The White House i s pausing federal grants and loans starting on Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s administration begins an across-the-board ideological review of its spending.
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Trump White House adds seats for ‘new media voices’ in the briefing room
During her first media briefing Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was opening up seats beside her podium, which had traditionally been occupied by administration staff, to “new media voices.”
Two of those seats were occupied Tuesday by Axios and Breitbart, a conservative news outlet.
Other traditional assigned seating in the room wasn’t changed.
Leavitt said more Americans are getting their news from nontraditional new sources, rather than legacy outlets who already have briefing room seats.
“I take great pride in opening up this room to new media voices,” she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt started the first news briefing of the new Trump presidency
She began by going through the recent arrests of unauthorized immigrants.
Dressed in a magenta pantsuit with a cross necklace, Leavitt went on Tuesday through the administration’s actions since Trump returned to the presidency last week. She said reporters have “access to the most transparent and accessible president in American history.”
Leavitt said the White House will talk much more broadly to new media outlets and will accept applications from podcasters and social media influencers to be in the briefing room. Leavitt also said people who lost their White House press passes during Joe Biden’s presidency will have their access returned.
The first question went to Mike Allen of Axios.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Trump has invited him to the White House on Feb. 4
This will make Netanyahu the first foreign leader to visit Washington in Trump’s second term.
The visit comes as the United States is pressuring Israel and Hamas to continue a ceasefire that has paused a devastating 15-month war in Gaza.
CNN’s Jim Acosta, an irritant to Trump, says he’s quitting rather than take a late-night time slot
Acosta announced his departure Tuesday at the end of his one-hour morning show on the network, telling viewers: “Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear.”
He didn’t specifically tie those sentiments to President Trump, but the implication was clear. CNN says its decision to move Acosta out of the daylight and into a time slot to begin at midnight Eastern time had nothing to do with politics.
Less than a half hour before Acosta’s announcement, Trump posted on social media that rumors that the anchor was leaving were good news. “Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up,” Trump said on Truth Social.
CNN announced last week — Trump’s first week back in office — that it was shuffling its daytime lineup to move Wolf Blitzer into Acosta’s 10 a.m. ET time slot, paired with Pamela Brown. The network said it had offered Acosta a job at midnight and would move him to Los Angeles, where his show would air at 9 p.m., and also simulcast the program on CNN International.
But Acosta, who has been at CNN for 18 years, said Tuesday he had turned that down.
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Sean Duffy is confirmed by the Senate to lead the Transportation Department
It gives him a key role in helping President cut regulations and fix the nation’s infrastructure.
The former Wisconsin congressman has promised safer Boeing planes, less regulation and help for U.S. companies developing self-driving cars — while not giving any breaks to , a key player in that technology.
Duffy, a 53-year-old former reality TV star, was approved with bipartisan support on a 77-22 vote in the Senate.
He takes over the Department of Transportation at a crucial time at the agency, a massive employer of more than 55,000 that spends tens of billions of dollars annually, oversees the nation’s highways, railroads and airspace and sets safety standards for trains, cars and trucks.
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West Virginia’s GOP governor says Trump’s funding pause ‘generally is correct’
As of midday Tuesday, West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey said he didn’t yet have much insight into how the White House freeze on federal grants and loans would affect the state or its residents. Almost half of the state’s annual budget is made up of federal funds.
“What we’re going to do is we’re going to try to unpack that and talk with the Trump administration about that,” he said.
He then on to say “President Trump is going to be an amazing president.”
“Look, I do think what President Trump is trying to do generally is correct,” he said. “The federal government and quite frankly, the state government, has operated way beyond its means. Right? So you finally have leadership in Washington, you have leadership here in Charleston. I’m going to work just like President Trump to tackle the issues and be transparent.”
Will billions for Medicaid be halted?
Medicaid is notably not exempt from a White House directive to pause all federal grants and loans by the end of day Tuesday. Medicare and Social Security, however, were spared in the memo.
The U.S. Health and Human Services agency doles out over a half trillion dollars to states in a joint partnership to run Medicaid, the nation’s health care coverage for about 80 million of the poorest of Americans, including millions of children.
A spokesman for Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office said the state’s agencies have reported issues accessing the website used to request disbursement for Medicaid payments.
HHS did not immediately respond to questions about the spending freeze and whether Medicaid payments would continue.
Voting rights groups are concerned about priorities shifting under Trump’s Justice Department
That’s because the Justice Department appears poised to take a very different approach to investigating voting and elections.
Conservative calls to overhaul the department by removing career employees, increasing federal voter fraud cases and investigating the 2020 election are raising concerns among voting rights groups about the future of the agency under , a longtime ally of President .
