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
Judge temporarily blocks mass firing of CFPB employees
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a temporary restraining order Friday afternoon, in effect holding off on the mass firing of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees, if the order is followed, until March 3. Employees could still be fired individually for cause.
The ruling also ordered acting Director Russell Vought not to "delete, destroy, remove or impair any data, database or other CFPB records; terminate any CFPB employee, except for cause related to the specific employee's performance or conduct; issue any notice of reduction-in-force to any CFPB employee; or transfer, relinquish, or return any money from the CFPB's reserve funds."
-ABC News' Soo Youn
Judge continues to block DOGE from Treasury Dept. payment systems
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas will continue to block individuals associated with DOGE from accessing sensitive Treasury Department records and payment systems.
Vargas did not rule on whether to issue a preliminary injunction yet but opted to extend her temporary restraining order from last week. She suggested her decision would come down over the next few days.
Elon Musk, Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump have pointed to court action blocking DOGE from the systems in their broad attacks on the judiciary in recent days.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous
Trump deflects when asked who he blames for Russia-Ukraine war
As his administration begins negotiations to end the conflict, which began in February 2022 with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, President Donald Trump was asked by a reporter who he blamed for the war.
"I think that there were a lot of people to blame," Trump said. "All I can say is, very simply, if I were president, that war would never have happened."
Trump on Thursday suggested Ukraine's NATO aspirations were a factor in Russia's decision to invade.
Trump, in largely symbolic move, to prohibit federal funding to schools with COVID vaccine mandates
President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that will strip schools of federal aid if they mandate COVID vaccines -- a largely symbolic move considering that no states currently require them.
The order applies to students and not to teachers or staff. In a fact sheet provided to reporters, the White House said the order was necessary because COVID vaccine mandates were "threatening educational opportunities for students."
Trump's directive also calls on newly-confirmed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the incoming education secretary to "provide a plan to end coercive COVID-19 vaccine mandates" and report back on the compliance of schools.
-ABC News' Anne Flaherty and Kelsey Walsh