White House says some employees were fired by mistake
After taking the recent buyout offer, some employees were fired, a source said.
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:
- Some employees who accepted buyout offer were fired by mistake: White House
- Trump asks SCOTUS for permission to fire ethics watchdog
- DOE official warns all schools to end 'discriminatory' DEI policies
- 13 soon to be immigration judges, 2 current judges fired by Trump admin, union says
- US floats proposal to own 50% of revenue of Ukraine's rare earth minerals
Trump calls CFPB 'a waste,' attacks Warren
After the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was effectively shuttered Monday morning, Trump said it was "the right thing" to do and laid into Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who originally proposed plans for the agency in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
When asked by a reporter in the Oval Office for his response to Democrats, including Warren, who said freezing the CFPB is giving big banks and corporations the greenlight to scam families, Trump replied, "Pocahontas," turning to an old disparaging nickname for Warren.
"You know, that was set up to destroy people. She used that as her little personal agency to go around and destroy people," he continued.
Trump said the agency "was a very important thing to get rid of" and "also a waste."
"If you looked at when she really ran it, wow, that was a vicious group of people. They really destroyed a lot of people,” Trump claimed, despite the CFPB’s mission to prevent U.S. consumers from falling victim to fraud and scams.
Asked whether his goal was to completely get rid of the CFPB, Trump said, "I would say yeah, because we’re trying to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse."
-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky
Trump says he would consider suspending aid to Egypt and Jordan over Palestinian relocation
Asked if he would consider withholding some of the billions in U.S. aid provided to Egypt and Jordan each year if they don’t agree to take in Palestinians from Gaza, Trump told reporters, "Yeah, maybe. Sure. Why not?"
"I mean, if they don't agree, if they don't agree, I would. I would conceivably withhold aid, yeah," Trump said during his Oval Office spray.
Trump was also asked whether Palestinians in the West Bank would be relocated under his plan.
"No, I assume they want to remain there," he said. "It's different. They're there. It's never been like what we're talking about with the Gaza Strip."
-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky
Trump signs executive order on paper straws
Among the executive orders Trump signed Monday evening included one related to the use of paper straws.
"Nobody really likes paper straws," Trump said while saying the order will ask federal departments and agencies to look at their existing procurement processes.
"These things don't work," he said of paper straws. "I've had them many times, and on occasion, they break, they explode. If something's hot, they don't last very long, like a matter of minutes, sometimes a matter of seconds. It's a ridiculous situation. So we're going back to plastics."
Tulsi Gabbard's nomination clears key test vote
Tulsi Gabbard's nomination to serve as director of national intelligence cleared a key test vote in the Senate on Monday by a vote of 52-46.
All Republicans voted for Trump's pick while all Democrats voted against her, with Sens. John Fetterman, D-Penn., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., absent for the vote.
Gabbard's final confirmation vote is expected to take place Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, but the timing could slide. She is expected to be confirmed.
-ABC News' Allison Pecorin and Isabella Murray