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Trump 2nd term live updates: Dan Bongino named as deputy FBI director

PHOTO: US Open Winner Gary Woodland Visits "FOX & Friends"
3:00
Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
Trump celebrates 1st month in office amid sweeping policy changes
By Alexandra Hutzler, Emily Chang, Julia Reinstein, David Brennan, Ivan Pereira
Last Updated: February 24, 2025, 10:53 AM

President Donald Trump's administration is continuing its radical effort to cut much of the federal government and crackdown on immigration -- and is being met with dozens of legal challenges.

On the foreign policy front, Trump's press secretary said the White House believes it can reach a deal to end the war in Ukraine this week even as Trump attacks Ukraine's president and blames it for starting the war, which even some in his own party are calling him out over.

Meanwhile, heads of federal government agencies were telling employees not to reply to an email from Elon Musk, Trump's ally who he picked to cut government waste, which asked for them to list their accomplishments for the week or face termination.

Latest headlines:

  • Murkowski to Musk: Treat federal workers with ‘dignity and respect’
  • Largest federal worker union calls OPM email ‘unlawful’
  • US attorney for DC encourages workers to reply to OPM email
  • Air traffic controllers also got ‘What did you get done’ emails
  • Witkoff heads to Mideast to negotiate next phase of ceasefire
Here's how the news is developing:

Feb 24, 2025 10:53 AM

Trump announces right-wing commentator as FBI's No. 2

President Donald Trump named Dan Bongino as deputy FBI director on Sunday to serve under newly confirmed director Kash Patel.

Bongino, who left Fox News in 2023, hosts the popular right-wing and pro-Trump podcast called "The Dan Bongino Show," which ranks among Apple’s top 10 news podcasts.

Bongino is a former Secret Service agent who Trump eyed during the transition as a potential candidate for the director of the Secret Service before announcing his lead agent, Sean Curran, for the job.

PHOTO: US Open Winner Gary Woodland Visits "FOX & Friends"
Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
Host Dan Bongino as US Open winner Gary Woodland visits "FOX & Friends" at Fox News Channel Studios on June 18, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

The FBI's deputy director has always been someone from the bureau's own ranks, not a political appointment. It's the highest-ranking FBI job that does not need to be appointed by the president and does not require Senate confirmation.

Bongino has stoked conspiracy theories surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and has been one of the FBI's harshest critics over what he has characterized as its targeting of Trump and Republicans.

He was banned from YouTube in 2022 after posting misinformation about COVID-19.

ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin


Feb 24, 2025 10:53 AM

2,000 USAID workers terminated, others put on administrative leave

President Donald Trump's administration said that approximately 2,000 USAID personnel in the U.S. will be terminated and others around the world will be placed on administrative leave just before midnight on Sunday.

"As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally," a notice on the government's website reads.

PHOTO: Recently fired U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) staff react as they leave work and are applauded by former USAID staffers and supporters during a sendoff outside USAID offices in Washington, D.C., Feb. 21, 2025.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Recently fired U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) staff react as they leave work and are applauded by former USAID staffers and supporters during a sendoff outside USAID offices in Washington, D.C., Feb. 21, 2025.
Brian Snyder/Reuters

USAID indicates that there will be an exception for employees who handle mission-critical functions.

According to the USAID government website, employees will receive individual notices on Sunday as well as instructions within the next week to retrieve their belongings from the USAID workplace in Washington, D.C.

The notice also suggests that overseas personnel will retain access to agency systems and to diplomatic resources until they return from overseas safely.

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh


Feb 23, 2025 10:02 PM

Murkowski to Musk: Treat federal workers with ‘dignity and respect’

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, offered a stark response to Elon Musk for demanding federal workers justify their jobs before midnight on Monday, writing on social media that Musk should learn about each department and agency before making cuts.

"If Elon Musk truly wants to understand what federal workers accomplished over the past week, he should get to know each department and agency, and learn about the jobs he's trying to cut," Murkowski wrote.

PHOTO: Sen. Lisa Murkowski heads to the Senate Chamber to vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, Jan. 22, 2025 in Washington.
Allison Dinner/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Sen. Lisa Murkowski heads to the Senate Chamber to vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, Jan. 22, 2025 in Washington.
Allison Dinner/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

"Our public servants work hard to ensure that our national security is protected; that planes land safely; that forest fires do not spread to our homes; that Social Security checks arrive on time; that research for the breakthroughs needed to cure diseases like cancer and ALS continues; and much more," she continued. "Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform.

Murkowski's comments echo other Republicans who have asked Musk to have humanity in cutting federal workers’ jobs.

-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh



Feb 23, 2025 9:46 PM

Largest federal worker union calls OPM email ‘unlawful’

In a letter to the Office of Personnel Management, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), called an email demanding that employees list accomplishments over the previous week is “unlawful.”

The largest federal union wrote that the email is “nothing more than an irresponsible and sophomoric attempt to create confusion and bully the hard-working federal employees that serve our country.”

PHOTO: A view shows the logo of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), after probationary staff at the OPM were fired in a conference call and given less than an hour to leave the building, outside OPM in Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2025.
Tierney L. Cross/Reuters
A view shows the logo of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), after probationary staff at the OPM were fired in a conference call and given less than an hour to leave the building, outside OPM in Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2025.
Tierney L. Cross/Reuters

The letter continues to say that the email fails to give enough guidance on what information employees should avoid disclosing.

“Federal employees have a duty to ensure that sensitive information, data, and records are only used and disclosed for authorized purposes,” the letter says. “We believe that employees have no obligation to respond to this plainly unlawful email.”

“By allowing the unelected and unhinged Elon Musk to dictate OPM’s actions, you have demonstrated a lack of regard for the integrity of federal employees and their critical work,” the letter added.

-ABC News’ Selina Wang


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