President Donald Trump is defending his decision to pause some tariffs to Canada and Mexico for another month -- a notable reversal after imposing historic levies on the key U.S. trading partners earlier this week, causing markets to tumble.
On Friday, Trump signed more executive orders at the White House before he convened a first-ever cryptocurrency summit with industry leaders.
President Trump claims he notified Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser that she must clean up the homeless encampments, specifically those near the State Department and the White House.
“Washington, D.C. must become CLEAN and SAFE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
In this Feb. 20, 2025, file photo, homeless people live in tents they set up on the sidewalk near the White House, in Washington, D.C.
Anadolu via Getty Images, FILE
The President has long called for improved safety in Washington.
About two weeks ago aboard Air Force One the president said that the federal government should take over D.C. to make it safe again.
“Too much crime, too much -- too many tents on the lawns -- these magnificent lawns,” Trump said at the time.
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh
Mar 05, 2025, 6:40 PM EST
Speaker Mike Johnson's chief of staff arrested for DUI after Trump's speech
Speaker Mike Johnson's chief of staff was arrested by the U.S. Capitol Police on charges of driving under the influence Tuesday night after President Donald Trump's address to Congress, multiple people familiar with the incident told ABC News.
Hayden Haynes backed into a parked Capitol Police vehicle at the Capitol complex, the sources added.
Capitol Police confirmed that "a driver backed into a parked vehicle last night around 11:40 p.m. We responded and arrested them for DUI."
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson leaves after the House passed the Republican's budget resolution on the spending bill on Feb. 25, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
Johnson's spokesman Taylor Haulsee said in a statement to ABC News that the speaker was aware of the incident.
"The Speaker has known and worked closely with Hayden for nearly a decade and trusted him to serve as his Chief of Staff for his entire tenure in Congress. Because of this and Hayden's esteemed reputation among Members and staff alike, the Speaker has full faith and confidence in Hayden's ability to lead the Speaker's office," he said.
Haynes was spotted in the back of the House chamber at the beginning of Trump's address. He was arrested after the speech ended.
-ABC News' Rachel Scott and Jack Date
Mar 05, 2025, 5:54 PM EST
Trump met with eight hostages in the Oval Office, White House says
The president met with eight of the released hostages from Gaza in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the White House said.
According to a statement from the press secretary, the eight Americans thanked President Donald Trump for his efforts to bring them home.
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, March 4, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Edan Alexander is the last American-Israeli hostage to remain alive in Gaza.
-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh
Mar 05, 2025, 5:53 PM EST
Federal board temporarily reinstates more than 5,000 USDA workers
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.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seen in Washington, March 18, 2012.
Gary Cameron/Reuters, FILE
"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.
