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Trump admin live updates: Trump strikes deals with law firms totaling $600M

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks at a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, April 10, 2025.
4:50
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Judge rules Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported from US
By David Brennan, Alexandra Hutzler, Ivan Pereira, William Mansell
Last Updated: April 8, 2025, 1:36 AM

President Donald Trump held a Cabinet meeting with his top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as Elon Musk, on Thursday.

It follows Trump on Wednesday changing course on his tariff policy, instituting a 90-day pause in higher taxes for most countries while ramping up the rate against China to 145%.

On Capitol Hill, Republican leaders pushed through a budget blueprint to fund Trump's domestic agenda despite some GOP hard-liner opposition.

Latest headlines:

  • Trump directs Cabinet to devise plan for military control of public land on southern border
  • 'If the Supreme Court said bring somebody back, I would do that': Trump
  • Dominion law firm sues to block Trump's 'blatantly unconstitutional' executive order
Here's how the news is developing.

Apr 08, 2025 1:36 AM

DHS offers 3 options for its employees to leave

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday night offered employees the option to take one of three options to leave, including a buyout of up to $25,000.

In an email titled "Reshaping of the DHS workforce," Noem offered three voluntary routes for DHS employees to take advantage of if they wanted to leave the department. The email was obtained by ABC News.

PHOTO: Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem speaks during a media interview outside the White House in Washington, Mar. 10, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem speaks during a media interview outside the White House in Washington, Mar. 10, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters

The three initiatives are called the "workforce transition program," and the program has been approved for "immediate implementation."

The first is called the deferred resignation program, and it offers employees a "brief period of administrative leave" to complete "key tasks, submit retirement documentation and prepare for departure," according to the email.

The second is the early retirement program, which allows those eligible to retire early.

The final option is called the "Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment," according to the email.

"Often referred to as a 'buyout' this option offers a lump-sum payment of up to $25,000 (or an amount equal to severance pay) for employees in roles slated for voluntary departures," according to the email.

Noem said in the email that the department intends to provide "flexibility" for employees who "may be considering a change."

"If you believe any or all of these programs might be right for you, please watch for further announcements from your Component leadership or Human Resources office, where you will find more specific eligibility criteria, detailed instructions, and timelines. Your decision to apply for any of these programs will be due NLT 11:59 ET on April 14, 2025," the email said.

Law enforcement officers are generally exempt from the offers, Noem added.

Individual agencies have already started offering guidance about how the program applies to their workforce.

-ABC News' Luke Barr


Apr 07, 2025 11:20 PM

Supreme Court allows Venezuelan deportations to continue, but with due process

The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision Monday evening allowed Trump to resume deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act, but said detainees must be given due process to challenge their removal.

The unsigned per curiam opinion said a federal district court in Washington lacks the jurisdiction to address the matter, lifting a temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg.

The migrants "claims fall within the core of the writ of habeas corpus and thus must be brought in habeas," the court said.

Four justices dissented: Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Amy Coney Barrett.

PHOTO: Alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua who were deported by the U.S. government, are detained at the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador in a photo obtained Mar. 16, 2025.
El Salvador Presidential Press Office via AP
Alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua who were deported by the U.S. government, are detained at the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador in a photo obtained Mar. 16, 2025.
El Salvador Presidential Press Office via AP

The court's majority made clear, however, that migrants removed under the AEA authority must be given notice and "afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs."

Sotomayor, in a dissent joined by Kagan, Jackson and Barrett, called the decision "suspect" and without any "mention of the grave harm Plaintiffs will face if they are erroneously removed to El Salvador or regard for the Government’s attempts to subvert the judicial process throughout this litigation."

"The Government’s conduct in this litigation poses an extraordinary threat to the rule of law," Sotomayor writes. "That a majority of this Court now rewards the Government for its behavior with discretionary equitable relief is indefensible. We, as a Nation and a court of law, should be better than this. I respectfully dissent."

-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer


Apr 07, 2025 11:22 PM

Trump scheduled for physical on Friday

Trump announced that he will undergo his annual physical exam at Walter Reed Medical Center on Friday, adding that he’s “never felt better.”

“I am pleased to report that my long scheduled Annual Physical Examination will be done at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Friday of this week. I have never felt better, but nevertheless, these things must be done!” Trump posted.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, April 7, 2025.
Kevin Mohatt/Reuters
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, April 7, 2025.
Kevin Mohatt/Reuters

In January, Trump became the oldest American to be inaugurated at 78 years old. The most comprehensive details about his health were released in 2018 following his first physical during his first term. But not a lot is known about his health.

In the final weeks of the 2024 campaign, then-Vice President Kamala Harris sought to make Trump’s advanced age an issue, releasing details of her own medical history in hopes it brought greater scrutiny to the unknowns about Trump’s health.

-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow



Apr 07, 2025 11:17 PM

Trump tries to sway House GOP holdouts on bill to fund his agenda

Trump publicly urged House Republicans to support the Senate-approved budget blueprint Monday as several lawmakers continue to express opposition to the measure.

“THE HOUSE MUST PASS THIS BUDGET RESOLUTION, AND QUICKLY -- MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

House GOP leaders desperately need Trump’s help to flip several Republican holdouts on the bill, like Reps. Andy Harris, Chip Roy, Andy Ogles, Thomas Massie, Scott Perry, Lloyd Smucker and others. The House is expected to hold a vote on the budget resolution as early as Wednesday. Speaker Mike Johnson can afford to lose only three defections on the vote -- a fourth would tank the bill.

PHOTO: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Mar. 26, 2025.
Francis Chung/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Mar. 26, 2025.
Francis Chung/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

“The Budget Plan just passed by the United States Senate has my Complete and Total Endorsement and Support. All of the elements we need to secure the Border, enact Historic Spending Cuts, and make Tax Cuts PERMANENT, and much more, are strongly covered and represented in the Bill,” Trump argued.

-ABC News’ Lauren Peller


Apr 08, 2025 11:33 PM

Democrats plan ‘days of action’ against Trump policies

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declared on Tuesday their members were “unified” against the agenda of the Trump administration, announcing “days of action” to target White House policies next week during their recesses.

Flanked by a number of their Democratic colleagues, the leaders said a day of action would occur next Tuesday, which will be focused on Social Security. They'll then host one on Thursday centered around Medicaid. Finally, they’re planning a subsequent “week of action” on the cost of living in America.

“We believe that Medicaid should not be cut. We believe they're going after Social Security. We're fighting to defend it tooth and nail,” Schumer said. “We also believe that the costs that Republicans are imposing on the American people is hurting them badly, and it's going to get worse and worse and worse. These tariffs are just lunacy.”

PHOTO: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is interviewed at the Capitol in Washington, Mar. 14, 2025.
Ben Curtis/AP
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is interviewed at the Capitol in Washington, Mar. 14, 2025.
Ben Curtis/AP

Jeffries said, “Bottom line is, Donald Trump is betraying the American people, breaking his promises, and Republican Congress members and senators are going along with that betrayal.”

Schumer lauded Democrats’ unity, saying that congressional Republicans and even GOP members of the White House are stuck fighting amongst themselves.

“I've never quite seen anything like this -- the Republican leader of the House and the Republican leader of the Senate are at loggerheads. And why is that? Because they're defending such unpopular programs. One wing of their caucus doesn't like the Medicaid cuts. Another wing of their caucus doesn't like the tax cuts on the billionaires … and the right wing wants to cut Medicaid even further dividing all of them,” Schumer said.

-ABC News’ Isabella Murray


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