Trump cabinet told they’re in charge of hiring, not Musk – report
There appears to be more to Donald Trump’s meeting with cabinet secretaries than he let on. Politico reports that the president told them that they are in charge of hiring and firings at their agencies, not Elon Musk.
The president’s message came after signs of tensions between his secretaries and Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) flared. Doge was linked to an email sent to federal workers demanding details of their work that many agencies told their employees not to respond to, while some Republican lawmakers have said it should be up to agency heads to decide who to hire and fire.
Here’s more on the meeting, from Politico:
President Donald Trump convened his Cabinet in person on Thursday to deliver a message: You’re in charge of your departments, not Elon Musk.
According to two administration officials, Trump told top members of his administration that Musk was empowered to make recommendations to the departments but not to issue unilateral decisions on staffing and policy. Musk was also in the room.
The meeting followed a series of mass firings and threats to government workers from the billionaire Tesla founder, who helms the Department of Government Efficiency, that created broad uncertainty across the federal government and its workforce.
…
The president’s message represents the first significant move to narrow Musk’s mandate. According to Trump’s new guidance, DOGE and its staff should play an advisory role — but Cabinet secretaries should make final decisions on personnel, policy and the pacing of implementation.
Musk joined the conversation and indicated he was on board with Trump’s directive. According to one person familiar with the meeting, Musk acknowledged that DOGE had made some missteps — a message he shared earlier this week with members of Congress.
Trump stressed that he wants to keep good people in government and not eject capable federal workers en masse, according to one of the officials. It is unclear whether the new guidance will result in laid off workers getting rehired.
The timing of the meeting was influenced by recent comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), who said on CNN Tuesday that Cabinet secretaries should retain the full power to hire and fire, according to one official. The official said Trump has been flooded with similar concerns from other lawmakers and Cabinet secretaries.
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Democrats who voted to censure Al Green explain why they did it
Most Democrats opposed censuring congressman Al Green, who heckled Donald Trump during his speech to a joint session of Congress and was thrown out of the House chamber for it.
But 10 Democrats went along with the Republican-backed resolution, with several explaining that they felt they had no option if they want to hold their opponents to account in the future. Here’s Connecticut’s Jim Himes, encapsulating the sentiment:
Years ago, I voted to hold Joe Wilson accountable for yelling ‘you lie’ at Barack Obama. Today, I voted to censure Al Green for a larger disruption. Unlike Republicans, I believe that rules, accountability and civility should not be torched. And certainly not just because the other side does so. If we cannot act with the principle and seriousness our nation deserves, our government will continue to devolve into a MAGA cesspool.
Perennially endangered Washington congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez said it was a matter of respect:
Today, I voted to censure a fellow member of Congress. When you knowingly break House rules, as Rep. Green did, it shouldn’t be surprising to face consequences. Congress should respect the co-equal office of the Presidency, regardless of who holds the job, do our constitutional duty, and stop with the theatrics at these events.
Pennsylvania’s Chrissy Houlahan says she thinks many more people in the chamber should be censured, and told House speaker Mike Johnson as much:
I did indeed have a heated conversation with Speaker Johnson on the House floor after I voted yes to censure my colleague. I called Speaker Johnson out on his and his party’s hypocrisy and reminded him of the many instances in which Republicans have blatantly broken the rules of conduct without consequence. He told me if he punished each instance, he’d have to censure half the House. I suggested he do just that. Rules are rules.
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Updated at 14.48 EST
Trump cabinet told they’re in charge of hiring, not Musk – report
There appears to be more to Donald Trump’s meeting with cabinet secretaries than he let on. Politico reports that the president told them that they are in charge of hiring and firings at their agencies, not Elon Musk.
The president’s message came after signs of tensions between his secretaries and Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) flared. Doge was linked to an email sent to federal workers demanding details of their work that many agencies told their employees not to respond to, while some Republican lawmakers have said it should be up to agency heads to decide who to hire and fire.
Here’s more on the meeting, from Politico:
President Donald Trump convened his Cabinet in person on Thursday to deliver a message: You’re in charge of your departments, not Elon Musk.
According to two administration officials, Trump told top members of his administration that Musk was empowered to make recommendations to the departments but not to issue unilateral decisions on staffing and policy. Musk was also in the room.
The meeting followed a series of mass firings and threats to government workers from the billionaire Tesla founder, who helms the Department of Government Efficiency, that created broad uncertainty across the federal government and its workforce.
…
The president’s message represents the first significant move to narrow Musk’s mandate. According to Trump’s new guidance, DOGE and its staff should play an advisory role — but Cabinet secretaries should make final decisions on personnel, policy and the pacing of implementation.
