From 49m ago 19.00 EST White House offers seven months’ salary to all federal employees who resign over in-person work directive All federal employees will be required to return to in-person work or resign by next week, according to a memo from the office of personnel management obtained by the Guardian. The form letter, sent by email on Tuesday evening, also includes a “deferred resignation letter” for federal employees to return before 6 February if they wish to resign and take a buyout worth seven months of salary instead of serving in a “reformed federal workforce”. The memo adds that the “majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force. These actions are likely to include the use of furloughs and the reclassification to at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees.” Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 800,000 federal and DC government workers, denounced the move in a statement. “This offer should not be viewed as voluntary,” Kelley said. “Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.” Kelley also warned, ominously: “Purging the federal government of dedicated career civil servants will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government.” Share Updated at 19.12 EST
1h ago 18.34 EST Mark Milley to be stripped of security detail and possibly demoted in retirement, White House tells Fox Mark Milley, the retired army general who served as the most senior uniformed officer at the Pentagon as chair of the joint chiefs of staff under Donald Trump and Joe Biden, is to be stripped of his security detail and possibly demoted, senior administration officials tell Fox. According to the pro-Trump broadcaster’s report, incoming defense secretary Pete Hegseth, a former host on the network, plans to announce that he is “immediately pulling” Milley’s personal security detail and security clearance. The report continues: “The secretary is also directing the new acting Inspector General to conduct a review board to determine if enough evidence exists for Gen Milley to be stripped of a star in retirement based on his actions to ‘undermine the chain of command’ during President Donald Trump’s first term, officials say”. Trump has been enraged at Milley since the former general told reporters for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times and the New Yorker that he had spent the final weeks of 2020 terrified that Trump would attack Iran, either to cling to power or to sabotage the incoming Biden administration. Susan Glasser reported for the New Yorker in 2021 that Milley coordinated his efforts with another official now on Trump’s enemies list, Mike Pompeo: To prevent such an outcome, Milley had, since late in 2020, been having morning phone meetings, at 8 A.M. on most days, with the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in the hopes of getting the country safely through to Joe Biden’s Inauguration. The chairman, a burly four-star Army general who had been appointed to the post by Trump in 2019, referred to these meetings with his staff as the “land the plane” calls—as in, “both engines are out, the landing gear are stuck, we’re in an emergency situation. Our job is to land this plane safely and to do a peaceful transfer of power the 20th of January. Trump’s rage at Milley was so intense that, according to the indictment charging Trump with mishandling classified documents, he even showed a ghostwriter for Meadows a copy of secret plans for a US attack on Iran as part of his effort to undermine Milley. Audio of Trump’s conversation with the ghostwriter, obtained by CNN, suggested that Trump had pulled out the classified war plan because he wanted to convince the writer that it was Milley, not Trump, who really wanted to go to war. To that end, Trump wrongly described the four-page outline of the Pentagon’s plan for war with Iran as something Milley had typed up himself. Share Updated at 19.17 EST
1h ago 18.24 EST Last week, the US state department froze all applications for passports with “X” sex markers and changes to gender identity on existing passports in response to an executive order Trump signed on his first day. That order – titled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government – mandates that government-issued identification documents exclusively use “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female”. These targeted orders have been met with much backlash from those within the trans community and their allies. In response to Trump’s order on the military, several current or prospective service members who are transgender are now suing both Trump and the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, citing that it violates the equal protection component of the fifth amendment. “It’s very clear that this order, in combination with the other orders that we’ve seen over the past week, are meant to not protect anyone in this country, but rather to single-mindedly drive out transgender people of all ages from all walks of civic life,” said Harper Seldin, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. Seldin said the ACLU is reviewing the order “to understand what, if anything, has immediate effect versus what needs to go through continued agency action”. Share Updated at 18.25 EST
1h ago 18.22 EST Trump signs executive order to curtail gender transition for people under 19 Jenna Amatulli Donald Trump has signed another executive order aimed at the transgender community on Tuesday, this time prohibiting gender transitions for people under the age of 19. “It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” reads the president’s executive order. The order denotes that “child” or “children” means an individual or individuals under 19 years of age and that the term “pediatric” means relating to the medical care of a child. It also clarifies that the phrase “chemical and surgical mutilation” entails puberty blockers, the use of hormones such as estrogen or testosterone, and surgical procedures. Much of what is mentioned is known as gender-affirming care. Read the full story here: Trump signs executive order to curtail gender transition for people under 19 Read more Share Updated at 18.24 EST
2h ago 17.56 EST Fran Lawther The Democratic senator for Virginia, Mark Warner, has reacted to a judge’s ruling temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s federal grants freeze: Writing on X, Warner said: “This lawless, chaotic order is halted for now, but some of the damage is already done, with countless federal websites down. We’re going to fight to ensure this doesn’t ever go into effect.” Share Updated at 18.04 EST
3h ago 17.12 EST Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump’s funding freeze A federal judge ordered a temporary halt to the Trump administration’s sweeping directive to pause federal loans, grants and other financial assistance, Reuters reports. US district judge Loren AliKhan ordered the Trump administration not to implement the block on funding to existing programs, which was to have started on Tuesday at 5pm ET, until 3 February at a hearing in Washington DC federal court. Diane Yentel, the president of the National Council of Nonprofits, which brought the emergency lawsuit, celebrated the temporary victory in a post on X, writing: “We did it (for now)! Our lawsuit was successful – the US district court is blocking OMB from moving forward on its reckless plan to halt federal funding. The stay is until Monday, so still much more to do.” Share Updated at 17.51 EST