Bondi supported Trump’s legal efforts to overturn the 2020 Pennsylvania election results, has reiterated his about that year and during her Senate refused to directly state that former President Joe , saying only that she accepted the results. She pledged to remain independent.
“Nobody should be prosecuted for political purposes,” Bondi told senators.
The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said after the hearing that he was struggling with Bondi’s responses to key questions.
“Pam Bondi has proved herself loyal to Donald Trump and wealthy special interests — and not the American people,” Illinois Sen. said in a Jan. 15 statement. “The American people deserve an attorney general who will protect their right to vote always, not only when it’s convenient or suits your political party.”
Bondi’s nomination is scheduled for a committee vote Wednesday.
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Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers: ‘States are left to plan for the worst’
The Democratic governor wrote President Trump a letter Tuesday asking him to delay implementation of the pause on federal aid and provide “immediate guidance, information, and clarification” on its effects.
Evers said he was “deeply concerned that these actions could have disastrous consequences for the people of Wisconsin and our state.”
Evers said more time is needed for a “thorough and thoughtful review and feedback from all those who may be directly impacted.”
“With very few details and specifics available, virtually no time for ample review and consideration, and no direct communication to date, states are left to plan for the worst,” Evers said in the letter.
He said Wisconsin residents and millions of Americans “rightfully alarmed and concerned by this unprecedented decision are left scrambling.”
EPA says it’s working to implement pause on federal grants and loans ordered by the White House
An Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman says the pause will “align federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through President Trump’s priorities.”
The agency is temporarily pausing all activities related to the obligation or disbursement of EPA federal financial assistance, spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou said Tuesday.
The EPA controls billions of dollars in grants and other spending, including through the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law, as well as programs intended to ensure safe drinking water and other goals. The money goes to state and local governments as well as tribes and nonprofit groups.
“EPA is continuing to work with OMB as they review processes, policies and programs, as required by the memorandum,” Vaseliou said.
NY Attorney General Letitia James plans to file a lawsuit to block the Trump administration’s funding freeze
James, a Democrat, will ask a Manhattan federal court to issue a temporary retraining order halting the Republican administration’s action, which is set to halt federal grants and funding streams.
“My office will be taking imminent legal action against this administration’s unconstitutional pause on federal funding,” James said in a social media post. “We won’t sit idly by while this administration harms our families.”
On Monday, she knocked the freeze as “reckless and dangerous” and a threat to families that rely on those funds.
James has been a fierce critic of Trump and his policies. She sued his first administration dozens of times, challenging policies on the environment, immigration, education, health care and other issues. She also fought Trump on his plans to include a question about immigration status on the Census, winning in the U.S. Supreme Court.
She also sued him over his practices as a businessman, winning a civil fraud judgment against him, his company and top executives last year that has soared to more than $500 million with interest. Trump is appealing.
A Trump defense department nominee faces questions over withholding Ukraine aid
President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the military’s top weapons buyer is an official who directed the Pentagon to as Trump sought a commitment from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate the Biden family — a key component of the in his first term.
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren questioned whether Michael Duffey would follow the law as top weapons buyer overseeing a $311 billion budget. He’s Trump’s nominee to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment Monday about Duffey’s nomination or whether his nomination signaled a change in direction for weapons support to Ukraine.
Advocacy groups ready to file the first lawsuit to challenge Trump’s new order on transgender troops
It’s the same legal team that spent years fighting Trump’s ban on transgender troops in his first administration, tying it up in the courts before then-President Joe Biden scrapped it when he took office.
Trump’s new order, signed Monday, claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle” and is harmful to military readiness. It requires Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to issue a revised policy.
“The law is very clear that the government can’t base policies on disapproval of particular groups of people. That’s animus. And animus-based laws are presumed to be invalid and unconstitutional,” said Shannon Minter, legal director for the ɫֱ Center for Lesbian Rights.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Senators call Trump’s funding freeze an attack on communities and the power of Congress
Democratic Senators are describing panicked calls coming overnight from communities back home afraid of what will happen to programs for children, seniors, public works and disease research as the Trump administration pauses federal funding for review.
“This is no way to govern,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, said at a news conference at the Capitol.
Congress has the power of the purse but the administration’s action is seen as a direct challenge to that authority, all but courting legal action with drawn out lawsuits.
“This is a profound constitutional issue,” said Sen. Angus King, the independent from Maine.
“What happened last night is he most direct assault on the authority of Congress. I believe , in the history of the United States,” King said.
Senate Democrats call for postponing confirmation vote of Trump’s budget chief
That comes after the “massive, massive overreach” of the administration’s sudden funding freeze, said Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state.
Trump’s budget director nominee, Russ Vought, is widely understood to be the chief architect of the plan Murray said Americans did not sign up for.
“Trump’s actions would wreak havoc in red and blue communities everywhere,” Murray said.
“We are talking about our small towns, or cities our school districts,” she said.
She said Vought’s confirmation should be on hold until the Trump administration follows the law.
Longtime budget watchers warn Trump’s funding freeze is threatening programs Americans depend on
“This new OMB memo is certain to cause chaos and could result in serious harm to a broad swath of people and communities around the country,” wrote Sharon Parrott a former White House budget official who’s now president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
She said the Trump administration “seems determined to subvert Congress, its hand-waving about following the law notwithstanding.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer says congressional offices have been ‘deluged with calls from people in panic’
“This decision is lawless, dangerous, destructive, cruel. It’s illegal,” Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said at the Capitol.
“Plain and simple, this is Project 2025.”
Education Department says the pause doesn’t apply to grants received directly by individuals
That includes the more than 40 million Americans with federal student loans and 7 million with federal Pell Grants for low-income students.
This means students who rely on federal financial aid to pay for tuition and other costs are not expected to see any disruption from the pause. Department officials said they’re still reviewing the effect of the memo.
The White House memo on federal aid came as a shock to some
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Marcia Howard, executive director of Federal Funds Information for States, a nonprofit that analyzes the effect of federal actions on states. “It is unprecedented.”
Although the federal government has rescinded unspent funds in the past, it hasn’t normally halted grants on the front-end, she said. The grant pause is perhaps most similar to a federal government shutdown, when a congressional impasse on spending legislation delays federal payments for some state and local services.
“What we generally have observed with states under those circumstances is that a couple of weeks isn’t hugely disruptive,” Howard said.
States on average receive about 30% of their revenues from the federal government, according to Federal Funds Information for States. The largest grant program is Medicaid, which provides health care for lower-income children and adults. But it’s unclear whether the Trump administration’s pause will interrupt the flow of Medicaid reimbursement funds to states.
The pause is the latest example Trump harnessing his power to advance his conservative goals
Washington is a hub of spending that flows to various departments, local governments, nonprofits and contractors, and the memo has left countless people who are dependent on that money wondering how they’ll be affected.
Unlike during his first term, when Trump and many members of his inner circle were unfamiliar with Washington, this time he’s reaching deep into the bureaucracy.
“They are pushing the president’s agenda from the bottom up,” said Paul Light, an expert on the federal government and professor emeritus of public service at New York University.
He also said there are risks in Trump’s approach, especially with so many voters reliant on Washington.
“You can’t just hassle, hassle, hassle. You’ve got to deliver.”
Immigrant and refugee advocates were cut off even before Monday’s funding pause
Last week, the Justice Department halted contracts to provide legal information to people facing deportation in immigration court. Government-funded nonprofit groups were told in an email “to stop work immediately” on helping people navigate the system’s complex laws and procedures.
“We often hear that people don’t know what’s happening. Why are they detained? What’s going to happen next? And we are being stopped from even giving that basic level of orientation,” said Michael Lukens, executive director of Amica Center for Immigrant Rights.
The State Department told groups that give temporary housing and job training to resettled refugees to stop work immediately on government-funded efforts. Global Refuge said it affected 5,870 refugees under its watch.
“Recently arrived refugees who fled unimaginable danger and lawfully came to the U.S. rely on the initial assistance of Global Refuge to help them navigate life in America,” Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, the group’s president, wrote in a fund-raising pitch Monday.
State official awaiting guidance on effect of memo pausing federal loans and grants
In Kansas, state Transportation Secretary Calvin Reed said he learned of the Trump administration’s move Monday night and that the agency is still reviewing it and awaiting more guidance from federal officials.
Federal funds are a key source of money for highway and bridge projects, and the department expects to receive $664 million in federal funds during the 12 months beginning July 1, almost 40% of its annual budget of nearly $1.7 billion.
“We think it’s a low risk for our typical everyday highway projects,” he said Tuesday, before briefing a legislative committee on his department’s operations. “The target seems to be some of the initiatives that the Trump administration has said publicly that they want to change, things like DEI, electric vehicle infrastructure.”
Democrats and independent organizations criticize the administration for federal grant pause
They described the administration’s actions as capricious and illegal because Congress had already authorized the funding.
“More lawlessness and chaos in America as Donald Trump’s Administration blatantly disobeys the law by holding up virtually all vital funds that support programs in every community across the country,” said a statement from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York. “If this continues, the American people will pay an awful price.”
Medicare and Social Security benefits won't be affected by the pause in federal grants and loans
That’s according to the memo on the pause from Matthew Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.
But there was no explanation of whether the pause would affect Medicaid, food stamps, disaster assistance and other programs. The memo said it should be implemented “to the extent permissible under applicable law.”
Pentagon directed by Trump to begin developing the capability to shoot down missiles from space
For years, the U.S. has cautioned that China, Russia and others were weaponizing space. It has at times declassified information about both countries’ efforts to create offensive weapons to disable critical U.S. satellites, including the capability to move satellites from orbit, temporarily blind them or potentially even destroy them.
The U.S. Space Force is building a low-orbit ring of redundant satellites that can more quickly track and detect potential missile launches.
But establishing a way to shoot missiles down from space is something the U.S. hasn’t pursued since President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative — “Star Wars” as it was commonly known — in the 1980s. The system was never developed due to cost and technological limitations.
Trump is pausing federal loans and grants as his administration reviews spending
The decision by the Republican administration could affect trillions of dollars and cause widespread disruption in health care research, education programs and other initiatives. Even grants that have been awarded but not spent are supposed to be halted.
“The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” said a memo from Matthew Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The pause takes effect Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET, and it’s unclear from the memo how sweeping it will be. Vaeth said all spending must comply with , which are intended to undo progressive steps on , environmental justice and .
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Google to change map names for Gulf of Mexico and Denali when the US updates them
After taking office, President Donald Trump ordered that the water bordered by the Southern United States, Mexico and Cuba be renamed to the . He also ordered America’s highest mountain peak be changed back to .
“We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources,” Google said in a post on X.
The company said Maps will reflect any updates to the Geographic Names Information System, a database of more than 1 million geographic features in the United States.
“When that happens, we will update Google Maps in the U.S. quickly to show Mount McKinley and Gulf of America,” Google said.
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Karoline Leavitt, the new White House press secretary, will hold her first briefing Tuesday
Although Leavitt recently took questions from reporters aboard Air Force One, she hasn’t used the briefing room until Tuesday’s briefing, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, it was the site of clashes between the administration and journalists. It also went unused for long stretches of time. Trump’s third press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, never held a briefing.
It’s unclear how frequently Leavitt, the youngest press secretary at 27, plans to speak from the podium, a role that will make her among the most recognizable members of Trump’s administration.
US places dozens of senior aid officials on leave, citing possible resistance to Trump orders
At least 56 senior officials in the top U.S. aid and development agency were placed on leave Monday amid an investigation into an alleged effort to thwart President Donald Trump’s orders.
A current official and a former official at the U.S. Agency for International Development confirmed the reason given for the move Monday. Both spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Several hundred contractors based in Washington and elsewhere also were laid off, the officials said.
It follows Trump’s executive order last week that directed a sweeping disbursed through the State Department.
As a result of the freeze, thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development and security programs worldwide had stopped work or were preparing to do so. Without funds to pay staff, aid organizations were laying off hundreds of employees.
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Netanyahu hopes to meet Trump in Washington as soon as next week, US officials say
Israeli Prime Minister is hoping to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington as early as next week, according to two U.S. officials familiar with preliminary planning for the trip.
Should the trip come together in that timeframe, Netanyahu could be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump at the White House since his inauguration last week. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the planning remains tentative, said details could be arranged when Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, travels to Israel this week for talks with Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.
Trump teased the upcoming visit in a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One, but didn’t provide scheduling details. “I’m going to be speaking with Bibi Netanyahu in the not too distant future,” he said.
Netanyahu’s plans were first reported by Axios. Netanyahu’s spokesman, Omer Dostri, said Monday on the social platform X that the Israeli leader has not yet received an official invitation to the White House.
An Israeli official, however, said Netanyahu is expected to go to the White House in February but did not have a date. That official spoke on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement.
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Trump’s tariff threat worked on Colombia, but his plans for Canada and Mexico carry higher stakes
Having already forced Colombia to accept deportees by threatening a 25% tariff, is readying the same move against Canada and Mexico as soon as Saturday.
But this time, the stakes are higher and many economists surveying the possible damage doubt Trump would be comfortable with what they say would be self-inflicted wounds from the tariffs.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that tariffs are coming on , despite both countries seeking to address his stated concerns about illegal border crossings and the smuggling of fentanyl. But the Republican president is also motivated by the idea that tariffs would force other countries to “respect” the United States.
“We’re going to immediately install massive tariffs,” Trump said in a Monday speech, adding, “Colombia is traditionally a very, very strong-willed country,” but it .
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