Musk joined the conversation and indicated he was on board with Trump’s directive. According to one person familiar with the meeting, Musk acknowledged that DOGE had made some missteps — a message he shared earlier this week with members of Congress.
Trump stressed that he wants to keep good people in government and not eject capable federal workers en masse, according to one of the officials. It is unclear whether the new guidance will result in laid off workers getting rehired.
The timing of the meeting was influenced by recent comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), who said on CNN Tuesday that Cabinet secretaries should retain the full power to hire and fire, according to one official. The official said Trump has been flooded with similar concerns from other lawmakers and Cabinet secretaries.
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Trump praises Musk’s ‘Doge’, vows to keep downsizing government
Donald Trump restated his support for Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency”, and vowed to continue helping him cut down federal agencies.
The president’s comments came as judges nationwide consider challenges to Trump and Musk’s moves, including their attempts to shutter USAid. Yesterday, the supreme court ruled that the Trump administration must abide by a judge’s order for the aid agency to pay $2b to its partners, a sign that the conservative-dominated court may not be entirely onboard with the unorthodox downsizing campaign.
“DOGE has been an incredible success, and now that we have my Cabinet in place, I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He continued:
We just had a meeting with most of the Secretaries, Elon, and others, and it was a very positive one. It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people. We’re going to have these meetings every two weeks until that aspect of this very necessary job is done. The relationships between everybody in that room are extraordinary. They all want to get to the exact same place, which is, simply, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Doge continues to face substantial, though not necessarily durable, pushback as it spreads its campaign across the federal government:
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The Republican-majority US House Judiciary Committee has reportedly issued a subpoena to tech company Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google.
Reuters is reporting that the committee is seeking the company’s internal communications as well as those with third parties and government officials during Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.
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A day after the supreme court denied a request from the Trump administration to continue freezing nearly $2bn in foreign aid, US foreign aid contractors and grant recipients are set to go before a federal judge today to try to restore the halted funding.
The hearing is scheduled to take place in Washington today at 2 pm ET.
When Donald Trump took office on 20 January, he ordered a 90-day freeze on all US foreign assistance, while his administration reviewed whether aid was consistent with his “America first” foreign policy, temporarily ending thousands of programs worldwide.
Several aid organisations that had received grants or contracts with the US government sued the administration, and a US District judge ordered that the funding be temporarily restored.
But, the Trump administration then filed an emergency request with the supreme court and Chief Justice Roberts initially paused the deadline to allow the court more time to review the request and hear from both sides.
Until this week, when the supreme court rejected the administration’s bid to continue freezing nearly $2bn in foreign aid, leaving in place the ruling from the district judge, which ordered the administration to unfreeze the nearly $2bn in aid, for work already completed by the organizations and that had been approved by Congress.
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Marina Dunbar
Tim Walz, Minnesota governor and 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, said in an announcement today that he wants fired federal workers to consider jobs in his state.
“In Minnesota, we value the experience and expertise of federal workers, even if Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE do not,” Walz said in a statement. “Government workers provide services each of us relies on — from park rangers to firefighters to medical personnel who care for our veterans. If the Trump administration turned you away, Minnesota wants you.”
Walz said that fired federal workers in his state can visit Minnesota’s careers website for resources to help with their job searches and to apply for unemployment benefits. He also said it will include resources for fired veterans.
There are around 18,000 federal employees in Minnesota.
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Fox News’ senior White House correspondent is reporting that a meeting between Ukraine and the US is scheduled to take place on Tuesday next week.
“Rubio, Witkoff, Waltz headed to Riyadh on Tuesday to meet with Ukrainians, including Yermak” Jacqui Heinrich posted on X today.
Follow along in our Ukraine live blog here:
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Scheinbaum says ‘virtually all’ Mexico-US trade now exempt
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that “virtually all” of Mexico’s trade with the US is under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, known as USMCA, which will be exempt from tariffs until 2 April.
“Practically all the trade we have with the United States is within the Mexico, United States, Canada Agreement” Sheinbaum said at a news conference on Thursday, as reported by CNN. “There is a part that has to do with rules of origin, but everything is practically within the trade agreement.”
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Updated at 13.19 EST
Indivisible, a progressive group that emerged in 2016, has criticized the 10 Democrats who joined Republicans in censuring Representative Al Green this morning.
“Rep. Green had the spine to call out Trump’s blatant lies on Tuesday night” Indivisible’s co-executive director Ezra Levin said in a statement. “That’s the kind of Democratic leadership we need-not tone-policing, not pearl-clutching, and certainly not pretending this is a normal presidency.”
Levin added that if “Trump wants respect, he can start by respecting the laws of this country and ending his coup.”
