Coverage of this live blog has ended. For the latest news, click here.
What to know today
- A judge in Boston who had temporarily paused the Trump administration's offer of mass buyouts to federal workers lifted his freeze this evening, allowing the program to proceed.
- The Senate confirmed former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as the top U.S. intelligence official and advanced Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services for a vote tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. Gabbard was sworn in this evening in an Oval Office ceremony by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
- The House DOGE subcommittee, chaired by conservative firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., held its first hearing this morning.
- Trump said that he spoke with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about ending the war. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said it would be "unrealistic" to return Ukraine's borders to what they were before 2014, an indication Trump will support ceding some Ukrainian territory that Russia has seized.
All 13 Canadian premiers are in Washington in unprecedented visit
For the first time ever, all 13 Canadian premiers are in Washington this week in a coordinated effort to stress the importance of U.S.-Canada ties as Trump considers whether to impose tariffs on Canadian imports.
Led by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, the group of premiers representing 10 provinces and three territories has met with Republican and Democratic members of Congress, U.S. and Canadian business leaders and senior Trump advisers.
During the White House discussion, they "stressed the need to work together to avoid tariffs which would hurt workers on both sides of the border," the group said today in a news release.
The premiers have argued that Canada and the United States should work together to promote decoupling from China and its global proxies.
“It will require long-term thinking, it will require dedication, and most of all, it will require friends and allies like Canada and Ontario, and I can tell you, Canada is here to help,” Ford told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce yesterday.
Canada could have a lot to lose if Trump follows through with a proposed 25% tariff on all Canadian goods imports, as well as the 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports that he announced Monday.
White House says about 75K federal workers accepted ‘deferred resignation’ offer
About 75,000 federal employees took the White House’s “deferred resignation” offer to resign but receive pay through September, according to a spokesperson for the Office of Personnel Management.
The offer’s deadline closed today at 7 p.m. ET after a federal judge ruled to end a temporary pause to the program.
NBC News cannot independently verify the number of employees who took the White House’s offer.
Judge allows ethics watchdog to remain in post ahead of further deliberations
A judge said today that Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel, could remain in his position until further legal proceedings take place.
The judge had temporarily reinstated Dellinger until midnight Thursday after he filed a lawsuit against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arguing Trump dismissed him illegally.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in today's filing that Bessent's team has not shown any "circumstances that required the President’s hasty, unexplained action, or that would justify the immediate ejection of the Senate-confirmed Special Counsel while the legal issue is subject to calm and thorough deliberation."
"Defendants may not deny him access to the resources or materials of that office or recognize the authority of any other person as Special Counsel," the ruling concluded. The next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 26.
WHO leaders say they're 'concerned' about U.S. actions' impact on global health
The World Health Organization confirmed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped reporting flu surveillance data through WHO platforms, though the United States is still reporting cases of avian influenza through international health regulatory channels.
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said the CDC and the WHO have not had direct communication about influenza.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference today: “We have limited information about the spread of avian influenza among dairy cattle in the U.S. or human cases. We ask the U.S. to consider continuing its funding at least until solutions can be found.”
Tedros also criticized U.S. decisions unrelated to its planned withdrawal from the WHO, including suspension of funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, better known as PEPFAR.
“There are also actions that the U.S. government is taking that are unrelated to its intended withdraw from WHO but which we’re concerned are having a serious impact on global health," he said.
"Although a waiver has been granted for lifesaving services, it does not include prevention services for some of the most at-risk groups," he said, adding that despite waivers, clinics have been shuttered and health workers have been placed on leave.
Tedros said "the sudden suspension of U.S. funding and the sudden disengagement of U.S. institutions" also affect the response to global initiatives on other diseases, such as polio.
Senate moves RFK Jr. confirmation vote to 10:30 a.m. tomorrow
The Senate reached an agreement tonight to move the 7 a.m. confirmation vote on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to be health and human services secretary to 10:30 a.m. tomorrow.
After that, the Senate will hold a confirmation vote on Brooke Rollins' nomination to lead the Agriculture Department.
