What to know today
- President Donald Trump said he would "probably" back away from his threat earlier in the day to double steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada after Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he had agreed to suspend a 25% surcharge on electricity imports into the United States.
- Trump's trade war is roiling U.S. stock markets as uncertainty reigns.
- The Trump administration is lifting its pause on intelligence sharing and providing security assistance to Ukraine after a Ukrainian delegation accepted a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia.
- The House tonight passed Speaker Mike Johnson's short-term government funding bill ahead of a Friday deadline to avoid a shutdown. The measure now heads to the Senate.
House passes resolution to fund government through Sept. 30
The House this evening narrowly passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through Sept. 30 and avert a shutdown.
The resolution passed in a 217-213 vote.
Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, was the only Republican to vote against the bill, while Rep. Jared Golden, of Maine, was the only Democrat to vote for it.
The measure now heads to the Senate.
Education Department prepares to lay off roughly half its staff
The Education Department announced a drastic reduction in its workforce today, saying it’s preparing to cut about half of its staff.
About 1,300 career employees will receive termination notices and will be given an opportunity to return to office to turn in government property and clean out desks tomorrow, two officials said.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement that the layoffs reflect the department’s “commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers.”
Around 3,000 people work in the Washington headquarters, and roughly 1,000 are in 10 regional offices — making Education one of the smallest Cabinet-level federal departments. Its $268 billion appropriations last year represented 4% of the federal budget.
Future of government cybersecurity aid to elections still unknown
The federal agency that has provided state and local election officials with free cybersecurity aid in recent years still hasn’t decided how much, if any, it will continue to fund.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which began providing free cybersecurity tools and guidance after the 2016 election, began an audit of the aid in February, according to an internal memo previously reported by NBC News. The news has worried election officials that they won’t have the same security help they have had in previous elections.
Though CISA set a self-imposed deadline of last Thursday, its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, told state election officials in a letter dated Friday and obtained by NBC News today that it is still “undertaking an internal review of all election security related funding, products, services, and positions.”
A DHS spokesperson told NBC News that the agency will not make a full report of its election security assessment public.
Trump alludes to past disputes with the Business Roundtable in remarks today
Trump alluded to underlying tensions with certain top corporate executives at an event with the Business Roundtable today.
“I have a lot of friends in the audience, a couple that I don’t like particularly much, but for the most part very good," Trump said to laughs when he sat down with the group's chairman, Chuck Robbins, the chair and CEO of Cisco Systems.
The Business Roundtable, which consists of more than 200 of the top corporate CEOs, is one of the most powerful business lobbying groups in Washington. Trump has had tension with many of the CEOs in the group over the years.
While it cheered on Trump’s tax cuts during the first administration, the group took issue with his policy tariffs on Chinese products at the time.
Several of its members also resigned in 2017 from the White House's business advisory councils following Trump's remarks after a white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned deadly.
Robbins said at the time that “it is incomprehensible that we’re having this conversation in 2017.” He added that his company denounced “racism, discrimination, neo-Nazism, white supremacy.”
After the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, the Business Roundtable condemned the attack and called on Trump to “put an end to the chaos and to facilitate the peaceful transition of power.”
Trump defends tariffs, insists they're 'having a tremendously positive impact'
Trump defended his sweeping tariffs at an event at the Business Roundtable today as stocks tumble in the wake of recession concerns over the administration's tariff strategy.
Tariffs are “having a tremendously positive impact," Trump told one of the most powerful business lobbying groups in Washington.
His comments painted a rosier picture than the view from Wall Street, where major market indexes tanked yesterday after Trump declined to rule out a recession this year in an interview that aired Sunday on Fox News, saying instead that the economy was undergoing “a period of transition.”
Congressional Dems and ACLU slam Trump’s ‘invasion’ immigration proclamation, previewing legal challenge
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and three other leading Democrats in Congress wrote in a letter to the White House today that Trump's Inauguration Day proclamation declaring that illegal immigration is an invasion of the United States is a “troubling and misguided interpretation of the Constitution” that could be a precursor to legal action if Trump goes further.
The congressional Democrats who signed the letter — Durbin and Sen. Alex Padilla, of California, and Reps. Jamie Raskin, of Maryland, and Pramila Jayapal, of Washington — were joined by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Brennan Center, a liberal law and democracy think tank.
“Since you came into office, you have attempted to expand the scope of presidential power beyond that which is permitted by the United States Constitution and applicable federal laws. This proclamation is no different,” the letter said.
Trump has used the proclamation to effectively end access to asylum for immigrants crossing the border, both legally and illegally.
Perkins Coie sues Trump administration over executive order targeting the firm
The law firm Perkins Coie LLP sued the Trump administration in federal court today in response to an executive order Trump signed last week that suspended security clearances for the firm's employees and launched a review of diversity practices there and at other law firms.
The lawsuit argues that Trump was purposely targeting people who have challenged him or his administration.
