Feb 11, 2025, 4:06 PM EST
Egyptian president postpones trip to Washington
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi postponed his trip to Washington, D.C., indefinitely, Egyptian media reported Tuesday.
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy
White House says some employees were fired by mistake
After taking the recent buyout offer, some employees were fired, a source said.
ByAlexandra Hutzler, Emily Chang, Kevin Shalvey, Meredith Deliso, Julia Reinstein, Ivan Pereira, and Jon Haworth
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."
Latest headlines:
- Feb 16, 2025, 10:43 PM EST
- Feb 16, 2025, 6:46 PM EST
- Feb 16, 2025, 6:18 PM EST
- Feb 16, 2025, 1:48 PM EST
- Feb 15, 2025, 5:06 PM EST
Here's how the news is developing.
Feb 11, 2025, 3:57 PM EST
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.
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.
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."
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