Elon Musk's X agrees to roughly $10M settlement with Trump
Elon Musk’s X agreed to an approximately $10 million settlement with Trump this week, ending a lawsuit Trump brought against it in 2021 over his deplatforming in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the settlement.
In the days after the attack on the Capitol, Twitter said it had "permanently suspended" Trump's account.
Musk, who bought Twitter and renamed it X, reinstated Trump's account in November 2022.
When the pain hits home, Republicans balk at Trump’s spending cuts and tariffs
Republicans on Capitol Hill are full of praise for Trump’s flurry of executive actions and attempts to slash some federal spending, selling it as the kind of disruption that Americans voted for last fall.
That is, until the pain risks hitting home for their constituents.
From cuts to health and agriculture funding to fears that new tariffs will negatively affect local industries and consumers, Republican lawmakers are starting to push back against certain aspects of Trump’s plans. And they are doing so carefully, acknowledging that voters want to shake up business-as-usual in the nation’s capital — and wanting to avoid Trump’s ire.
New York attorney general says she is 'prepared to defend our laws' after DOJ announces lawsuit
New York Attorney General Letitia James defended her state's laws after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Justice Department was suing New York over policies that she said violated federal law and prioritized “illegal aliens over American citizens.”
“Our state laws, including the Green Light law, protect the rights of all New Yorkers and keep our communities safe. I am prepared to defend our laws, just as I always have," James said in a statement.
At a news conference this afternoon, Bondi took aim at New York’s Green Light law, which allows eligible New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, to apply for driver’s licenses.
The law in question restricts access to DMV data for immigration enforcement agencies and bars the use of DMV records for immigration enforcement unless in response to court orders, judicial warrants or subpoenas.
HUD headcount reductions are underway
Two employees with the Department of Housing and Urban Development told CNBC that a reduction in force is underway, with cuts coming as soon as this evening, affecting employees who have been at the agency for less than one year or are new in their roles. The employees spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss sensitive issues.
HUD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Under Trump-appointed Secretary Scott Turner, HUD has shifted its mission, according to a Feb. 6 email he sent out widely to agency employees and viewed by CNBC.
Turner wrote he would work to “confront America’s housing crisis, slash cumbersome regulatory barriers, and cut back on waste, fraud, and abuse as a steward of the American taxpayer.” He also wrote that HUD’s new “measure of success” would be not how many people the agency could help but how many it could “uplift to get off HUD programs, and instead lead lives as healthy, productive citizens.”
This week, a special adviser to DOGE, Scott Langmack, asked HUD employees to either vouch for or identify vendors to cut on the basis of whether their contracts were “critical” or “competent” or had a “DEI component.” The two HUD employees said some contracts had already been cut, with more reductions on the way.
Senate Democrats will hold the floor all night in protest of RFK Jr.
Senate Democrats will have another all-nighter on the floor, this time in protest of Kennedy’s nomination to be health and human services secretary.
While the Senate is running the 30-hour debate clock on his nomination, a group of Democrats will be delivering speeches through the night up until RFK’s final confirmation vote at around 7 a.m. tomorrow. So far, Democrats have highlighted his debunked claims about vaccines and his views on abortion and the threats he could pose to health care programs like Medicaid.
For previous nominations, Democrats have allowed the Senate to close overnight to give Capitol staff and members police a break before they reconvened in the morning while still allowing the clock to run for the 30 hours of debate. Although Democrats are delivering these overnight speeches to publicly push back against Kennedy’s nomination, they don’t have the power to stop the vote, and it appears they don’t have the votes to block his confirmation.
The Senate advanced Kennedy’s nomination today along party lines, but senators could switch their votes tomorrow. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for example, voted to advance Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard but ultimately opposed both of them in their final confirmation votes. McConnell has expressed skepticism about Kennedy, specifically his position on the polio vaccine.
If Democrats stay united in opposing Kennedy, he could afford to lose only three GOP votes.
But after he attracted the late-breaking public support of Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, Kennedy seems to have the votes he needs.