What's going on today
- President Donald Trump announced today that he's revoking former President Joe Biden's access to classified information, citing Biden's remarks in 2021 that Trump should no longer receive such intelligence briefings, a courtesy typically extended to former presidents, due to "erratic behavior."
- A judge granted a request to pause the midnight deadline to cut down the U.S. Agency for International Development from a workforce of more than 5,000 to just a few hundred.
- Trump met with Japan's prime minister at the White House this afternoon and the two then held a news conference. Trump said that he may meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington, D.C., next week as he attempts to broker the end of the Ukraine-Russia war.
- The Justice Department and lawyers representing FBI agents who investigated Jan. 6 have reached an agreement that would prohibit anyone in the federal government from publicly releasing the names of those agents while litigation proceeds.
Ending USAID programs could undercut Trump’s goal of slashing migration to the U.S., groups say
In Colombia, a group with funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development helps employ Venezuelans who fled their country’s authoritarian regime and economic crisis.
In Haiti, another program that gets USAID money is ready to distribute millions of tons of bean seeds to farmers and tools for fishermen that would help sustain families amid the country’s widespread hunger, violence and instability.
Those programs along with others are part of the complex web of U.S. global assistance that addresses humanitarian needs and helps mitigate migration to the United States and other countries, by helping people become self-sustaining.
Time published its latest cover featuring an image of Elon Musk sitting behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. NBC News’ Garrett Haake has more on the cover and Trump’s reaction.
Trump dismisses head of the National Archives
Trump dismissed the head of the National Archives, a White House official said tonight, following through on a vow last month to change the leadership atop the agency, which was involved in the criminal case that had accused Trump of mishandling classified documents.
White House director of presidential personnel Sergio Gor said on X that national archivist Colleen Shogan was dismissed this evening at Trump’s direction.
“At the direction of @realDonaldTrump the Archivist of the United States has been dismissed tonight. We thank Colleen Shogan for her service,” Gor wrote.
Kennedy Center says White House hasn't notified it of leadership overhaul
The Kennedy Center said it has received no official communications from the White House regarding changes to its board of trustees, following Trump’s announcement this evening that he was firing multiple trustees and appointing himself chair of the organization.
In a statement, the Kennedy Center said the chair of the board must be appointed by its board members according to its governance, established by Congress in 1958.
“We are aware that some members of our board have received termination notices from the administration,” it said in a statement. “There is nothing in the Center’s statute that would prevent a new administration from replacing board members; however, this would be the first time such action has been taken within the Kennedy Center’s board.”
The center added in its statement that its board is bipartisan and supports the arts in a nonpartisan fashion.
“Throughout our history, the Kennedy Center has enjoyed strong support from members of congress and their staffs — Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. Since our doors opened in1971, we have had a collaborative relationship with every presidential administration. Since that time, the Kennedy Center has had a bi-partisan board of trustees that has supported the arts in a non-partisan fashion,” the statement said.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau homepage goes down as Musk targets agency
The homepage for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was displaying a "Page not found" error message tonight, hours after Elon Musk tweeted "CFPB RIP."
The agency has attracted the attention of Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency after they pushed to slash staff and operations at the U.S. Agency for International Development. The USAID homepage has been replaced with a message to staff about planned changes.
No such message appears on the CFPB homepage. Other parts of the agency's website were still working this evening.
Judge declines to block DOGE access to Labor Department data
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., today declined to issue a temporary restraining order barring tech billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency staffers from accessing sensitive data at the Labor Department.
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates made the ruling after a hearing in which attorneys for the AFL-CIO and other labor groups had argued that DOGE isn’t legally entitled to access the computer systems due to federal privacy laws.
Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, said the plaintiffs had not satisfied requirements to establish standing by showing injury to the groups' members or injury to the groups themselves.
"So although the Court harbors concerns about defendants’ alleged conduct, it must deny plaintiffs’ motion at this time," he wrote.
An attorney for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment this evening.
DOJ orders child safety authority to comply with Trump’s ‘gender ideology’ order
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the primary U.S. nonprofit fighting child sexual exploitation, said today that it is removing all references to transgender people from its public materials.
The move is in accordance with an executive order Trump signed last week, which bars federal funding that goes to “gender ideology” and makes it the official policy of the federal government not to recognize their gender identity.
“Earlier this week, like many federally funded non-profits, NCMEC was directed by DOJ to comply with Executive Order 14168,” a NCMEC spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We are responding to this direction in a balanced way reviewing our publicly facing materials to ensure compliance while not impacting our 40-year mission of child protection.”
More than 60 years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dallas, intelligence agencies are set to deliver a plan to the White House outlining the public release of the remaining sealed files in the case. NBC’s Stephanie Gosk reports for TODAY.
Imprisoned ‘Chrisley Knows Best’ couple to seek pardons from Trump
The imprisoned reality television couple known for the TV show “Chrisley Knows Best” will seek pardons from Trump following their convictions in a scheme to defraud banks out of millions, their attorney said today.
Todd and Julie Chrisley were convicted in November 2022 following a federal trial in Atlanta. Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years and Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years.
The couple was accused of conspiring to defraud Atlanta-area banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans. Their accountant was also convicted on fraud and tax counts.
“They believe that the president will seriously consider pardoning both Julie and Todd Chrisley as a result of the unfair treatment they received in the criminal justice system,” Jay Surgent, an attorney for the Chrisleys, said in a phone interview. He said the pardon request should be filed with Trump’s legal counsel in around two to four months.
New York leads multistate lawsuit to block DOGE from accessing Americans’ personal data
New York Attorney General Letitia James and 18 other state attorneys general sued President Donald Trump’s administration today in an effort to stop Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing personal data housed in the Treasury Department.
In the lawsuit, James pointed to DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department’s central payment system and sensitive data housed in it, including their states’ residents’ bank account details and Social Security numbers.