“An unelected billionaire is handing teenagers the keys to Americans’ most sensitive data-yet 10 House Democrats just sided with Republicans to police criticism of Trump” Levin said. “These ten Democrats decided their priority was upholding ‘norms’ that the GOP has torched for years — all while tens of millions of Americans brace for the devastating consequences of MAGA’s extreme cuts.”
The group also questioned why Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader, did not take action to unify his caucus on this issue, stating, “Jeffries didn’t unify his own damn members to protect his own damn caucus. He could have prevented this Democratic fracture and presented a united front. He chose not to.”
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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that the US will exert a campaign of maximum pressure of sanctions on Iran to collapse its oil exports and put pressure on its currency.
Speaking to members at the Economic Club of New York, Bessent said, that “making Iran broke again will mark the beginning of our updated sanctions policy” according to the Associated Press.
He also reportedly said that the US government would consider going “all in” on sanctions on Russian energy, if it helps lead to a ceasefire in the Ukraine war, according to Bloomberg.
Sanctions on Russia, Bessent reportedly said, “will be used explicitly and aggressively for immediate maximum impact.”
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Marina Dunbar
Four Wisconsin voters whose ballots were not counted in the November 2024 presidential election initiated a class-action lawsuit Thursday seeking $175,000 in damages each.
The voters were among 193 in Madison, Wisconsin whose ballots were misplaced by the city clerk and not discovered until weeks after the election. The uncounted ballots reportedly did not affect the result of any races.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission investigated but did not determine whether Madison Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl failed to comply with state law or abused her discretion.
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Callum Jones
In his post on Truth Social this morning, President Donald Trump said that “after speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement.”
But, Mexico was not required to pay tariffs in the first place.
Tariffs are not paid by countries, but importers who buy products from businesses in the targeted countries. In this case, US tariffs on products from Mexico are paid by the US companies importing those products.
Take Target – The retail giant’s CEO noted earlier this week that it relies heavily on Mexican produce during the winter months. Fruit and vegetable prices would likely rise swiftly on the shelves of its US stores, he warned after the tariffs were imposed.
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What we know and don’t know about Mexico tariff exemption
Callum Jones
On tariffs, Donald Trump’s latest Truths raise more questions than they answer.
What we know:
What we don’t know:
What about products exported from Canada to the US?
What has changed since Tuesday, when tariffs were imposed?
What about products exported from Mexico after Tuesday, but before 11.29am on Thursday, when Trump announced they were shelved?
What happens after 2 April?
What has Mexico done that Canada hasn’t?
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Updated at 12.21 EST
Marina Dunbar
Walmart has asked some Chinese suppliers for major price cuts, with attempts by the US retail giant to shift the burden of Trump’s tariffs meeting push back from firms in China, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
Certain suppliers, including makers of kitchenware and clothing, have been asked to lower their prices by as much as 10% per round of tariffs, essentially asking suppliers to shoulder the full cost of Trump’s duties, the report said.
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Updated at 12.17 EST
Mexico’s president says call was ‘excellent’
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum describes the phone call with President Donald Trump as “excellent and respectful” and says that the countries will continue to work together.
In a post on social media, Sheinbaum confirmed the agreement between Mexico and the US to pause tariffs on Mexico’s USCMA compliant goods until April 2.
She said that the two countries will continue to work together, particularly on migration and security issues.
The agreement between the US and Mexico is in place until 2 April, she said, which is when the United States plans to announce reciprocal tariffs for all countries.
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Updated at 12.03 EST
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski has taken to social media to criticise DOGE, after she met with some USAid employees in her state of Alaksa.
“This week, I met with some Alaskan USAID employees” the Senator wrote. “They not only informed me of the confusing and callous handling of personnel matters by OPM and DOGE, but they also painted an incredibly troubling picture of what the world looks like without humanitarian assistance from the United States.”
“Although I support measures to find inefficiencies within the agency, USAID’s mission to keep people healthy and safe in even the most remote corners of the world should not be eliminated” she added.
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Judge extends block barring Trump administration from freezing grants and loans
Marina Dunbar
A federal judge extended a block barring the Trump administration from freezing grants and loans, potentially totaling trillions of dollars.
On Thursday, US District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island indefinitely prohibited the federal government from freezing or otherwise impeding the disbursement of appropriated federal funds to state governments.
The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen Democratic states following the Trump administration’s plan for a sweeping pause on federal spending caused great concern across the US.
McConnell said in his ruling that the executive branch was trying to put itself above Congress and by doing so “undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government.”
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Trump says he is suspending tariffs on many Mexican goods for one month
President Donald Trump has announced that after speaking with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum he has agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay tariffs on anything that falls under the US-Mexico-Canada-Agreement until 2 April.
His post reads:
After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement. This Agreement is until April 2nd. I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl. Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!
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Updated at 12.18 EST