"The Order is an affront to the Constitution and our adversarial system of justice," Perkins Coie says in its suit. "Its plain purpose is to bully those who advocate points of view that the President perceives as adverse to the views of his Administration, whether those views are presented on behalf of paying or pro bono clients."
The firm argued that Trump's executive order punishes the law firm's staff of more than 1,200 attorneys even though appears to target only two people who "have not been with the firm for years."
The suit askes the court to immediately block implementation of the order pending consideration of a motion for a preliminary injunction.
“Today, we filed a legal action to prevent enforcement of an unlawful Executive Order targeting our firm," the firm said in a statement. "The order violates core constitutional protections, including the rights to free speech and due process, and undermines all clients’ right to select counsel of their choice. We were compelled to take this step to protect our firm and safeguard the interests of our clients.”
Trump's executive order referred to Perkins Coie’s representing Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and, at the time, hiring the research firm Fusion GPS to put together research about possible connections between Trump and the Russian government. The research became known as the Steele dossier, as it was compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele. Its claims were largely unverified.
Schumer says Trump's attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil could be unconstitutional
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said today that Trump's attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent U.S. resident, over his involvement in a Columbia University campus protest against Israel last year could violate the First Amendment.
"The Trump administration’s DHS must articulate any criminal charges or facts that would justify his detention or the initiation of deportation proceedings against him," Schumer wrote on X this afternoon in his first public statement since Khalil was arrested in New York on Saturday and sent to a detention center in Louisiana.
Schumer, who condemned antisemitism in his post, said that if the Trump administration cannot prove that Khalil violated criminal law while protesting as grounds for his deportation and is instead doing so to punish him for expressing his opinions, "they are violating the First Amendment protections we all enjoy."
Khalil, 30, graduated from Columbia University in May and is married to a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the administration's actions this afternoon, saying "antisemitic, pro-Hamas protest will not be tolerated."
Trump turns the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom
Trump today turned the South Lawn of the White House into a temporary Tesla showroom in a conspicuous favor to his adviser Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of the car company.
Tesla delivered five of its vehicles to the White House and parked them on a driveway for Trump to personally inspect, hours after he said on Truth Social that he planned to buy a Tesla to demonstrate his support for Musk and the slumping car company.
With Musk beside him, Trump declared the vehicles “beautiful” and in particular praised the company’s Cybertruck.
“As soon as I saw it, I said, ‘That is the coolest design,’” Trump said.
Trump says he will ‘probably’ lower Canadian tariff surcharge
Trump appeared to take a step back from the charge and timing of a promise to double previously announced Canadian metals tariffs that rocked markets today.
“Probably so,” Trump said when reporters asked him whether he would lower tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum that he vowed would go from 25% to 50%.
About the timing for the tariffs to go into effect, he said, “I’ll let you know.”
Trump had pledged on social media earlier in the day to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum beginning tomorrow in response to Ontario’s placing a 25% tariff on energy from the province going into the United States. That was before Ontario Premier Doug Ford backed off the promise of a surcharge on electricity imports from Canada.
USAID employees told to burn or shred classified documents
The U.S. Agency for International Development is instructing its staff in Washington to shred and burn documents, according to an email obtained by NBC News. The move comes as the Trump administration faces legal challenges over its attempt to shut down the federal agency.
The document destruction was set to take place today, according to an email from Erica Carr, the agency’s acting executive secretary. It is unclear how many people received the email, which thanked workers for their “assistance in clearing our classified safes and personnel documents.”
U.S. to restart intelligence sharing and security assistance to Ukraine immediately
The United States will immediately lift a pause on intelligence sharing and resume providing security assistance to Ukraine after meetings in Saudi Arabia, where delegates from Kyiv agreed to accept the Trump administration’s proposal for a 30-day interim ceasefire with Russia.
“Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties,” according to a joint statement issued today.
Education Department building to close 'for security reasons'
Staff members at the Education Department were told today that the headquarters will be closed tomorrow "for security reasons," according to two current employees and screenshots of the email announcement they received.
The email said all employees must vacate the Washington headquarters and the department's buildings in the National Capital Region, referring to offices in the Washington suburbs within Maryland and Virginia, by 6 p.m. today.
James Hairfield, deputy assistant secretary of the department's Office of Security, Facilities and Logistics Service, wrote in the email that no employees will be allowed in Wednesday “for any reason.” The buildings will reopen Thursday, the email said.
A department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Leavitt defends tariffs as stocks take a hit: 'A period of transition'
One day after Wall Street reported its worst day of the year as concerns over Trump's aggressive trade policies mount, Leavitt said the stock market reaction is a sign the country is in "a period of economic transition."
"When it comes to the stock market, the numbers that we see today, numbers we saw yesterday, the numbers we’ll see tomorrow, are a snapshot of a moment in time," Leavitt said at a news briefing this afternoon. "As President Trump has said, and I’m here to echo the remarks of this president of this White House, we are in a period of economic transition."
House advances funding bill, with final vote later today
The House passed a procedural vote to advance the continuing resolution to fund the government through Sept. 30. Just one Republican, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, voted no (which was expected). All Democrats voted against it. A few other unrelated bills were lumped in with the rule on the vote, so it’s not necessarily a definitive sign of how the final vote will go, but it’s certainly a good sign for Republican leaders.
The vote on final passage is likely to occur in the 5 p.m. hour.
Based on attendance from the vote series, the bill will need 216 votes to pass. One Republican and one Democrat were absent, so if that stays the same — and all Democrats vote no — Republicans can afford just one defection.
Health department increases buyout offer
HHS sent its staff an email last night, obtained by NBC News, upping its buyout offer. NBC News previously reported that on Friday, HHS employees were offered voluntary buyouts that would give them up to $25,000 in a lump sum.
In the new email to staff, employees were told:
“Should you apply, and be accepted into the VSIP program, you will be carried in an administrative leave status, receiving full pay and benefits for eight (8) weeks after you are approved. This is in addition to the lump sum payment you will receive under the VSIP program. You must turn in any government property, including but not limited to any government-furnished equipment, government issued credit cards, and PIV card and clear any indebtedness before being placed on administrative leave. Once you are placed on administrative leave, you will have no further obligation to report for duty at HHS, and you may seek outside employment.”
NBC News reached out to HHS for comment.
Burchett still undecided on funding bill, but thinks it will pass
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told NBC News that while he has not decided if he will support the short-term funding bill, he thinks the measure will pass and that Johnson has the support of “8 to 10 Democrats.”
Burchett said that Trump, who he spoke to “just a few minutes” prior to his conversation with NBC News, understands that he is concerned about “wasteful spending” in the bill. Burchett said that the president also told him “we don’t want to cut Medicaid, we don’t want to cut Medicare, and we’re not doing that.”
Rep. Chip Roy privately expresses disappointment over Trump's attacks on colleague
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, privately expressed disappointment over Trump threatening to primary a fellow House Republican who is refusing to support a stopgap funding bill, according to two GOP sources with direct knowledge of the comment.
During a closed-door caucus meeting this morning, Roy said he didn’t appreciate that Trump threatened on social media to oust Rep. Thomas Massie, according to two sources in the room. Roy also called on Republican leadership to stand up for Massie, which Speaker Mike Johnson later did at a press conference.
After the private meeting, Trump once again bashed Massie on social media.
Roy himself has been on the receiving end of Trump’s threat after he led the charge against a stopgap spending and debt ceiling increase in December. But Roy has become a reliable vote for Trump and GOP leadership since then.
White House press secretary says Canada would be 'better served' if it became the 51st state
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump believes Canada "would benefit greatly from becoming the 51st State of the United States of America."
Trump posted on Truth Social this morning that "the only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear."
"The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World," Trump wrote in the post, arguing the only way for the trade tensions to end with Canada is for the country to cede its control to the United States government.
Echoing Trump's rhetoric, Leavitt pointed to the cost of living and income tax rates in Canada as reason for the country to relinquish its borders. "So the President has made it clear that he believes Canadians would be better served economically, militarily, if they were to become the 51st State of the United States of America," Leavitt said.
Trump to speak to powerful Business Roundtable as stocks plunge and tariff fight escalates
Trump is set to speak with the Business Roundtable later today, a group of more than 200 of the top corporate CEOs and one of the most powerful business lobbying groups in D.C.
The group’s CEO members have been vocal opponents of Trump’s sweeping tariffs dating back to his first administration.
Today is one of the group’s quarterly meetings and comes at a critical time for the economy as the stock market continues its fall. The meeting is private, with no press, and is intended to provide an open dialogue among the business leaders, and in this case, the president.
The group laid out its objectives in a statement last week ahead of Trump’s address to Congress, including its opposition to sweeping tariffs.
“Business Roundtable supports the President’s goals of strengthening border security and restricting the flow of fentanyl into the country," the statement said. "As the work to further restrict the flow of fentanyl continues, we urge negotiators to redouble efforts to secure a path forward that swiftly removes the recently implemented tariffs. These tariffs, especially if they are long-lasting, run the risk of creating serious economic impact.”
Trump turned heads last summer when he flew to Washington to meet with the group just a week after a jury in New York found him guilty on state felony charges for the falsification of business records.
The president has had tension with many of the CEOs in the group over the years. While it cheered on Trump’s tax cuts during the first administration, the group took issue with the president’s tariffs on Chinese products.
Several of its members also resigned in 2017 from the White House’s business advisory councils following the white nationalist attack in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The current chair of the Business Roundtable, Chuck Robbins, chair and CEO of Cisco, said at the time that “it is incomprehensible that we’re having this conversation in 2017” and that his company denounced “racism, discrimination, neo-Nazism, white supremacy.”
After the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, the business group condemned the attack and called on Trump to “put an end to the chaos and to facilitate the peaceful transition of power.”
