The Department of Health and Human Services directed recipients of grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to immediately halt all programs, personnel and activities related to "gender ideology," according to an email obtained by ABC News.

“You must immediately terminate, to the maximum extent, all programs, personnel, activities, or contracts promoting or inculcating gender ideology at every level and activity, regardless of your location or the citizenship of employees or contractors, that are supported with funds from this award,” the email stated.

“Any vestige, remnant, or re-named piece of any gender ideology programs funded by the U.S. government under this award are immediately, completely, and permanently terminated," it continued.

The latest directive from the HHS impacts any entity that receives CDC funds, such as local health departments and clinics, and it affects any programs supported by the nearly $4.5 billion spent by the CDC last year to aid health departments across all 50 states.

-ABC News' Will T. Steakin and Anne Flaherty

Dozens of Department of Education employees received letters on Friday night placing them on “administrative leave," effective immediately.

While no specific reason was given, employees told ABC News on Sunday that they believe the only common thread between them is that they attended a voluntary diversity training program in 2019, during President Donald Trump's first term.

ABC News has obtained the letter which states that the administrative leave notice is not for disciplinary purposes; rather, the letter said it's related to Trump’s executive order on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. Employees were told to await “further guidance from OPM,” according to the letter, referencing the Office of Personnel Management.

Per the letter, employees will receive full pay and benefits through the end of the administrative leave, but they are not required to do work-related tasks during this time or come into the office. At the same time, the impacted employees had their government email access suspended.

Sheria Smith, the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252 president, told ABC News that over 50 employees in “extremely diverse roles” within the department had received the emails after regular business hours this weekend.

Smith said she fears more letters will be sent in the coming days.

ABC News did not receive an immediate response to a request for comment from the DOE.

-ABC News' Arthur Jones II

In an interview that aired on "60 Minutes" on Sunday, former Republican Leader Mitch McConnell was openly critical of recent decisions by President Donald Trump and said he planned to be more outspoken about their differences of opinion now that he was no longer in a leadership role in the Senate.

McConnell sharply criticized the president imposing tariffs, especially on allied countries.

"It'll drive the cost of everything up. In other words, it'll be paid for by American consumers. I mean why would you want to get in a fight with your allies over this?" McConnell questioned.

McConnell often found himself at odds with Trump during his first term in the White House, he said, but claimed their relationship was all but severed after Jan. 6, 2021.

The former Senate leader reacted to Trump's sweeping pardons for the convicted rioters, saying, "I think pardoning people who have been convicted is a mistake."

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

President Donald Trump plans to speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday morning, he told to reporters during a stopover at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday evening.

The calls are scheduled two days after he imposed 25% tariffs on both of the United States' neighboring countries.

Sheinbaum is also expected to deliver Mexico’s response to the tariffs in the morning, according to sources familiar with the situation.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie

Officials in the Trump Justice Department have ordered a temporary freeze on any ongoing cases being litigated by the Civil Rights Division, according to a new directive reviewed by ABC News.

The memo to the current acting head of the Civil Rights Division, Kathleen Wolfe, says that current career officials in the division must not file any new civil complaints or other civil rights-related filings in outside ongoing litigation. The memo was first reported by The Washington Post.

The memo does not detail a specific timetable for how long the freeze will last. But it comes as Trump's nominee to lead civil rights enforcement at DOJ -- conservative firebrand Harmeet Dhillon -- awaits a confirmation vote in the Senate.

Dhillon has long been a vocal Trump loyalist who has brought litigation to advance Republican causes, including curtailing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and opposing transgender-affirming care.

She is expected to reorient the civil rights division's priorities in line with what they were in the first Trump administration, when ongoing investigations into widespread police misconduct were virtually shuttered and the department withdrew from multiple Obama-era challenges to anti-trans state laws around the country.

Wolfe was separately directed to notify Trump-appointed department leaders of any consent decrees the Biden administration reached with cities in the final 90 days leading up to the inauguration.

Following the 2024 election, now-former Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke traveled the country announcing a series of last-minute agreements with several cities' police departments that the DOJ had investigated for potential violations of citizens' constitutional rights.

-ABC News' Alexander Mallin