Trump sued by USAID workers as Project 2025 architect confirmed to cabinet: Live

The president’s administration is ending a task force focused on enforcing sanctions against Russian oligarchs, which was formed in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 to target wealthy businessmen with close ties to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin to exert pressure in the hope of bringing the war to an end.

It was one of a raft of orders issued by new Attorney General Pam Bondi on her first day in office on Wednesday.

A memo stated that the group, called Task Force KleptoCapture, would come to an end as the agency’s focus moves on to going after drug cartels and international gangs.

Here’s more from Alex Woodward on the hacking and slashing of the poor old United States Agency for International Development, which has been branded a “criminal organization” by Elon Musk and targeted for death by a thousand cuts.

Tehran has accused Washington of acting illegitimately and bullying it after Donald Trump’s administration began imposing sanctions on its ships in order to stifle its oil trade.

The U.S. blacklisted three ships, an Indian master, shipowners and managers on Thursday, according to TradeWinds, in the first targeting of Iranian shipping under Trump.

The listing came after the new president signed an executive order calling for the revival of his first-term policy of imposing “maximum pressure” on Iran.

The president has signed an executive order issuing sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The president’s order accuses the ICC of “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel” and imposes visa and financial sanctions on anyone working on court probes of U.S. citizens or allies.

Gustaf Kilander has more.

The Senate yesterday confirmed Russell Vought to lead the powerful Office of Management and Budget, welcoming an official who has plotted the massive expansion of Donald Trump’s power into one of the most influential positions in the government.

Vought, the architect of the controversial right-wing playbook Project 2025, was confirmed on a party-line vote of 53-47.

With the Senate chamber full, Democrats repeatedly tried to speak as they cast their “no” votes to give their reasons for voting against Vought. But they were relentlessly gavelled into silence.

The vote came after Democrats had exhausted their only remaining tool to stonewall a nomination – holding the Senate floor throughout the previous night and day with a series of speeches in which they warned that Vought was Trump’s “most dangerous nominee.”

Donald Trump is being sued by unions representing United States Agency for International Development (USAID) workers, following an unprecedented attack against the humanitarian agency, which supports dozens of life-saving missions in more than 100 countries.

Thousands of USAID employees are imminently expected to lose their jobs as Trump’s administration, under Elon Musk’s guidance, makes visceral cuts across government agencies.

Here’s Alex Woodward’s report.

With fewer shells on shelves, customers are scrambling for new ways to get their egg fix.

Due to the bird flu outbreak, there are millions fewer hens, meaning way fewer eggs. Frustrated shoppers across the country have even started posting videos of empty shelves where eggs once lay.

Indiana has looked at adding 33 counties from Illinois that signaled they want to leave the state – which could lead to whole new maps of the U.S.

Indiana House Republicans have listed embracing the counties from neighboring Illinois as one of their top 2025 legislative session priorities. House Speaker Todd Huston said Thursday that Republicans are considering the proposal after roughly a third of counties in the Prairie state voted to break away.

If successful, it will drastically alter the map for Illinoisans.

One of the two staffers for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency who was granted access to the US Treasury’s sensitive payment system has resigned from his post after the White House was asked about his history of racist social media posts, including advocating for repealing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Marko Elez, a 25-year-old programmer who was brought into government service by the world’s wealthiest man, had a profile on X (formerly Twitter), the social media site owned by Musk, featuring posts in which he said he supported a “eugenic immigration policy” and made other racist statements.

Andrew Feinberg has the latest from Washington, D.C.

Only 294 employees with the United States Agency for International Development have been deemed essential among 14,000 global staff members, according to CBS News.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly said that crucial health and humanitarian aid will continue, following threats from Donald Trump and Elon Musk to dissolve the entire agency, but the administration intends to decimate its size, including limiting staff to only 12 people in Africa.