White House says some employees were fired by mistake

After taking the recent buyout offer, some employees were fired, a source said.

Last Updated: February 16, 2025, 11:07 PM EST

President Donald Trump's administration, including Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, is continuing its sweeping effort to cut much of the federal government -- but it's being met with legal challenges.

Trump is also making his second administration's first forays on the diplomatic front with calls to Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy on ending the 3-year-old war that began in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.

And a day after Hamas released more hostages taken when it attacked Israel in October 2023, Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the militant organization needs to be "eliminated."

Feb 11, 2025, 1:05 PM EST

Trump admin ordered to restore public health webpages and datasets

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., is blocking the Trump administration from removing public health data from multiple government websites.

U.S. District Judge John Bates issued a temporary restraining order that compels the federal government to restore the web pages and datasets that the Trump administration removed earlier this month.

According to the advocacy group that brought the lawsuit, those webpages and datasets covered topics ranging from environmental justice to the transmission of HIV.

“The removal of the webpages and datasets creates a dangerous gap in the scientific data available to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks, deprives physicians of resources that guide clinical practice, and takes away key resources for communicating and engaging with patients,” the lawsuit said.

-- ABC News' Peter Charalambous

Feb 11, 2025, 1:03 PM EST

DHS fires 4 employees who paid for ‘luxury hotels’ for migrants

The Department of Homeland Security has fired four employees who allegedly made payments to "luxury hotels" for migrants, according to a DHS spokesperson.

The firings include the chief financial officer and three others.

Earlier this week, Elon Musk was tweeting about how FEMA allegedly paid over $50 million to hotels for "migrant housing,” using money from the FEMA grant program.

These firings came after acting FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton posted on X on Sunday, saying payments to those luxury hotels had been suspended as of Saturday and that “personnel will be held accountable.”

– ABC News’ Luke Barr and Justin Gomez

Feb 11, 2025, 1:00 PM EST

Speaker Johnson and Rep. Greene met with Elon Musk at White House on DOGE

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene met with Elon Musk at the White House on Monday, sources familiar with the meeting tell ABC News.

This meeting comes just ahead of the first DOGE subcommittee hearing in the House that will be held on Wednesday. Greene is the chairwoman of the panel. The hearing will focus on improper payment fraud.

“We are looking at improper payments. We’re looking at potentially hundreds of billions of dollars that we can save just cutting out those improper payments – the payments to dead people, payments going overseas… cutting out complete fraud. I think it should be pretty bipartisan,” Greene said leaving the conference meeting.

Johnson applauded DOGE’s latest efforts and confirmed he met with Elon Musk to get an update, calling their work "very exciting."

-- ABC News' Lauren Peller

Feb 11, 2025, 10:46 AM EST

Courts should ‘take a step back,’ Speaker Mike Johnson says

During a press conference Tuesday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “I agree wholeheartedly with Vice President JD Vance because he’s right,” endorsing the vice president’s assertion that “judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to reporters next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 7, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters

“I think the courts should take a step back and allow these processes to play out,” he said, adding that he does not feel uncomfortable with the president’s power and reiterating his confidence in the administration in doing “what’s right by the American people.”

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