Donald Trump calls for the firing of all federal DEI employees. California officials seek to rebuild quickly after the Los Angeles wildfires as experts advocate for more thoughtful designs. And the Trump family’s cryptocurrency boom is drawing attention.
Here’s what you need to know today.
Trump presses ahead with DEI crackdown as he faces backlash against Jan. 6 pardons
President Donald Trump’s second day in office included an order that all federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles be placed on paid leave, as well as criticism of Day 1 orders to pardon defendants on June 6. January and his efforts to revoke birthright citizenship. Follow our live blog for the latest updates as your administration takes shape.
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→ Diversity, equity and inclusion: The Trump administration sent a memo yesterday ordering that all federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles be placed on paid leave this afternoon and asking agencies to submit a plan by the end of the month to lay off those employees. The Office of Personnel Management memo also directed agencies to prepare to close all DEI-related offices and programs and delete all websites and social media accounts of those offices. It was unclear how many employees would be affected.
The move comes a day after Trump signed an executive order ending “radical and wasteful” DEI programs at federal agencies. Yesterday, Trump signed another executive order that targeted various hiring practices at the Federal Aviation Administration. Read more on Trump’s orders to end DEI programs.
→ January 6 Pardons: Triumph defended his pardons of the January 6 criminal defendants, alleging that they served sentences they “should not have served” and that they were “treated incredibly poorly.” Among the approximately 1,500 defendants are those that prosecutors considered “the most violent” rioters.
But some Republican senators rejected against pardonsespecially those awarded to rioters who committed acts of violence against law enforcement officers. And many people in the Justice Department, as well as legal experts, called the pardons a dangerous and unprecedented use of executive power that makes a mockery of years of work by FBI agents, prosecutors and federal judges, some of whom were appointed by the president. Read more about the reaction.
→ Immigration: Raids that were expected to target major sanctuary cities immediately after Trump took office have so far failed to materialize. Still, his administration has begun to lay the groundwork for future immigration actions. A major rule change allows ICE to arrest undocumented people in or near so-called sensitive locations, including places of worship, schools and hospitals. Read more on how Trump’s plans for mass deportations are developing.
Meanwhile, Democratic attorneys general lawsuits filed seeking to block Trump’s attempt to revoke birthright citizenship, and the great-grandson of the man who established birthright citizenship criticized Trump’s efforts to overturn the long-standing right revoke long-standing right. Furthermore, Trump fired four senior officials at the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees U.S. immigration courts.
More on Trump’s first week in office:
- What’s on Trump’s to-do list after his first day in office? Tariffs, for example. Here’s why you haven’t taken action yetdespite saying he would do it on day 1.
- The bishop led yesterday’s inaugural prayer service urged the president to “have mercy” about LGBTQ people and immigrants.
- Trump reversed Biden-era policies on drug prices and Obamacare.
Hegseth denies new accusations made by his ex-sister-in-law
Senators received a sworn statement yesterday from Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law saying his behavior made his second wife fear for her safety. The receipt of the affidavit comes after Senate Armed Services Committee staff were in contact with it for several days.
In the affidavit, Danielle Hegseth, who is divorced from Pete Hegseth’s brother, alleged volatile and threatening behavior by Hegseth that caused his second wife, Samantha Hegseth, to fear for her safety. Among the allegations are that Samantha once hid in a Hegseth closet and that she developed escape plans “if she felt like she needed to escape.”
An attorney for Pete Hegseth dismissed the allegations. Samantha Hegseth said in an email that she “will not be commenting on my marriage to Pete Hegseth.” He added: “I don’t think their information is accurate.”
Hegseth has been under intense scrutiny since Trump announced that the former Fox News host would be his pick to oversee the Defense Department. The latest allegations raise new questions about the scope and thoroughness of the FBI’s background check on Hegseth and what and when Trump’s transition team, as well as members and staff of the Armed Services Committee, knew. Read the full story here.
In fire-damaged Los Angeles, ambitions to rebuild quickly are at odds with calls for change
To ensure the rapid reconstruction of thousands of homes destroyed in recent wildfires, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have suspended some rules that would otherwise be required for new buildings. Newsom has suspended environmental permit requirements and Bass has waived a requirement that new buildings use electricity instead of gas for heating and appliances, as well as hearings to evaluate whether a development complies with zoning regulations.
But urban planners, engineers and disaster management experts say these communities should take their time to rebuild and incorporate elements that make them more resilient. The alternative: Residents risk being easy targets in future fires.
Consider Pacific Palisades. In an ideal world, experts said, houses would be built farther apart, native species like succulents or sage, which are less susceptible to burning, would be planted on public lands near residential communities, and materials like brick , stone or concrete. They would be used as building materials instead of wood. Some of these strategies are already required by the california fire code, but none of these efforts are necessarily quick.
read all about it
- The Supreme Court issued unusual ruling in favor of death row inmatefinding that an Oklahoma woman convicted of murdering her ex-husband can bring a claim that prosecutors inappropriately focused on her sex life at trial.
- Ichiro Suzuki became the first Asian player elected to the baseball Hall of Fame but missed the unanimous selection by just one vote. CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected in yesterday’s vote.
- What is the problem with seed oils? The hype surrounding the “Hateful Eight” (which includes canola, corn, and sunflower oils, among others) misses the bigger picture when it comes to improving health.
- Four men from Chile were arrested amid an ongoing investigation into burglaries at the homes of the wealthy, some at the homes of professional athletes.
Personnel selection: Concerns and questions about Trump’s digital currency
Late last Friday, Donald Trump posted a link to a new memecoin, simply called $TRUMP. By Saturday morning, its value had skyrocketed, minting the Trump organization billions in paper net worth overnight. The fine print revealed that insiders owned 80% of the total supply of TRUMP, meaning that the main beneficiary of the coin’s success would not be the general public. Still, despite the cautious optimism, many in the crypto community saw an opportunity and the price continued to rise, until Trump’s wife announced her own $MELANIA token on Sunday afternoon, sending the coin’s price tumbling. original TRUMP by up to 40%.
Widespread criticism, even among Trump’s ardent supporters, soon gained momentum. Were the president’s promises to deregulate cryptocurrencies during the election campaign a pretext to personally benefit from such a measure? Why the Melania coin? And what are the risks of foreign influence? I spoke to experts about these questions and why this memecoin launch is not like previous ones. — Rob Wile, business reporter
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