Trump secures pay increase for wildland firefighters while DOGE fires critical support staff
CBSN
Wildland firefighters will keep a 4-year-old pay hike under a GOP-led spending bill signed by President Donald Trump, but many worry that mass federal worker firings will leave the nation more vulnerable to wildfires.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Wednesday credited Trump with securing the pay increase in a post on the social media site X. He said the administration is grateful to firefighters who he said "embody the American spirit by selflessly risking their lives to protect their neighbors, protect their communities and preserve our natural heritage."
The permanent pay raise comes as Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has cut about 3,400 workers at the U.S. Forest Service, about 1,000 at the National Park Service and another 1,000 at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Washington — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the White House's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing systems at the Social Security Administration containing the sensitive information of millions of Americans, delivering another setback to President Trump's efforts to overhaul the federal government.
CBS News has obtained an internal government list of the names of the Venezuelan men the Trump administration deported to El Salvador as part of a secretive operation last week that has triggered a legal standoff in the U.S. and a debate around the world.
Washington — President Trump this week joined the growing chorus of calls to punish federal judges who rule against his administration. But impeachment and removal are unlikely under the current makeup of Congress.
Malaysia's government has given final approval for a Texas-based marine robotics company to renew the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean more than a decade ago.
A longtime FBI agent has been charged with unlawfully taking and disclosing classified FBI files, according to court records reviewed by CBS News.
Costco Wholesale Corp. has widened the window of hours during which members can fill up their vehicles. The move comes after a drop in comparable gas sales at the retailer during the three-month period ending Feb. 18, 2025.
The Social Security Administration's plan to require in-person identity checks for millions of new and existing recipients while simultaneously closing government offices has sparked a furor among lawmakers, advocacy groups and program recipients who are worried that the government is placing unnecessary barriers in front of an already vulnerable population.
For President Trump, the barrage of tariffs the U.S. is ready to unleash on the country's largest trading partners on April 2 amounts to "Liberation Day," as he described the trade measures Thursday on social media. To the Federal Reserve, as Chair Jerome Powell relayed on Wednesday, tariffs are a broadside on economic growth.
A commuter plane that crashed on sea ice off Alaska, killing all 10 people on board, was half a ton overweight for a trip into icy conditions, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released Wednesday.
Mexico's attorney general on Wednesday reported irregularities in an investigation by state authorities into an alleged cartel killing site and training camp at a ranch in the western state of Jalisco where people searching for relatives found bones and hundreds of articles of clothing and other personal effects.
Orlando, Fla. — A maintenance technician alleged on Wednesday that he raised safety issues with the operators of a central Florida amusement ride before a 14-year-old boy fell to his death but his concerns were never addressed.
Prosecutors say they have evidence that the man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students bought a knife and knife sheath online in the months before the killings, newly released court documents show.
The Northern Hemisphere is welcoming Spring 2025 on March 20, also known as the vernal equinox. The jump into spring has come with celebrations and traditions of rebirth around the world for centuries.