Trump 2nd term updates: Trump excludes low-value shipments from looming tariffs

The amendment exempts imports valued at less than $800 from Canada and Mexico.

ByKevin Shalvey, Alexandra Hutzler, Emily Chang, Ivan Pereira, William Mansell, Sarah Beth Hensley, Jon Haworth, and Nadine El-Bawab
Last Updated: March 2, 2025, 11:08 PM EST

President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the federal government to his liking suffered a loss in court when a federal judge blocked his administration from firing the head of a federal watchdog agency without cause, likely triggering a lengthy appeal that could end at the Supreme Court.

U.S. District Justice Amy Berman Jackson determined the move was unlawful and issued a permanent injunction that reinstated special counsel Hampton Dellinger to his position.

Meanwhile, the Social Security Administration said it will cut 7,000 jobs and six of its 10 regional centers as part of the president’s downsizing of the federal workforce.

And Trump’s physician announced the president will have his annual physical next month, days after reporters raised questions about a bruise they saw on the back of his hand.

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Feb 24, 2025, 12:05 PM EST

Justice Department employees 'do not need' to respond to OPM email

Employees at the Justice Department do not need to respond to the OPM email sent over the weekend, according to an email obtained by ABC News.

"Due to the confidential and sensitive nature of the Department's work, DOJ employees do not need to respond to the email from OPM," an email to main justice employees from the assistant attorney general for administration and obtained by ABC News says. "If you have already responded to this email, no further action is needed."

DOJ joins other agencies in offering guidance on how to respond to OPM's request for employees to describe what they did that week.

--ABC News' Luke Barr

Feb 24, 2025, 11:46 AM EST

DOT staff told to respond to Musk’s 5 accomplishments email

Speaking to Fox Monday morning, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy explained why Department of Transportation employees should respond to Musk's email demanding they list five accomplishments over the past week.

"If you can't come up with five things that you did, maybe you shouldn't be employed here," Duffy said, calling this an "easy task" that "happens in the private sector all the time."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP

Monday morning, DOT employees also received an email instructing them to "respond as requested" to OPM's messaging.

– ABC News' Sam Sweeney

Feb 24, 2025, 11:39 AM EST

Federal unions allege Musk's demand that government workers list accomplishments violates federal law

A group of federal unions are alleging that the Office of Personnel Management's demand that federal employees list their accomplishments or resign violates federal law and exceeds the power of the presidency, arguing the president has perpetuated a "massive fraud" on government workers.

They asked a federal judge in California to immediately issue an order blocking the Trump administration from continuing to fire employees en masse as well as reinstate the federal employees it has already laid off.


Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference Feb. 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Md.
Jose Luis Magana/AP

-- ABC News' Peter Charalambous

Feb 24, 2025, 10:30 AM EST

Trump admin guts USAID's humanitarian office, despite pledge to preserve its work

Dozens of officials in USAID's humanitarian aid bureau received termination letters over the weekend despite prior assurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio to preserve the agency's "core lifesaving medicine, medical services, food, shelter and substance assistance."

Tributes are placed beneath the covered seal of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 7, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Beginning late Friday night, several now-former employees at the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance received termination letters from personnel officers at USAID, according to copies of those letters obtained by ABC News.

BHA is the government's lead federal agency for international emergency disaster relief, working closely with the military to provide humanitarian aid in the wake of earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes and other global natural disasters.

-- ABC News' Lucien Bruggeman

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