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ABC News

White House says some employees were fired by mistake

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.
2:53
Tierney L. Cross/Reuters
Trump makes appearance at NASCAR's Daytona 500
By Alexandra Hutzler, Emily Chang, Kevin Shalvey, Meredith Deliso, Julia Reinstein, Ivan Pereira, Jon Haworth
Last Updated: February 13, 2025, 10:42 PM

President Donald Trump's administration, including Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, is continuing its sweeping effort to cut much of the federal government -- but it's being met with legal challenges.

Trump is also making his second administration's first forays on the diplomatic front with calls to Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy on ending the 3-year-old war that began in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.

And a day after Hamas released more hostages taken when it attacked Israel in October 2023, Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the militant organization needs to be "eliminated."

Latest headlines:

  • Some employees who accepted buyout offer were fired by mistake: White House
  • Trump asks SCOTUS for permission to fire ethics watchdog
  • DOE official warns all schools to end 'discriminatory' DEI policies
  • 13 soon to be immigration judges, 2 current judges fired by Trump admin, union says
  • US floats proposal to own 50% of revenue of Ukraine's rare earth minerals
Here's how the news is developing.

Feb 13, 2025 10:42 PM

DOGE at IRS today, per sources

As DOGE continues to work its way through Washington, D.C., a young member of the team is at the IRS headquarters today, according to multiple sources familiar with the visit.

The aide arrived at the headquarters today and has initiated multiple meetings with IRS employees, the sources said. In part, they have been asking about the agency’s technology, including how audits and compliance are done.

PHOTO: In this March 27, 2018, file photo, the Internal Revenue Service building is pictured in Washington, D.C.
Bill Clark/Getty Images, FILE
In this March 27, 2018, file photo, the Internal Revenue Service building is pictured in Washington, D.C.
Bill Clark/Getty Images, FILE

Elon Musk has previously taken to X regarding the IRS, asking in a post earlier this month: "Would you like @DOGE to audit the IRS?"

The IRS is within the Department of Treasury, where DOGE staffers have been on site for weeks, as ABC News has previously reported. The visit also comes amid tax season.

The IRS did not immediately respond to ABC's request for comment.

-ABC News' Olivia Rubin, Will Steakin and Katherine Faulders


Feb 13, 2025 9:31 PM

Trump doesn't say in what capacity Musk is meeting Indian PM

Addressing reporters in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump did not say in what capacity Elon Musk met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

PHOTO: Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi shared photos of his meeting with Elon Musk and his children at the Blair House
@narendramodi/X
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, shared photos of his meeting with Elon Musk and his children at the Blair House in Washington, Feb. 13, 2025.
@narendramodi/X

Trump said he didn't know whether Musk met the prime minister as a businessman or as a representative of the U.S. government.

"Well, he's meeting with me in a little while, so I'm going to ask him that question," Trump said.


Feb 13, 2025 9:21 PM

RFK Jr. is sworn in, Trump outlines 'Make America Healthy Again' commission

Hours after being narrowly confirmed by the Senate along party lines, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in to serve as Trump's health and human services secretary.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Kennedy's wife Cheryl Hines pose before Kennedy was sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 13, 2025 in Washington.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
President Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Kennedy's wife Cheryl Hines pose before Kennedy was sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 13, 2025 in Washington.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Joining the ceremony at the White House was Trump, who called Kennedy a "friend" who will lead "historic reforms" in American health care.

"Immediately after Bobby is sworn in, I will be signing an executive order establishing the President's Commission to Make America Healthy Again," Trump said. "This groundbreaking commission will be charged with investigating what is causing the decades-long increase in chronic illness, reporting its findings and delivering an action plan to the American people."

PHOTO: President Donald Trump congratulates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after he was sworn in as Health and Human Services Secretary in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
President Donald Trump congratulates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after he was sworn in as Health and Human Services Secretary in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP


Feb 13, 2025 9:22 PM

4th judge blocks Trump birthright citizenship EO

A fourth federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Massachusetts comes after three similar rulings by judges in New Hampshire, Seattle and Maryland.

"The plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims under the Citizenship Clause," Sorokin, an Obama appointee, said in his ruling. "They are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of relief, the balance of harms tips overwhelmingly in their favor, and the public interest favors an injunction."

PHOTO: In this June 22, 2012, file photo, Judge Leo T. Sorokin passes out diplomas at a ceremony in Boston.
Ted Fitzgerald/Boston Herald via MediaNews Group via Getty Images, FILE
In this June 22, 2012, file photo, Judge Leo T. Sorokin passes out diplomas at a ceremony in Boston.
Ted Fitzgerald/Boston Herald via MediaNews Group via Getty Images, FILE

The two Massachusetts-based immigrant advocacy groups that filed the lawsuit last month argued that the principle of birthright citizenship is "enshrined in the Constitution" and that Trump does not have the authority to issue the order.

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous and Laura Romero


Feb 11, 2025 12:35 AM

Trump calls CFPB 'a waste,' attacks Warren

After the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was effectively shuttered Monday morning, Trump said it was "the right thing" to do and laid into Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who originally proposed plans for the agency in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

When asked by a reporter in the Oval Office for his response to Democrats, including Warren, who said freezing the CFPB is giving big banks and corporations the greenlight to scam families, Trump replied, "Pocahontas," turning to an old disparaging nickname for Warren.

PHOTO: Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a protest against President Donald Trump and DOGE Elon Musk's anticipated plan to close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in front of the CFPB headquarters in Washington, D.C., Feb. 10, 2025.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, speaks during a protest against President Donald Trump and DOGE Elon Musk's anticipated plan to close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in front of the CFPB headquarters in Washington, D.C., Feb. 10, 2025.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

"You know, that was set up to destroy people. She used that as her little personal agency to go around and destroy people," he continued.

Trump said the agency "was a very important thing to get rid of" and "also a waste."

"If you looked at when she really ran it, wow, that was a vicious group of people. They really destroyed a lot of people,” Trump claimed, despite the CFPB’s mission to prevent U.S. consumers from falling victim to fraud and scams.

Asked whether his goal was to completely get rid of the CFPB, Trump said, "I would say yeah, because we’re trying to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse."

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky


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