Members of the group include Tim Cook of Apple, Mary Barra of General Motors, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Steve Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group, Harvey Schwartz of the Carlyle Group, John Stankey of AT&T and Mike Wirth of Chevron.
According to an official with the Business Roundtable, the group’s quarterly meeting attracts about half of its total CEO members and always has a standing invitation to the president of the United States.
Canadian tariff hike to go into effect tomorrow, White House says
The Trump administration’s additional tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum will go into effect tomorrow at a rate of 50%, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed at today's press briefing.
Trump has not yet spoken with Canada’s incoming Prime Minister Mark Carney, she said, but “his phone is always open to leader who wish to speak with him.”
Trump announced on his social media site earlier today that he would double the tariffs on Canada after the province of Ontario placed a 25% tariff on electricity coming into the United States. Ontario Premier Doug Ford had said at a news conference in Toronto that he would “not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely” if the United States continues to escalate the situation — remarks Leavitt characterized as “egregious and insulting.”
“The president made his position on this quite clear with the statement that he put out, and it was a retaliatory statement due to the escalation of rhetoric that we’ve seen out of Ontario, Canada,” Leavitt said. “The president saw that and has an obligation and a responsibility to respond accordingly and represent the interests of the American people.”
The Tesla Trump promised to buy is on its way to the White House
The Tesla that Trump said this morning that he would buy in a show of support for Elon Musk is on its way to the White House this afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters today.
Trump vowed in a Truth Social post to buy an electric vehicle as Musk's company faces plunging stock performance and its vehicles are being vandalized amid the political fallout over his involvement in the administration's efforts to lay off federal workers and slash government aid.
"I can confirm, perhaps the press pool today will have an opportunity to witness this very exciting moment later this afternoon, but the Tesla is on its way here now, and we'll see if the president likes it when he checks it out," Leavitt said in a White House briefing this afternoon.
Trump posted on Truth Social this morning that his purchase of the Tesla is "a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American.” Musk, who has continued to run Tesla, SpaceX and X while acting as a key adviser to Trump, has faced a staggering slow in Tesla sales as Americans boycott the car maker in protest of Musk's sweeping cuts to the federal government and workforce.
Michelle Obama and her brother to launch a weekly podcast
Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, will host a new weekly podcast series starting this month featuring a special guest pulled from the world of entertainment, sports, health and business.
“IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson” will address “everyday questions shaping our lives, relationships and the world around us,” according to a press release. IMO is slang for “in my opinion.”
Some of the guests slated to speak to the former first lady and Robinson, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, include the actors Issa Rae and Keke Palmer and psychologist Dr. Orna Guralnik.
Other guests include filmmakers Seth and Lauren Rogan; soccer star Abby Wambach; authors Jay Shetty, Glennon Doyle and Logan Ury; editor Elaine Welteroth; radio personality Angie Martinez; media mogul Tyler Perry; actor Tracee Ellis Ross; husband-and-wife athlete and actor Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union; and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky.
Four House Republicans still have not committed to backing the spending bill
Four House Republicans said this morning that they were still undecided on whether to support the short-term government spending bill that will come up for a vote at around 4 p.m. Trump is urging Republican lawmakers to back the measure.
Rep. Tim Burchett, of Tennessee, said he would like to see Pentagon spending reduced, but hasn't received a call about the bill from Trump.
Rep. Kat Cammack, of Florida, said she would prefer a recision package, which would legislate spending cuts, and a top-line number for 2026 funding levels before supporting the bill. She said she expected to talk to the White House today.
Rep. Rich McCormick, of Georgia, said the short-term spending measure was not equivalent to writing a budget.
Like McCormick, Rep. Beth Van Duyne, of Texas, said she would prefer to pass appropriations bills and a budget. She and McCormick will be speaking to Speaker Mike Johnson, of Louisiana, later today.
Democrats are expected to vote against the measure. Republicans can't afford to lose any votes from their conference given that Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, has already said he'll oppose the bill.
Guantanamo Bay troops guard empty migrant tents, suffer low morale, Democratic House member says
During a visit to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, last week, Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., said she and other lawmakers observed U.S. service members guarding empty tents that were intended to hold undocumented immigrants.
“They told me it cost about $16 million already, and at the time I was there, they told us that there were only 41 immigrants that they were holding, and at max right now, they can have 225," Jacobs told NBC News in an interview last night. "So we saw service members guarding empty tents that aren’t usable."
Trump had planned to house 30,000 immigrants at the U.S. naval base, but NBC News reported last week that the plan has faced major obstacles.
Jacobs, who represents the San Diego area, said she and the bipartisan group of lawmakers were not allowed to interact with the migrants.
“I think all of us had a lot of questions about the money, how few immigrants were actually there, in regards to how much money is being spent, sort of like the operational questions,” she said.
Jacobs also said the undocumented immigrants were divided by threat level.
“The low-threat folks are in sort of more communal living space," she said. "The high-threat folks are in Camp Six, which is one of the areas that had been used for war on terror prisoners."
“So it looks like a pretty standard super-max prison, and our service members are living sometimes in hardened facilities," Jacobs added. "Some of them are living in tents, and it was clear that the morale was quite low among the service members.”
Johnson says short-term government funding bill ‘solves the problem’
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., addressed the plans to pass a short-term government funding bill and defended the legislation after previously opposing other continuing resolutions.
Fired federal workers say a government shutdown could 'force' people to 'realize the impacts' of DOGE cuts
Federal workers laid off as a result of DOGE cuts held a protest in the Hart Senate office building this morning. NBC News spoke with Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Peter Welch of Vermont, as well as several attendees, who discussed the global consequences of their jobs being eliminated and voiced their frustration with Congress’ inaction.
Samuel Port, a fired USAID contractor and veteran, said, “I am not satisfied with the response” from Democrats on the DOGE cuts.
“The Democrats should not back up anything that the Republicans are doing," Port said. "We should have a government shutdown as an option to force a couple people to realize the impacts of it and go back to the negotiating table to fix these cuts that are happening right now.”
Noelle Huhn, a former USAID worker who was in Malawi working on the president’s Malaria Initiative at the time of her firing, said that she would also support Democrats voting against the short-term government funding bill.
“I want them to support something that is going to put a stop to things that are happening, and if that means not pushing this bill forward, I hope that they use this as an opportunity to take those actions," she said.
Van Hollen and Welch spoke about the dangers of Elon Musk’s “illegal takeover” of government and assured attendees that Democrats will do “everything they can” to reverse DOGE’s cuts.“Damage is being done, and you’re the face of that damage, but behind your face are the folks who you have been serving, and they’re being abandoned,” Welch said.
Both senators criticized the House continuing resolution, but declined to tell NBC how they would vote if the measure makes it to the Senate.
Another appeals court blocks Trump's birthright citizenship order
A federal appeals court in Massachusetts today denied the Trump administration’s bid to pause a lower court’s nationwide block on the president's birthright citizenship executive order, pending appeal.
The government “has not made a strong showing as to either the Executive Order’s lawfulness or the Plaintiff-States’ lack of standing,” the ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.
The administration had sought a stay of a lower court's ruling blocking the order from going into effect while it appeals the decision. A coalition of states challenged Trump's executive order, titled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," which aims to limit birthright citizenship to people who have at least one parent who is a United States citizen or permanent resident.
The states argued the order violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The appeals court ruling was the third against the administration on the issue.
Trump has yet to sign off on 50% Canadian steel and aluminum tariffs
Trump has yet to sign off on his announced doubling of tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, but it's “in the works,” a senior administration official said.
Trump's post on Truth Social announcing that tariffs will go from 25% to 50% remains just a threat until that paperwork is signed, the official said. Trump indicated that the increase would go into effect “tomorrow morning.”
Trump felt Ontario Premier Doug Ford's placement of surcharges on electricity sold in three northern U.S. states was aggressive, the official said. Asked whether the response was disproportionate, the official said Trump wanted to “lay down the gauntlet.”
In another post to Truth Social, Trump focused on the electricity levies, writing, "can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat? They will pay a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!"
The president does not have any calls on the schedule with Canadian officials today, and he has yet to speak with the country’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, the administration official said.
Pregnant federal employees who were fired grapple with stress of losing insurance and looking for work
Emily Erroa was eight months pregnant when she found out she was being fired from her human resources job at the Department of Energy.
“It stressed me out to the point where I did have to go into the hospital because I felt as though I caused too much stress to the baby,” she told NBC News. “They were calling me saying, ‘Oh, you’re fired. Oh, never mind. You’re not fired. You’re not on the list.’ And then they call me back and said, ‘You are on the list.’ These were way after work hours, and it was constant emails, daily things, and so now it’s affected everything.”
Erroa, a 38-year-old Army veteran and reservist, was based in Texas. Now, she’s had to move to Kansas City, Missouri, to be closer to family.
“It’s not like I could just say, ‘Oh, well, fine, I’ll just go get another job.’ I’m visibly pregnant. Nobody would ever hire me in their right mind, even though it’s discrimination,” she said. “But we live in reality, right? They would not hire me, and plus, I would need to have time off. My baby is due April 17.”
Thousands of federal workers have been fired from their government jobs in recent weeks amid efforts from President Donald Trump, his billionaire adviser Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. But for Erroa and women like her, who are pregnant, the stakes are more challenging and complex.
Democratic lawmakers demand Trump administration release Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil
Fourteen Democratic lawmakers sent a letter today to the Trump administration demanding the release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who was arrested Saturday by federal immigration agents.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said his arrest was in coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State Department in support of Trump's “executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism” and because Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” The Trump administration has not provided evidence of the allegations against Khalil.
He’s currently being held at an immigration detention facility in Louisiana.
