President Trump to signal govt order shutting down Department of Education: Live updates

The president is facing a backlash from some of his most loyal supporters over his decision to launch widespread airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen and a threat to launch a wider war with Iran.

Trump ordered the U.S. military to launch “decisive and powerful military action” against the Iran-backed group on Saturday in response to its attacks on global shipping in the Red Sea, which the Houthis claim are being carried out in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

U.S. officials said the strikes could last for weeks, and Trump has raised the prospect of a much larger war after threatening Iran with “dire consequences” if the Houthi attacks continue.

But some key MAGA figures have spoken out against the expanding military action, arguing it contradicts his promises to end “endless wars” and his “America First” campaign slogan.

Richard Hall and Justin Baragona have more.

Research by Yale University has found that a budget plan being considered by Republican lawmakers would ultimately transfer wealth from the poorest 40 percent of Americans to the richest 1 percent.

Harris Eppsteiner and John Ricco of Yale’s Budget Lab found that the proposed GOP budget whose framework was supported last month in a vote by the House would include $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that would largely benefit the wealthy, along with $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, including to benefits for the public, including the poorest.

Graig Graziosi reports.

The two leaders may say that they trust each other – but nobody else with any sense trusts either of them.

Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee has lashed out at his Alaska colleague Lisa Murkowski after she alleged that her GOP colleagues were afraid to challenge Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Murkowski, speaking to reporters on Tuesday at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, described a culture of fear now present within federal departments.

“I get criticized for what I say, and everybody else is like, ‘How come nobody else is saying anything?’ Well, figure it out because they’re looking at how many things are being thrown at me, and it’s like, ‘Maybe I should just duck and cover,’” she said.

Murkowski said that the purging of federal departments under DOGE is “a hit to the morale of the federal workforce.”

“I don’t know a single Republican senator who feels that way. Not even one,” Lee responded on X at midnight on Wednesday evening.

His comment elicited a response from Musk, who appeared to endorse his message by posting two American flag emojis beneath it.

Madeline Sherratt reports.

A group of House Democrats are pleading with the president to reconsider his “disgraceful and discriminatory” proposed travel ban that could impact 43 countries.

The deadline for Trump’s order directing cabinet members to draft a list of countries that should face travel restrictions because their “vetting and screening information is so deficient” falls today.

A reported draft of the list showed citizens from 43 countries could soon be restricted from entering the U.S., prompting an outcry from the opposition.

Kelly Rissman reports.

The Defense Department has taken down or plans to delete thousands of websites to comply with the president’s order eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work from the federal government, which means removing pages dedicated to topics like remembering the Holocaust and the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Here’s Josh Marcus to explain.

The tech billionaire has reportedly donated to seven Republican members of Congress, all of whom support the Trump administration’s calls to impeach or ignore federal judges who have halted parts of the president’s agenda.

Musk, who has claimed in recent days that such judges are leading a “judicial coup,” reportedly gave thousands of dollars in donations each to Representatives Eli Crane of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin and Brandon Gill of Texas, and Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa.

The reported recipients are among the loudest voices in Congress pushing to impeach or to otherwise constrain the judges.

Josh Marcus has more.

A federal judge has expressed alarm at allegations that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) provoked a dramatic standoff this week with the U.S. Institute of Peace, culminating in what attorneys for the agency called a hostile “takeover” fueled by threats and harassment.

Federal prosecutors have threatened institute officials with criminal prosecution, DOGE members warned that a private security contractor would lose government contracts, and the institute’s president was forcibly removed by several law enforcement agencies – events that attorneys with the Department of Justice have not disputed.

In a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, District Judge Beryl Howell asked Justice Department attorneys whether Trump’s administration could enforce his executive order seeking to shutter the agency “without using the force of guns and threats by DOGE against American citizens.”

“I mean, this conduct of using law enforcement, threatening criminal investigations, using arms of law enforcement… probably terrorizing employees and staff at the institute, when there are so many other lawful ways to accomplish the goals… why?” she said.

“Just because DOGE is in a rush?”

The institute is not a federal agency but an independent nonprofit established by Congress under Ronald Reagan.

Its headquarters in Washington, D.C., is not government property, and its personnel are not federal employees.

The institute employs roughly 600 people in the United States and overseas with a congressional mandate to help resolve international conflicts.

Alex Woodward reports.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and other Trump administration lawyers told the federal judge who ordered a stop to the deportations of Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador to be more “respectful” in an angry court filing on Wednesday.

“The court has no basis to intrude into the conduct of foreign affairs of the government, and a more deliberative and respectful approach is warranted,” the filing scolds.

Judge James Boasberg’s actions “represent grave usurpations of the president’s power,” it adds.

The language was the latest assault by the Trump administration on the power of the courts, which some have labelled a constitutional crisis as the president battles to become the supreme arbiter of everything in the nation.

Mary Papenfuss reports.

The Trump administration has been accused by another judge of failing to comply with his court order – in this case to reinstate federal employees fired during Elon Musk’s DOGE purges.

Six federal agencies – the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, and Treasury – were ordered by Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for Northern California to rehire all fired probationary employees.

But the Trump administration had responded by putting the fired workers on paid administrative leave.

Here’s the latest from Graig Graziosi.