Trump says he plans to fire or reassign IRS new workers
During his speech in Nevada, Trump said he planned to halt the hiring of over 80,000 new IRS agents, many of whom were funded by the over $80 million earmarked for the IRS in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
During his speech, Trump said he planned to fire them or reassign them to the southern border.
"They hired — were trying to hire 88,000 new workers to go with you, and we’re in the process of developing a plan to either terminate all of them or maybe we move them to the border," the president said.
Trump floats rejoining the World Health Organization
During his rally in Nevada, Trump floated rejoining the World Health Organization, days after he signed an executive order announcing the U.S.' intent to leave the group.
In his speech, Trump railed against the dues the U.S. has to pay to the organization, saying, "We paid $500 million a year, and China paid $39 million a year, despite a much larger population."
He added, "Maybe we would consider doing it again. I don't know. Maybe we would have to clean it up a little bit, but China pays $39 million for 1.4 billion, and we're paying $500 million for 325 million. I don't know what the hell is wrong with these people."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump's intentions.
Trump says he plans to work with Congress to make his tax cuts permanent
Trump says he is working with Congress on a bill around his “no tax on tips” campaign promise and on making his administration’s 2017 tax cuts, whicha are set to expire at the end of 2025, permanent.
“In the coming few weeks, I’ll be working with Congress to get a bill on my desk that cuts taxes for workers, families, small businesses, and very importantly, keeps my promise for a thing ... no tax on tips.”
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that keeping the tax cuts would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.
Trump touts his Nevada win
Trump is on stage in Las Vegas bragging about his electoral victory in Nevada.
"I wanted to come to Nevada to pay my respects, because this is the only Republican win of the state in decades, and it was a very big landslide," Trump said.
‘We are all afraid’: Migrants with temporary status live in fear amid Trump’s crackdown
For the last two years, Carlos Carpio has created a life for himself in Chicago, a city he now loves. He works at a factory, rents an apartment and has made friends. He goes to church every Sunday and is a part of the community here.
But for Carpio, who is a Venezuelan immigrant in the country legally with temporary status, that stability shattered this week when Donald Trump became president, riding into office on a campaign promise to carry out the largest mass deportation the United States has ever seen.
“There’s so much fear over what Trump has been saying, and now what he’s doing,” said Carpio, 50. “Since the day Trump became president, I live in fear.”
Carpio is among the roughly 1 million people in this country who have what’s known as temporary protected status, or TPS, which gives them the right to stay in the U.S. temporarily due to civil unrest and natural disasters in their home country. His was set to expire this April, but the Biden administration earlier this month extended those protections for another 18 months for people from Ukraine, Sudan, Venezuela and El Salvador.
Trump storms Washington with hundreds of pardons — and he might not be done
Donald Trump granted only one pardon during his first year in office when he last served as president.
Now, just days into his second term, Trump has averaged one pardon for every few minutes he’s been back in power.
The pardons and commutations have stood out in Trump’s first week back in the White House, even as a flurry of executive orders covering everything from tech policy, diversity initiatives and the federal workforce have blanketed Washington. They have been a way for Trump, with a simple flourish of his pen, to reward groups of people who supported him.
“There were campaign promises that President Trump made,” a Trump official said. “That’s what you’re seeing now. I’m not sure you’ll see rounds of pardons throughout [his term], but what I can say is it was important for him to keep his promises.”
West Palm Beach police arrest suspect who threatened to kill Trump
West Palm Beach police on Saturday announced the arrest of a 46-year-old man who threatened to kill Trump.
In a press conference, police said they received a tip about the man's posts on Facebook on Jan. 19, one day before Trump was inaugurated to a second term.
West Palm Beach Police Chief Tony Araujo said that upon arrest, the suspect claimed to be joking.
"Folks, this is not a joke. Nothing of that sort is a joke," Araujo said before urging residents to report any similar tips to the police or the FBI.
He said the suspect's name is Shannon Depararro Atkins and he was charged with one count of written or electronic threats to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism, which is a second-degree felony
"Let us decide whether the action -- the information is actionable. We'll determine if there’s reason, willingness, to further an investigation," the police chief added, saying that local law enforcement worked with their partners in the federal government and in the Secret Service to investigate this tip.
Top Democrat on Judiciary Committee blasts inspector general firings
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called Trump's decision to fire multiple inspectors general part of the president's effort "to reshape the federal government without oversight or accountability—and with loyalty to Donald Trump and Donald Trump alone. It is a brazen attempt to rig these offices to look the other way when violations of law take place."
He added, "Inspectors general are vital for keeping the government honest and revealing waste, fraud, and abuse. Less than one week in office and President Trump is dismantling the checks and balances on the Executive Branch at an astounding rate.”
Some Senate Republicans fall in line behind Trump firing at least 12 inspectors general
Some Senate Republicans today were unbothered by Trump’s ousting of at least 12 inspectors general late last night without the proper notification of Congress. Several GOP senators defended Trump’s actions, arguing that the president has the power to fire whoever he would like.
“[Trump’s] the boss. I mean, they vetted every one of them. They understood—he understands what he’s doing,” Senator Tuberville, R-Ala., said, adding that he has not spoken to President Trump about this. “We need a clean house. I mean, if they’re not for this country, they need to move on down the road.”
By law, Presidents are required to give Congress a 30-day notification of their intent to fire an inspector general, and the White House must also provide substantive reasons for why the inspector general was terminated.
Senators were still not clear on who was actually fired, with several saying they had learned the news from media reports, and had not heard about it from the Trump Administration, including Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. Some Republicans, like Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who has previously advocated for the protection of inspectors general, told reporters they needed time to digest the news before commenting.
“I heard it, I have not looked at it, and I don’t know what it all entails. So, I honestly would just be guessing at this point as to what it what it actually entails. So, I’ll wait and find out what that means in terms of other people stepping in. Are there deputies that step in? Was it specific to individuals? I just simply don’t have that information,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said.
“I do not know what [Trump’s] logic was on it, and I do not know the reasoning. We’ll give him an opportunity to explain that,” he added.
The only Senate Republican who seemed skeptical about Trump’s actions was Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Collins was also cosponsor of legislation passed in 2023 to protect inspectors general from undue terminations.
“I don’t understand why one would fire individuals whose mission is to root out waste, fraud and abuse. So, this leaves a gap in what I know is a priority for President Trump, so I don’t understand that.” Collins said.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the bipartisan Inspector General caucus, launched just over a week ago by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said his Republican colleagues are still grappling with how to proceed, given concerns about possible blowback from Trump.
“It’s wrong, it’s illegal. But the question is, who could enforce it?” Blumenthal said when asked what Congress can do.
“I don’t know whether members of Congress have standing or someone in the public. But the bigger point is what we will do to stop President Trump from riding roughshod over a means of scrutiny that is essential to rooting out waste and fraud, and we really need to be bipartisan in that effort,” he added.
Sen. Grassley seeks further information about inspector general firings
After Trump fired multiple inspectors general from the federal government overnight in a legally murky move, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on the president to better inform Congress about his decision.
“There may be good reason the IGs were fired. We need to know that if so. I’d like further explanation from President Trump. Regardless, the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to Congress," Grassley told NBC News.
Grassley is referring to a key part of federal legislation that prohibits the president from firing inspectors general without giving Congress a 30-day notice and a reason for the firing.
The senator led the push for that legislation to strengthen protections for inspectors general and has been outspoken about enforcing safeguards for inspectors general.