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New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne Jr. dies
CBSN
Washington — Rep. Donald Payne Jr., a Democrat from New Jersey, has died at age 65, according to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
Payne had been hospitalized since early April after he suffered "a cardiac episode based on complications from his diabetes," his office said in a statement last week. It also said he was being treated at a local hospital. The statement followed a report from the New Jersey Globe that said Payne was unconscious and on a ventilator after a heart attack on April 6.
"With his signature bowtie, big heart and tenacious spirt, Donald embodied the very best of public service," Murphy said in a statement Wednesday.
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More than 2 million federal employees face a looming deadline: By midnight on Thursday, they must decide whether to accept a "deferred resignation" offer from the Trump administration. If workers accept, according to a White House plan, they would continue getting paid through September but would be excused from reporting for duty. But if they opt to keep their jobs, they could get fired.
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More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
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In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.