“As the Trump administration proudly admits, he was targeted solely for his activism and organizing as a student leader and negotiator for the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Columbia University[’s] campus,” the lawmakers wrote. “We must be extremely clear: this is an attempt to criminalize political protest and is a direct assault on the freedom of speech in this country.”
In a Truth Social post yesterday, Trump wrote that Khalil’s arrest was the first of many to come. The lawmakers condemned Trump’s message, adding that “if unchecked, this authoritarian playbook will be applied to any and all opposition to his undemocratic agenda.”
Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Jasmine Crockett, D-Mo., and Al Green, D-Texas, were among the letter’s signatories.
Trump is focused on Canada and serious about it becoming the 51st state
Trump is heavily focused on Canada this morning in conversations with aides, a source with direct knowledge of the conversations said, and aides believe he is serious about his often-stated desire to make Canada the 51st state.
The decision by Ontario Premier Doug Ford to levy a surcharge on electricity sold in three northern U.S. states was the jumping off point for Trump to announce the doubling of tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, the source said.
Trump has not yet spoken to new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, a White House official said.
Protesters demand release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil as judge blocks deportation
Rallies are planned today in New York and Chicago as protesters continue to demand the release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, whose arrest Trump said is the first of many.
Khalil, a Columbia graduate, was arrested Saturday at his apartment by federal immigration agents who told him that his student visa was being revoked, his attorney Amy Greer has said. He’s being held at an immigration detention facility in Louisiana.
Trump says he’ll double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in response to electricity duties
Trump said today he will double the tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum imported from Canada, an escalation of the brewing economic feud between the U.S. and its largest trading partner.
Trump posted to his Truth Social platform that the tariffs would go from 25% to 50% starting tomorrow, a move that comes in response to the province of Ontario placing a 25% tariff on electricity coming into the United States.
The president added that he would be declaring a “national emergency” on the three states Ontario has targeted so that the tariffs could go into effect.
Trump also called on Canada to drop its duties on American dairy products and threatened to “substantially increase” tariffs on cars imported into the U.S. if Canada did not drop “other egregious, long time tariffs.”
He then doubled down on some of his recent rhetoric about making Canada part of the U.S.
Government asks plaintiffs to post bond in refugee case, in keeping with new Trump executive order
The Trump administration is asking a federal judge in Washington state to order the plaintiffs in a refugee case to post bond before the case moves forward.
Yaakov Roth, the acting assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's civil division, asked the judge to “require Plaintiffs to post security for any taxpayer funds distributed during the pendency of the Court’s Order, in the event it is later determined that Defendants were wrongfully enjoined.”
The request, which is a first in the cases challenging Trump's aggressive immigration and government downsizing policies, comes after the president signed an executive order last week “directing federal agencies to enforce a rule mandating financial guarantees from parties requesting injunctions.”
White House is using tariffs to restore manufacturing. Data suggests it will take time.
Trump has claimed that the blooming trade war the White House launched this year will spur companies to forgo foreign goods and return manufacturing to American shores. But data suggests that the U.S. economy is not ready for a wholesale shift to manufacturing and that it would take years to ramp up production capabilities.
Data shows a fraction of people in the United States are employed by farms and factories compared with decades past, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with most now in service jobs like software, finance and health care. And experts say focusing on domestic goods production could cost consumers while undermining America’s growing advantage in the knowledge economy.
Ontario's premier says Canada 'will not back down' as Trump escalates tariffs
Ontario Premier Doug Ford reacted on MSNBC to Trump’s additional tariff announcement earlier this hour, saying Canadians would “not back down" in response.
Trump cited Ford’s recent decision to increase costs of electricity to three U.S. states after the president’s previous tariff announcement.
“We will not back down," Ford said. "We will be relentless. I apologize to the American people that President Trump decided to have an unprovoked attack on our country, on families, on jobs, and it’s unacceptable. Let’s work together. Let’s get to the table if he has issues, and let’s sort this out.”
Ford said he would “respond appropriately on the electricity,” adding, “stay tuned.” He also urged CEOs to “get a backbone” and stand up to Trump.
The president is meeting with CEOs of major U.S. companies at a meeting of the Business Roundtable this afternoon.
In the interview, Ford called on Trump to stop the chaos, saying the tariffs would hurt American and Canadian families.
“He ran on a mandate of creating jobs lowering inflation, and it’s backfired on him, and he has to step up and change course," Ford said. "Inflation is happening right across the country, and the unpredictability that he’s put to the markets. The markets are speaking. People will be speaking, and businesses will be speaking as well.”
As Trump eyes Greenland, election tests Arctic island’s ambitions for independence from Denmark
Trump aggressively setting his sights on acquiring Greenland and growing calls for independence from Denmark, the future status of the Arctic island was firmly at the front of voters’ minds as they headed to the polls today.
Just 31 lawmakers will be elected to Greenland’s parliament, or Inatsisartut, but the vote, which has drawn little attention in previous years, will be watched the world over.
“It’s definitely a different election this time around,” said Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, which provides training, research and advice to Denmark’s military.
