spell legal trouble for Prince Harry.
The influential Heritage Foundation sued the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration, seeking to reveal if he lied on his immigration paperwork about past drug use or received special treatment when he and his wife Meghan Markle moved to Southern California.
“People are routinely deported for lying on immigration forms,” Heritage’s attorney Samuel Dewey told reporters after a Wednesday hearing.
▶ Read more about the case involving Prince Harry
Senate Democrats keep up revolt over Vought
Democratic senators are still at it, having talked through the night to protest Trump's pick of Russ Vought as budget director.
Seizing the Senate floor is one of the remaining tools the minority party has to stonewall a confirmation. Democrats unanimously oppose Vought, a Project 2025 author who is influential in Musk's DOGE efforts to gut government.
Sen. John Hickenlooper, D. Colo., said his office was flooded with complaints over Trump’s temporary freeze of federal funds, which has since been rescinded and blocked by a court. He said Congress has appropriated this money and the White House cannot unilaterally cut it.
Republicans have the votes to easily confirm Vought once the 30 hours of debate expires Thursday.
Judge temporarily limits DOGE access to Treasury
Two Elon Musk allies have “read only” access to Treasury Department payment systems, but no one else will get access for now, including Musk himself, under a court order signed Thursday.
It comes in a lawsuit filed by federal workers unions trying to stop the billionaire’s Department of Government Efficiency from following through on what they call a massive privacy invasion.
Two Musk allies, Marko Elez and Tom Krause, have been made “special government employees” and already have access to the system, government attorneys have said.
The temporary order blocks further access by DOGE as U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly considers the case.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP