Trump 2nd term live updates: Trump defends tariffs, declines to comment on Ukraine aid

An independent federal board has ordered the reinstatement of more than 5,000 Department of Agriculture employees, determining the USDA acted illegally when it removed probationary employees.

The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, a quasi-judicial agency that protects federal employees, is temporarily requiring the agency to reinstate any probationary employees it terminated since Feb. 13 based on "performance."

The board determined that the employees cannot be removed without providing a specific reason for their termination.

"This requirement is not a simple bureaucratic technicality -- compelling agencies to assess the specific fitness of each employee prior to terminating them ensures that outstanding employees are not arbitrarily lost and that terminations are truly in the best interests of the federal service and consistent with merit system principles," the order said.

The legal victory for the USDA employees comes after two separate court cases clarified the authority of the two key actors related to Wednesday’s decision: special counsel Hampton Dellinger and MSPB Chairwoman Cathy Harris. A federal judge on Saturday permanently reinstated Dellinger to his role running the watchdog agency that protects federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, and a separate judge on Tuesday reinstated Harris to run the MSPB, which protects government employees from partisan interference. In both instances, federal judges ruled that President Donald Trump cannot fire either person without cause. Wednesday's decision from the MSPB essentially reached the same conclusion for thousands of probationary employees who had been indiscriminately fired.

"I want to thank the MSPB for granting this important stay," Dellinger said in a statement. "Agencies are best positioned to determine the employees impacted by these mass terminations. That's why I am calling on all federal agencies to voluntarily and immediately rescind any unlawful terminations of probationary employees."

While the Trump administration has rapidly moved to fire thousands of probationary employees, the effort is beginning to hit legal roadblocks, including after a federal judge in California found the directive to fire employees was unlawful.

Some legal challenges to block the firings have been declined because the correct avenue for relief would be the MSPB. With both Dellinger and Harris back in their roles, the agency might provide relief for federal employees.

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous

In a video posted on X, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins confirmed the agency's plans to conduct a "thorough and thoughtful" review of spending with the help of DOGE.

He said the agency is planning for a 15% workforce cut, which translates to about 72,000 workers, because Collins says the VA currently has about 470,000 workers. This is lower than the previous figure reported.

"We regret anyone who loses their job, and it's extraordinarily difficult for me as a VA leader, and your secretary, to make these types of decisions. But the federal government does not exist to employ people. It exists to serve people," he said in the video.

Collins said the VA will continue to hire for open "mission critical" positions while the agency downsizes in other areas, so that "health care and benefits for VA beneficiaries are not impacted."

Collins also said the agency will save $900 million from nearly 600 canceled "non mission critical and duplicative" contracts. He and the VA previously claimed the agency would save close to $1.8 billion to $2 billion by canceling contracts.

"We owe American veterans and hundreds of thousands of amazing employees, solutions. And mark my words that is what we will deliver," he said.

-ABC News' Ben Siegel

Vice President J.D. Vance visited the border on Wednesday and was joined by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Vance touted Trump's efforts to secure the southern border during his first 45 days in office.

He was pressed on the Trump administration designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations and whether that gave the United States a "green light" to go into Mexico to strike them there.

"I'm not going to make any announcements about any invasions of Mexico here today," the vice president said. "The president has a megaphone, and of course, he'll speak to those these issues as he feels necessary."

Vance was asked by a reporter about whether there was any serious conversation about the U.S. invading Mexico, referring to his comment, and Vance responded, "No."

Vance was also asked about Trump's hopes for a border wall and said the president still hopes to see an entire border wall by the end of his term, but he also suggested there are "so many great artificial intelligence enabled technologies" that could help with border crossing detection.

The vice president didn't elaborate on those technologies.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart, Molly Nagle and Kelsey Walsh

Members of the House Freedom Caucus met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday.

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., told reporters after the meeting that they were working to get a budget resolution passed soon.

"To all the people who said you could never pass that reconciliation bill with only Republican votes, wait until next week," he teased.