3h ago 17.07 EST Jocelyn Samuels, a commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, confirmed in a statement that she was fired by Donald Trump by email at 10.30pm Monday night. Samuels, a Democrat who was initially appointed by Trump in 2020, then nominated for a second term by Joe Biden, said her firing was illegal. The EEOC is a bipartisan commission of five presidentially appointed members, no more than three of whom can be members of the same party. The commission is responsible for enforcing core federal laws against discrimination, including: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or sex; the Pregnancy Discrimination Act; the Equal Pay Act of 1963; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Share Updated at 17.26 EST
3h ago 16.54 EST Grassroots organizers are urging Democratic lawmakers to use all the procedural tools at their disposal to stop the Trump administration from implementing the federal funding freeze. Writing on Bluesky, Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible, called the executive action “wildly unconstitutional” and told followers: “This is a great morning to call all your elected officials and ask them to absolutely lose their shit.” Among other actions, Greenberg suggests in a post on the social media platform X, Senate Democrats should oppose all Trump cabinet nominees until this executive order is withdrawn and deny unanimous consent to slow Senate proceedings. “It’s a constitutional crisis,” she said. “There is absolutely no reason the Senate should be conducting business as usual.” Share Updated at 17.28 EST
3h ago 16.32 EST Judge holds emergency hearing in lawsuit trying to block federal grant freeze US district judge Loren AliKhan is holding a 4pm ET video hearing in the emergency lawsuit brought by the National Council of Nonprofits and small businesses to block Donald Trump’s immediate freeze on federal loans, grants and other financial assistance. Without intervention, the freeze is scheduled to begin at 5pm ET. According Diane Yentel, the president of the National Council of Nonprofits, the parties have asked the court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (or TRO) “to block the White House Office of Management and Budget from pausing all federal agency grants and loans”. Share Updated at 17.29 EST
4h ago 16.18 EST Representative Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat, is unconvinced by the White House claim that Medicaid payment portals are offline because of an “outage” rather than as a direct result of the blanket freeze on federal funding. “Bullshit. The public backlash is just too much to handle,” Frost commented on social media. “Some might be asking if they are either liars or incompetent. They are both.” Share Updated at 17.29 EST
4h ago 15.44 EST Republican lawmakers outwardly embraced Trump’s pause on federal grant funding Tuesday, according to CNN reporter Manu Raju. Raju wrote that Tom Cole , chair of the House appropriations committee, called Trump’s move a “legitimate exercise of executive oversight”. Cole claimed appropriations directed by Congress are “not a law”. Share Updated at 17.30 EST
4h ago 15.30 EST Louisiana’s Republican governor suggests grant freeze risks ‘jeopardizing financial stability’ of US Jeff Landry, Louisiana’s Republican governor, buried serious concerns about the Trump administration’s freeze on federal grant funds in a statement that opened by lauding the president’s “mandate to cut government waste and increase the impact of every federal taxpayer dollar”. In the statement, which was issued jointly with other Republican officials, Landry cautioned the office of management and budget to pursue a freeze on federal grant funding in a “responsible manner” so as to avoid “jeopardizing the financial stability of the state”. Share Updated at 17.31 EST
5h ago 15.06 EST White House confirms Medicaid portal ‘outage’ but insists it won’t affect payments Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, acknowledged that Medicaid portals were down today in a post on X, calling the issue an “outage” and writing: “The White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage. We have confirmed no payments have been affected – they are still being processed and sent. We expect the portal will be back online shortly.” Share Updated at 17.32 EST
5h ago 14.40 EST The Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted the apparent freeze on Medicaid access for providers. Writing on X, she said: “41% of all births in the US are covered by Medicaid. Overnight, Republicans are destroying healthcare for millions of Americans – and it isn’t just Trump. Republican majorities in the House and the Senate are backing this illegal sabotage. They are ALL in on it. Every one.” Share Updated at 17.32 EST
5h ago 14.36 EST The federal grant funding pause could affect Medicaid access in Florida, too, according to Democratic representative Maxwell Frost. “Just confirmed that the Trump administration shutdown the Medicaid portal for Florida,” wrote Frost on X. “There are over 3.8 MILLION Floridians on Medicaid.” The widespread reports that Medicaid portals were “down” in states across the US are coming even as the White House claims the Trump administration’s pause on federal grants will not affect the program. Share Updated at 17.33 EST
5h ago 14.30 EST Reports of Medicaid portals ‘down’ across country Numerous lawmakers report that access to Medicaid funds had been frozen in states across the country, despite White House officials’ claims that the program would not be affected by the federal grant pause. “My office has heard from Community Health Centers across Massachusetts that are unable to access their Payment Management System at HHS,” wrote the Massachusetts representative Richard Neal on X. “This is how they get paid by the federal government. That’s 2 million people in MA whose health insurance is at risk.” According to the Chicago Sun-Times, officials were unable to access Medicaid funds across the state of Illinois. “Can confirm. Connecticut’s Medicaid payment system has been turned off,” wrote Connecticut senator Chris Murphy on X. “Doctors and hospitals cannot get paid. Discussions ongoing about whether services can continue.” “My staff has confirmed reports that Medicaid portals are down in all 50 states following last night’s federal funding freeze,” said the Oregon senator Ron Wyden on X. “This is a blatant attempt to rip away health insurance from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed.” Share Updated at 17.34 EST
5h ago 14.29 EST Fact-check: Karoline Leavitt claims Americans ‘safer’ because Trump deporting ‘violent criminals’ The claim: Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, claimed Americans are “safer because of the violent criminals that President Trump is removing from our communities”. The facts: Of the nearly 1,200 arrests made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) on Sunday, nearly half of those detained did not have criminal records, according to NBC News. Just more than half of those arrested that day – nearly 52% – were considered “criminal arrests”, and the rest appeared to be non-violent offenders or people who had not committed any criminal offense other than crossing the border illegally, the outlet reports. Share Updated at 17.35 EST