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."
Musk speaks about DOGE's work in public for the first time
Musk spoke with the U.S. media for the first time since Trump's inauguration, claiming that the goal of DOGE was to "restore democracy."
Musk argued that we have to "fix the feedback loop" so that the bureaucracy is not in charge so that the bureau is responsive to the people. Musk said that the country was going bankrupt.
"It's not optional to reduce federal expenses, it's essential," Musk said.
Elon Musk listens to President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Feb. 11, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Musk said DOGE is exploring federal employees who had high net worths despite their low pay and it's working on making "categorization codes" for the federal government.
He also said that it could take up to a year to get on the "do not pay list."
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
Feb 11, 2025, 3:43 PM EST
Trump joined by Musk in Oval Office
Trump is seated in the Resolute Desk ahead of speaking to the press pool that covers the White House on Tuesday afternoon.
He is joined by Elon Musk and Musk's son.
John F. Kennedy Jr. explores his father's desk in the Oval Office of the White House, on May 25, 1962, in Washington, D.C. | Elon Musk's son X Æ A-Xii leans on the Resolute desk as President Donald Trump looks on in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., Feb. 11, 2025
Bettmann Archive via Getty Images | Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Feb 11, 2025, 3:19 PM EST
Johnson says courts should 'step back' and let DOGE work
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, again defended Elon Musk and DOGE, pushing back on court orders blocking the group's moves.
"I think the courts should take a step back and allow these processes to play out," Johnson said in a news conference Tuesday. "What we're doing is good and right for the American people. What DOGE is doing is making sure that your taxpayer dollars, all of us, are spent in the way that they're intended to be spent."
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson departs a House Republican Conference Meeting at the U.S. Capitol, Feb. 11, 2025 in Washington.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Several judges, including a Trump-appointed judge, have ruled against the administration and argued that its cuts, freezes and other orders may be unconstitutional.
Johnson added he agreed "wholeheartedly" with Vice President JD Vance, who posted this weekend that "judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power."
The speaker then went a step farther, saying he doesn’t feel other branches of government -- namely the legislative branch -- are getting steamrolled by DOGE, even though Trump and Musk have repeatedly limited the spending of congressionally appropriated dollars.
-ABC News' Lauren Peller, John Parkinson, Arthur Jones II and Jay O'Brien
Feb 11, 2025, 2:44 PM EST
Jordan says it will take in 2,000 sick Palestinian children from Gaza
Jordan says it will take in 2,000 sick Palestinian children from Gaza
When ABC News' Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked why Jordan should take in Palestinians, given that the King has rejected those calls, Trump put the King on the spot.
"But he may have just something to say because we discussed it just briefly. I think maybe you want to say it now," Trump said, turning to the King.
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington.
Aaron Schwartz/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
"I think we have to keep in mind that there is a plan from Egypt and the Arab countries. We're being invited by Mohammed bin Salman to discussions in Riyadh. I think the point is is, how do we make this good for everybody. Obviously, we have to look at the best interest of the United States, of the people in the region, especially to my people of Jordan, and we're going to have some interesting discussions today," Abdullah said.
He then announced plans to take in 2,000 children from Gaza, despite his previous rejection of Trump's calls for Palestinians to relocate to Jordan. But he wouldn't commit to anything beyond that.
"I think one of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children that are either cancer children or in a very ill state to Jordan as quickly as possible. And then wait for, I think the Egyptians to present their plan on how we can work with the president to work on a collage of challenges," Abdullah said.
-- ABC News' Mary Bruce, Molly Nagle, and Michelle Stoddart
