Trump admin live updates: Judge releases Venezuelan couple accused of being gang members, rips government evidence

Speaking to reporters after touring the Taj Mahal Wednesday morning, Vice President JD Vance told reporters he is "saddened" by the death of Pope Francis, but he is "not currently planning to attend" his funeral on Saturday.

"I was able to see him very briefly the morning of Easter Sunday. I knew he was very ill. I didn't realize how sick he was," Vance said. "The thing that I will always remember Pope Francis for is that he was a great pastor. People on the margins, poor people, people suffering from diseases. They saw in Pope Francis an advocate and I think, a true expression of Christian love."

Vance acknowledged that Francis and the Trump administration have held disagreements on policy issues in the past but says he was still a "great Christian pastor."

"Yes, I'm aware that he had some disagreements with some of the policies of our administration. He also had a lot of agreements with some of the policies of our administration. I'm not going to soil the man's legacy by talking about politics," Vance said. "I think he was a great Christian pastor, and that's how I choose to remember the Holy Father."

While not wanting to influence the papal election, Vance said he hopes the cardinals "pick somebody who will be good for the world's Catholics."

– ABC News' Alex Ederson

Tesla CEO Elon Musk opened his company's earnings call with comments defending the work he was doing with the Department of Government Efficiency.

"Working for the government to get the financial house in order is mostly done," he said, noting that the DOGE work was necessary. "I think starting probably next month in May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly."

He added that he expects to keep working for the government one or two days a week for the remainder of the Trump presidency to "make sure that the waste and fraud that we stopped does not come roaring back." But he noted that he will start shifting more time and attention back to Tesla.

-ABC News' Soo Youn

A federal judge in Washington has ordered the restoration of Voice of America’s worldwide news programming more than a month after the network was effectively shut down by the Trump administration.

Judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, sided with VOA employees in his 37-page decision.

His opinion also impacts and favors Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, but leaves their fate to separate pending litigation.

Lamberth found that the administration’s actions to swiftly shutter the networks run by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, under an executive order signed by Trump, likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

The shutdown was taken with "an absence of any analysis whatsoever," reflecting "a hasty, indiscriminate approach," and resulting in "immediate and drastic action" that harmed employees and viewers, readers and listeners of the networks.

"It is hard to fathom a more straightforward display of arbitrary and capricious actions than the Defendants' actions here," Lamberth wrote.

The judge has ordered the administration to “take all necessary steps” to return network employees to their posts, and to restore grants to RFA and MEBN.

-ABC News' Steven Portnoy

A federal judge in New York rebuked the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act, saying the president's proclamation was "contrary to the law" and comparing it to a medieval inquisition.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein temporarily extended his order blocking some deportations in New York and blasted a Justice Department lawyer for suggesting that due process is a "flexible standard."

"This is the United States of America," Hellerstein said. "People are being thrown out of the country because of their tattoos."

"The law is clear -- if you are kicking out a person, you give them an opportunity to defend themselves," he said. "You can't kick someone out by guilt by association."

While Hellerstein reserved his decision about potentially issuing a preliminary injunction to block some removals, he noted that he sees "serious problems" with Trump's recent use of the AEA, including the practice of sending migrants to El Salvador where they face inhumane conditions.

“This proclamation is contrary to the law," he said.

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous