Federal judge lets Trump’s ‘buyout’ plan for federal employees proceed
CNN
A federal judge in Boston Wednesday is allowing the Trump administration to move forward with its federal worker buyout program for the moment.
A federal judge in Boston on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to move forward for the moment with its deferred resignation offer for federal employees. US District Judge George O’Toole said federal employee unions, which brought a lawsuit on behalf of their members, are not directly impacted by the offer, so they lack standing to bring this case. He had previously issued a temporary restraining order against the program. The ruling is a major win for the Trump administration, which has struggled to successfully defend its policies in court in roughly four dozen lawsuits. The deferred resignation offer is a key piece of the Trump administration’s effort to downsize the federal government. At least 65,000 workers had accepted the package as of last Thursday, when O’Toole initially paused its deadline. The offer will generally allow them to leave their jobs but be paid through the end of September – though the unions and many workers have said that the information the administration has released about the package has been conflicting and confusing. The program closed as of 7 p.m. on Wednesday, said McLaurine Pinover, a spokeswoman for the Office of Personnel Management. She did not provide an update on the number of people who have signed up for the package.
President Donald Trump said negotiations to end the Ukraine war will start immediately after holding a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday morning.
The Senate voted Wednesday, to confirm former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
Elon Musk acknowledged Tuesday that there might not have been a federal plan to spend $50 million on condoms for Gaza – two weeks after the White House press secretary told the false story at an official briefing and more than a week after the president baselessly doubled the phony figure to $100 million.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the war between Ukraine and Russia “must end,” that Kyiv joining NATO is unrealistic, and that the US will no longer prioritize European and Ukrainian security as the Trump administration shifts its attention to securing the US’ own borders and deterring war with China.
The phrase “El que se enoja, pierde,” (“he who gets angry, loses”) is a popular refrain in Mexico.
Officials in Sangamon County, Illinois, have agreed to a $10 million settlement with the family of Sonya Massey –– a Black woman who was shot and killed by law enforcement in her home last year.
The inspector general of the US Agency for International Development was fired on Tuesday, a day after his office released a report critical of the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East is leaving Russia with Marc Fogel, an American teacher who was jailed in Russia and deemed “wrongfully detained” by the United States, according to a statement from National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
The novelist Salman Rushdie showed a jury his blinded right eye on Tuesday as he testified against the man charged with trying to murder him at a talk at a rural New York venue in 2022.
Conservative firebrand Steve Bannon pleaded guilty to defrauding donors in a fundraising effort to build a wall along the southern US border in a deal that allowed him to avoid prison.
Two American tourists were reportedly bitten by a shark while swimming in the Bahamas, authorities said.
The Trump administration’s effort to cut back on federal funding for the National Institute of Health for research programs at universities and medical systems has been blocked nationwide.
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