General Politics

Things got awkward when Vice President JD Vance remarked on his previous comments on Britain's free speech environment, just feet away from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during an Oval Office meeting.

Vance doubled down on his comments at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month when he said he feared that free speech was "in retreat" in Europe.

"To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply...

A judge in California blocked the Trump administration on Thursday from ordering departments and agencies to begin dismissing recently hired probationary federal workers, saying the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) lacks the power to fire employees.

The move came during a court hearing over a lawsuit from labor unions and other groups challenging OPM’s mass terminations.

In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim the mass terminations violate the Administrative Procedure Act requirements and congressional laws that deal with agency hiring and...

President Donald Trump was asked several times on Thursday about comments he made last week, when he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator," though he oftentimes either ignored the question or could not remember making the statement.

Trump met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Thursday, when the two leaders addressed peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

The president told reporters he has had back-to-back "very successful" calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as with Zelenskyy, with...

Hundreds of weather forecasters and other federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees on probationary status were fired Thursday, lawmakers and weather experts said.

Federal workers who were not let go said the afternoon layoffs included meteorologists who do crucial local forecasts in National Weather Service offices across the country.

Cuts at NOAA appeared to be happening in two rounds, one of 500 and one of 800, said Craig McLean, a former NOAA chief scientist who said he got the information from someone with first-hand...

The Social Security Administration is offering financial incentives ranging from $15,000 to $25,000 to employees who choose to voluntarily resign from the federal agency, ahead of what they warn will be "significant workforce reductions."

A message sent out to employees Thursday stated that the agency will soon implement restructuring that includes workforce cuts and "massive reorganizations."

The SSA said that wholesale "abolishment of organizations and positions" could happen, as well as reassignments and staff cuts.

Earlier this week, the...

Pilot error played a role in the majority of high-profile plane crashes and close calls in the last few weeks, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday as he called for pilots to face serious consequences when they disregard air traffic controllers, NBC News reported.

Duffy said in an interview that pilots should lose their licenses if they do not follow instructions from air traffic controllers, which is what he said appeared to happen in the latest near-collision Tuesday between a private jet and a Southwest Airlines plane in Chicago. No...

A federal judge Thursday ordered at least one official from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to testify and provide documents in response to a lawsuit against the Trump administration by the American Federation of Labor and other unions.

It will be the first time someone involved with DOGE is required to answer questions under oath from an attorney outside the government, potentially providing new insights into the operations of an organization that U.S. District Court Judge John Bates characterized as “opaque” in his order.

The...

The Trump administration has taken down the applications for popular student loan repayment plans from the U.S. Department of Education's website, leaving millions of borrowers with fewer options for now.

Borrowers are unable to access the applications for income-driven repayment, or IDR, plans, as well as the online application to consolidate their loans.

Both applications are critical for borrowers pursuing lower monthly payments and loan forgiveness through an IDR plan, as well as the related Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

The...

DOJ releases 'first phase' of Epstein files, including an evidence list.

Public health experts are questioning RFK Jr's comments after he said the Texas measles outbreak was "not unusual."

A bus on its way to Monticello Middle School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, caught fire after its rear tire ignited. The driver swiftly evacuated all 15 students from the bus, ensuring their safety.

For 60 years, the United States has believed that foreign aid in the form of international grants to provide food, medical care and other humanitarian aid would stabilize the chaotic world. In a major shift, the Trump administration dismissed nearly $60 billion in foreign aid grants and contracts. Nancy Cordes has details.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be at the White House to sign a deal that will give the United States access to Ukraine's minerals in exchange for continuing U.S. aid. Imtiaz Tyab got a look at some of Ukraine's mineral wealth.

Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday his plan to "supercharge" the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s air traffic controllers after numerous fatal plane crashes over the last two months.

The FAA will be "streamlining" its eight-step hiring process into a five-step process, with hopes it will accelerate the time to hire for "critical positions," according to Duffy, who shared the announcement in a post on X.

The protocol change will shave more than four months off the old process, he said.

In addition, the...

Andrea Lucas, the Trump administration’s acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), blasted The Washington Post and reporter Jeff Stein for spreading "fake news" about DOGE cutting 90% of the EEOC's workforce.

Lucas explained that Stein, the chief economics reporter at The Washington Post, mixed up federal agencies that have nothing to do with each other.

The Post reported that "an office within the Labor Department that enforces equal employment opportunity laws" is planning on reducing its workforce by 90%. The article...