White House says some employees were fired by mistake

Elon Musk’s DOGE made sizable cuts to the U.S. Department of Education, slashing 89 independent research contracts at the department’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) worth nearly $900 million, according to DOGE’s post on X and confirmed by a department spokesperson.

IES conducts the statistics, research, and evaluation for millions of students across the country. Some of its American Institutes for Research (AIR) evaluation and education statistics contracts have been terminated, AIR’s managing director for corporate communications, Dana Tofig, told ABC News. AIR expands apprenticeships to strengthen workforce systems and increases the effectiveness of education nationwide, according to its website.

Tofig blasted DOGE’s cuts as an “incredible waste of taxpayer dollars.”

-- ABC News' Arthur Jones

In a new Truth Social post, Trump said he is sending Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy.

"I am sending Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to Ukraine to meet President Zelensky. This War MUST and WILL END SOON — Too much Death and Destruction. The U.S. has spent BILLIONS of Dollars Globally, with little to show. WHEN AMERICA IS STRONG, THE WORLD IS AT PEACE," Trump wrote.

It's notable that Trump is dispatching the treasury secretary, rather than the secretary of state, to meet with Zelenskyy.

Vance is also expected to meet with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Trump teased during his Oval Office spray last night that he was expecting to speak with Zelenskyy, and stressed he wanted the war to end.

-- ABC News' Molly Nagle

Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Tuesday alleged that Kash Patel has “been personally directing the ongoing purge of career civil servants” at the FBI ahead of his confirmation to be leader of the agency.

On the Senate floor and in a letter sent to Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Tuesday, the Illinois Democrat said he’d received information from “credible whistleblowers at the highest levels” that the firings of career officials came at the direction of Patel, who is still a “private citizen,” and in coordination with White House Deputy Chief of Staff to the President Stephen Miller, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, and a newly-established FBI Director’s Advisory Team.

If the allegations are true, Durbin also said that Trump’s pick to be FBI Director “may have perjured himself” before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month at his confirmation hearing.

-- ABC News' Isabella Murray

Welcoming the Jordanian King to the White House Tuesday afternoon, Trump said "he's a good man" when asked by ABC News' senior White House correspondent Mary Bruce if he's confident he can get the King to back his plan for the Palestinian people.

When pressed on whether he will cut off aid to Jordan -- as he suggested he might last night, if the King doesn't get on board and agree to take in Palestinians -- Trump refused to comment.

The Jordanians, along with the Egyptians, have fiercely rejected Trump's calls for Palestinians to relocate to their countries, despite Trump's insistence that the U.S. will "own Gaza" and build "much better housing" for Palestinians elsewhere.

Asked by a reporter if Saturday is still his deadline for Hamas to release all the hostages, the president said "yes."

Pressed on if he thinks they will listen to him, Trump appeared to say, "I do."

-- ABC News' Mary Bruce and Molly Nagle