Steve Witkoff traveling to Moscow later this week
Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow later this week, according to a source familiar with his plans.
The source notes that Witkoff’s travel plans can be fluid. This source would not confirm precisely who Witkoff is meeting with in the Russian capital. Reuters is reporting that Witkoff will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin directly. (NBC News has not confirmed this.)
Witkoff did meet with Putin last month, ultimately securing the release of American Marc Fogel.
Trump announces additional retaliatory tariffs on Canada
Trump said on Truth Social that he was imposing additional 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum entering the U.S. from Canada after Ontario said it was raising the cost of electricity for some U.S. customers (a response to Trump's earlier tariffs).
Trump also said that he would soon declare a national emergency on electricity in the "threatened area," arguing that it "will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada."
The additional tariffs would go into effect tomorrow morning, Trump added. The administration was already planning to implement steel and aluminum tariffs tomorrow.
"If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada," Trump said.
He also emphasized his interest in making Canada part of the U.S.
Jeffries says Democrats 'cannot support' short-term government spending bill
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said this morning that Democrats "cannot support" the short-term spending bill that the House is expected to vote on later this afternoon.
"This partisan and reckless Republican spending bill fails to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which we know are on the Republican chopping block," Jeffries told reporters at the Capitol. "It represents devastating cuts in an attack on seniors, families and veterans. We cannot support this bill."
Jeffries is now huddling behind closed doors with Democrats at their caucus meeting.
Since Democrats are expected to vote against the bill, known as a continuing resolution, the focus is on potential Republican holdouts who could also reject it. GOP leaders can afford to lose only one Republican if all members are present, although Republicans could have more leeway on the margin of support for the measure if some Democrats skip the vote.
Bipartisan pair of senators reintroduce bill to expand fentanyl testing in hospitals
Almost seven years after Tyler Shamash, a 19-year-old from California, died following a fentanyl overdose, a bill that his mother says could have prevented his death is getting renewed focus nearly 3,000 miles away in Washington, D.C.
Shamash overdosed a few days before he died while he was living at a sober living house in 2018. His mom, Juli Shamash, was told he tested negative for drugs because the five-panel tox screen doesn’t test for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.
“Had we known, we could have sent him to a place with a higher level of care, instead of the sober living home where he died,” Juli Shamash said in a statement.
She said she believes the doctor didn’t know that fentanyl isn’t included in the standard test run in emergency rooms across the country, which tests for marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, PCP and natural and semisynthetic opioids but not synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Stocks open lower Tuesday as sell-off continues
Markets opened slightly lower today as a major sell-off prompted by fears of a slowing economy rolled on.
The S&P 500 started the day down 0.3%, while the Nasdaq was off 0.2% and the Dow declined 0.4% just minutes into trading.
The latest warning sign came from the airline industry: Three major carriers warned that they were seeing signs of slowing demand, compounded by ongoing jitters in the wake of the midair crash over the Potomac earlier this year.
In a filing, American Airlines said that “the revenue environment has been weaker than initially expected due to the impact of Flight 5342 and softness in the domestic leisure segment, primarily in March.”
That followed a filing from Delta Air Lines that said its revenues were being affected “by the recent reduction in consumer and corporate confidence caused by increased macro uncertainty, driving softness in Domestic demand.”
Finally, Southwest Airlines slashed its earnings guidance for the rest of the year.
Former Rep. Katie Porter launches run for California governor
Former Rep. Katie Porter is running for governor of California, injecting another well-known Democrat into the race to succeed Gavin Newsom.
“What California needs now is a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit, fresh blood and new ideas, leaders with the backbone to fight for what’s right,” Porter said in her announcement video. “That’s why I am running for governor.”
Porter is well known after an unsuccessful Senate run last year, and she joins a field that includes a number of other Democrats: Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former state Controller Betty Yee, former state legislative leader Tony Atkins, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and businessman Stephen Cloobeck. (Newsom is term-limited.)
But a bigger name, former Vice President Kamala Harris, is looming over all of them, and Porter’s plans could change if Harris decides to jump into the race.
DOJ official says she was fired after opposing the restoration of Mel Gibson’s gun rights
The former U.S. pardon attorney, Elizabeth G. Oyer, was terminated Friday after she opposed restoring actor Mel Gibson’s rights to carry a gun, her spokesperson and two Justice Department officials familiar with the matter told NBC News.
A spokesperson for Oyer said that she was not told why she was terminated but that because of the sequence of events she believes her refusal to carry out a request from officials in the deputy attorney general’s office to add Gibson’s name to a list of people to have their gun rights restored may have played a role.
Gibson, a supporter of Trump, lost his gun rights after a 2011 domestic violence misdemeanor conviction.
In a statement to NBC News, Oyer described a climate of fear within the Justice Department.
“Unfortunately, experienced professionals throughout the Department are afraid to voice their opinions because dissent is being punished,” she said. “Decisions are being made based on relationships and loyalty, not based on facts or expertise or sound analysis, which is very alarming given that what is at stake is our public safety.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon warns 60 colleges over antisemitism on campus
Dozens of universities across the country received a federal government warning yesterday over their obligation to protect Jewish students on campus, which came just as President Donald Trump’s administration clamps down on pro-Palestinian protesters.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote to 60 institutions — many of which were the site of lengthy, and at times fractious, protests last year — telling them they would face “potential enforcement actions” if they failed to uphold Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in regard to Jewish students.
That part of the law makes it illegal to discriminate “on the basis of race, color, and national origin” in any activities that get federal funding.
Six out of eight Ivy League institutions are on the list, including Columbia University and Harvard University.
Vance to join House Republicans as leaders rally support for spending bill
Vice President JD Vance will join House Republicans this morning for their weekly conference meeting, a GOP source familiar with the matter said.
Vance joins the group as House Republican leaders seek to rally around a continuing resolution, which the House is set to vote on today, that would avoid a government shutdown starting this weekend.
Trump’s top aides have been placing calls to undecided Republicans, asking them to support the spending bill.
Global stocks sell-off pauses as investors catch their breath
Tumbling stock markets and rallying Treasury bonds steadied somewhat in Europe today, as a modicum of calm returned to markets after the previous day’s dramatic moves when the Nasdaq saw its biggest one-day fall in more than two years.
Europe’s broad Stoxx 600 index was flat in early trading, while Asia Pacific ex Japan shares — which had been down around 1.75% earlier in the day — were last just 0.5% lower. U.S. share futures were up around 0.3%.
This was in stark contrast to yesterday, when investors’ concerns about a potential economic slowdown were exacerbated after Trump in a Fox News interview talked about a “period of transition” and declined to rule out a recession.
The S&P 500 fell 2.7% yesterday, its biggest one-day drop this year, while the Nasdaq slid 4.0%, its biggest single-day percentage drop since September 2022.
Trump vows to buy a Tesla as the company faces Musk backlash
Trump said in an overnight post to Truth Social that he would buy a Tesla this morning "as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American."
The president pointed to the difficulties the company faces as Musk simultaneously serves as Tesla CEO and spearheads the administration's government downsizing effort through the Department of Government Efficiency effort.
CNBC reported Monday marked Tesla's worst day on the stock market since September 2020. The company has faced seven straight weeks of losses.
People have also been vandalizing Tesla vehicles and protesting at the company's dealerships since Musk joined the Trump administration.
Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist launches a run for governor, setting up a major 2026 race
Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II is running for governor, he announced today, setting up a Democratic primary clash that includes two prominent statewide officeholders in one of the most tightly divided states.
Gilchrist is the latest prominent politician to dive into the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is term-limited, months after Michigan narrowly voted for both Trump and a Democratic senator, Elissa Slotkin. The state promises to be one of the most important battlegrounds in the country once again in the midterm elections in 2026, when it will also elect another new senator in an open-seat race.
In an interview with NBC News yesterday, Gilchrist leaned heavily on his record in Lansing and framed himself as a proven problem-solver in private business, as well as public office. If he is elected, he would be Michigan’s first Black governor (and one of just a handful in American history).
“Michiganders are going to need to be able to trust someone to be able to work with them and on their behalf, to have their interests at heart and to solve the problems that they articulate are the most important,” he said.
Worst day of the year for markets
Markets suffered a steep sell-off today following Trump not denying that a recession could be a result of his trade policies. All three major indexes have seen a notable decline since the president’s first full day in office. NBC News’ Brian Cheung reports.
Kyiv launches ‘largest’ drone attack on Moscow as Ukraine and U.S. give diplomacy a shot
Ukrainian forces targeted Moscow this morning with what Russian authorities are describing as the largest ever drone attack on the Russian capital.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that it downed 337 drones overnight with 91 one of those unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) coming down in the Moscow region, with at least two people killed in the city, fires sparked, and air and rail travel suspended amid the disruption.
Even so, the bombardment of at least 10 Russian regions came as Ukraine headed into pivotal talks with the United States today in a tough spot.
At the negotiating table, Trump and his team are demanding significant concessions, while publicly asking little of their Russian counterparts despite the president saying he was considering additional sanctions on Moscow. On the battlefield, Kremlin forces are pushing back Ukrainian troops who had launched a counter invasion into Russian soil.
House expected to vote on Republican spending bill today
The House is set to vote today a stopgap spending bill that would continue to fund the government through Sept. 30.
Congress must pass a spending bill by the end of this week to avoid a government shutdown and continue to fund federal agencies at current levels through the the remainder of the fiscal year.
Speaker Mike Johnson is relying on the slim Republican majority in the House, where the measure only requires a simple majority. In the Senate, however, it needs 60 votes — meaning at least seven Democrats would need to back the bill if all 53 Republicans support it.
Trump and his top aides have been placing calls to undecided Republicans, urging them to back the spending bill. Congressional Democrats have blasted the bill.