General Politics

The Trump administration is eliminating thousands of positions at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), while also placing the majority of the remaining staff members on administration leave globally, just before midnight Sunday.

The Associated Press reported that it learned from the Trump administration that 1,600 posts would be eliminated, after reviewing notices that were sent to USAID workers.

"As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel...

The Trump administration said Sunday that it was placing all but a fraction of staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave worldwide and eliminating 2,000 U.S.-based staff positions.

The move was the latest and one of the biggest steps yet toward what President Donald Trump and cost-cutting ally Elon Musk say is their goal of gutting the six-decade-old aid and development agency in a broader campaign to slash the size of the federal government.

The move comes after a federal judge on Friday allowed the administration to move...

The Trump administration's purge of federal workers may ultimately amount to the biggest job cut in U.S. history, which is likely to have ramifications for the economy, especially at the local level, according to economists.

The White House, with the help of Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has fired or offered buyouts to workers across the federal government, the nation's largest employer.

While the precise scale of the job cuts is as yet unclear, evidence suggests it's at least in the tens of thousands so far, economists...

All U.S. Agency for International Development direct hires deemed non-essential will be placed on administrative leave at 11:59 p.m. ET Sunday, according to an email sent from the Office of the Administrator and reviewed by CBS News.

Those being placed on leave — an estimated 4,200 staffers — would be notified by 5 p.m. Sunday, the email said. USAID is also resuming "voluntary Agency-funded return travel" for impacted employees overseas, according to the email.

USAID employs more than 10,000 people, according to the Congressional Research Service...

On Feb. 23, 1945, six Marines teamed up for what would become one of the most iconic photos in American history.

Marines fighting on Iwo Jima scaled Mount Suribachi and worked together to push up an American flag, a moment that was captured by military photographers and later became an enduring symbol of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in World War II.

Marines initially invaded Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945, as part of the U.S. island-hopping campaign in the Pacific, and it took four days to gain the summit of Suribachi...

Some 2,000 employees will also be laid-off in a "reduction in force" effort, according to an email sent to staff.

Some departments encouraged staff to respond, while others requested employees wait for further guidance.

The weekend email comes as Elon Musk leads an effort to aggressively curtail the government workforce.

Watch Margaret Brennan's full interview with Balázs Orbán, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's political director, on February 21, 2025.

President Donald Trump celebrated on Sunday after German conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz claimed victory in a national election, ousting Social Democrat incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"LOOKS LIKE THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN GERMANY HAS WON THE VERY BIG AND HIGHLY ANTICIPATED ELECTION," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "MUCH LIKE THE USA, THE PEOPLE OF GERMANY GOT TIRED OF THE NO COMMON SENSE AGENDA, ESPECIALLY ON ENERGY AND IMMIGRATION, THAT HAS PREVAILED FOR SO MANY YEARS.

"THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR GERMANY, AND FOR THE UNITED...

President Donald Trump is set to have another busy week meeting with foreign leaders in the nation's capital as administration leaders continue working out a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump will meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in his fifth week back in the Oval Office, national security advisor Mike Waltz said on Fox News' "America Reports." The announcement follows Macron calling for an emergency meeting of world leaders after the Trump administration excluded Europe from...

The Department of Defense (DOD) told its civilian workforce to ignore billionaire and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk’s request to report their productivity.

In a letter to DOD personnel, Darin S. Selnick, who is performing the duties of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, provided guidance on how to handle Musk’s demand through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

"DoD personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information. The Department of Defense is responsible for...

James Fishback said the whole idea came to him in a recent dream: Send American taxpayers dividend checks with whatever money Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency saves as it dismantles parts of the federal government.

The idea took off on Tuesday when Fishback tweeted about it and Musk responded, pledging to share the idea with Trump. The president himself promoted the specifics of Fishback’s idea from the stage at the FII Priority Summit in Miami Beach on Wednesday.

“There’s even under consideration a new concept where we give 20% of...

Popular TV host Mike Rowe believes that President Donald Trump’s policies will be better for the country in the long run.

Asked by Fox News Digital how he feels about Trump’s first few weeks back in office, Rowe indicated that he is "happy" with what he has seen so far and optimistic about the future outlook.

"I’m a one-issue guy, I got a foundation, we’re trying to close the skills gap, he wants to bring manufacturing back, and I am all for it," Rowe said of Trump from the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday. "But right now we got...

Pope Francis signed a letter of resignation in 2013 to be used in case he was forced from his duties as a result of bad health.

"I have already signed my resignation. Tarcisio Bertone was Secretary of State. I signed it and I told him: ‘In case of impediment for medical reasons or whatever, here is my resignation,’" the Pope said during a 2022 interview, according to a report at the time from the New York Post.

The resurfaced interview comes as Francis has been hospitalized for over a week and was reported to be in critical condition after...