Federal worker gets termination letter addressing them as ‘[EmployeeFirstName]’
An employee at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was told they were fired around 9 p.m. last night, but the letter that arrived in their inbox didn’t even include their name, according to a copy obtained by NBC News.
The “Notification of Termination During Probationary Period” letter was addressed to “[EmployeeFirstName] [EmployeeLastName].” It was filled with other apparent placeholder text such as “[JobTitle],” “[Division]” and “[AppointmentDate].”
“This is to provide notification that I am removing you from your position of [JobTitle] and federal service consistent with the above references,” Adam Martinez, the bureau’s acting chief human capital officer, said in the letter.
The employee who received the letter found it galling.
“It’s an insult to all my hardworking and talented colleagues who show up every day to fight for American consumers,” they said.
It was not clear exactly how many CFPB employees received the letter or why it included placeholder text. NBC News has reached out to the CFPB for comment.
The CFPB is one of the federal agencies that has seen its staff cut and work curtailed by the Trump administration and DOGE.
Trump says he spoke to Putin about ending the war in Ukraine
Trump said that he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone today about ending the war in Ukraine and that Putin indicated he would be willing to negotiate directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“As we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social about their first known call of his second term. Less than two hours later, Trump said he had also spoken to Zelenskyy.
Former Inspector General Mike Ware says the job is about protecting Americans
Mike Ware, one of eight inspectors general fired by Trump who filed suit against the administration seeking their reinstatement, told MSNBC’s Ali Vitali that the group wanted to stand up for independent and transparent government oversight.
“IGs are independent, we are nonpartisan, which means that we are the taxpayers’ advocates within each of the government agencies,” said Ware, who served as inspector general for the Small Business Administration. “We save taxpayers about $100 billion a year, and we help improve the programs and their agencies.”
Ware said federal inspectors general are stewards of government transparency who are tasked with protecting the American people from fraud and abuse. They hold leaders accountable and look for ways to make the government more efficient, he said.
The lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., federal court, alleges the firings were unlawful and in contradiction with the protections afforded to inspectors general, which were strengthened in 2022 by Congress.
Trump and Elon Musk's actions echo the strains of Hitler, von Trapp family member warns
A member of the singing von Trapp family, made famous in “The Sound of Music,” suggested in a now-viral Facebook post that Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk's aggressive actions aimed at reshaping the executive branch since the November election echo what happened during the takeover of Germany and Austria by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
“If you think this can’t happen again and, in the USA, think again,” Francoise von Trapp wrote in the post, which went up on Friday and has been shared by more than 50,000 people. “There are clear indicators that recent actions taken by Trump and Elon Musk mirror those of Adolf Hitler when he took over Germany.”
Musk’s “comments and actions demonstrate that he supports the far right — as evidenced by his Nazi salute and also his investment and promotion of Germany’s far-right AfD party,” von Trapp wrote, referring to a gesture Musk made at a Trump inaugural event that many said resembled a Nazi salute. "He seems to believe that as the richest man in the world, he is above the rule of law and the US constitution."
She also referred to Trump's consideration of El Salvador’s offer "to house not only deportees, but U.S. citizens convicted of crimes in its new detention camp built to hold 40K inmates."
Von Trapp is a granddaughter of Georg and Maria von Trapp, who escaped from Nazi-occupied Austria with their children in 1938 and performed concert tours as the Trapp Family Singers throughout Europe and America.
In the beloved movie and musical, the von Trapp family escaped from Austria after performing at a music festival with the help of some nuns.
“Real Nazis were not bumbling fools who could be outsmarted by some clever nuns,” von Trapp wrote. “They we’re dangerous killers. My family was lucky to get out alive.”
Von Trapp, in her post, mentioned visiting the infamous Dachau concentration camp and wrote her family might have been imprisoned there “for refusing an invitation to sing at Hitler’s birthday.”
But in an interview with NBC News, von Trapp stressed that she’s not accusing Trump or Musk of conspiring to put their political foes in concentration camps.
“The target of my post was not MAGA,” she said. “I was trying to reach out to the undecided, to the people who might not be aware about what is going on, to make the point that our democracy is at stake and that what Trump and Musk are doing has been done before.”
Moderate Republican Murkowski says she'll back RFK Jr.'s nomination
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced today that she will vote to confirm Kennedy as the nation's health secretary after receiving assurances from him about his stance on vaccines.
“I continue to have concerns about Mr. Kennedy’s views on vaccines and his selective interpretation of scientific studies, which initially caused my misgivings about his nomination,” Murkowski wrote in a post on X, saying she changed her mind after Kennedy told her he would not discourage vaccination efforts.
Murkowski’s statement, which came as the Senate was advancing Kennedy's nomination to a final vote, follows other moderate Republican senators who have voiced their support for Kennedy in recent days.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced yesterday she would support Kennedy’s confirmation, citing conversations that assuaged her concerns over his positions on vaccines. Kennedy also won over moderate Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
In her statement, Murkowski said Kennedy "has made numerous commitments to me and my colleagues, promising to work with Congress to ensure public access to information and to base vaccine recommendations on data-driven, evidence-based, and medically sound research."
Democratic congressman encourages Coast Guard members to contact him with concerns
Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., encouraged members of the Coast Guard to contact him with concerns about what he called “rapid and reckless changes” in a letter sent today that was shared first with NBC News.
“I’m sure you have heard and seen the recent policy changes affecting the Coast Guard, and many of you have felt the whirlwind effects in very tangible ways,” Carbajal, the top Democrat on the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, wrote in the letter.
He listed off changes such as “pausing enforcement of harassment policies, banning transgender servicemembers, and eliminating positions, personnel, and organizations that address diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Carbajal also cited reporting from NBC News that former Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan, who was removed from her post during Trump’s second day in office, was evicted from her home at Joint Base Anacostia Bolling last week with three hours' notice.
Carbajal, a Marine Corps veteran, said the Trump administration’s “priorities are misguided at best but truly detrimental at their worst.” In the letter, he also asked why the administration was not instead focused on recruitment, retention and housing allowances.
“Whether you feel targeted by these chaotic and dehumanizing policies, or if your service has been made instantly more difficult and uncertain, I am truly sorry,” Carbajal wrote. “You deserve better.”
He told the Coast Guardsmen that they have a “constitutional right to speak with Congress, anonymously and without fear of retaliation,” and included an email address to contact his team.
Fired inspectors general sue Trump over their ‘unlawful’ termination
Eight inspectors general who were fired by Trump filed a lawsuit today charging their terminations were unlawful and seeking their immediate reinstatement.
“In this action, the duly appointed Inspectors General of eight major U.S. agencies — the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, State, Agriculture, Education, and Labor, and the Small Business Administration — seek redress for their unlawful and unjustified purported termination by President Donald Trump and their respective agency heads,” their complaint, which was filed in Washington, D.C., federal court, said.
The eight were part of a group of over a dozen IGs who were notified they were being fired “due to changing priorities” in a two-sentence email from the Office of Presidential Personnel four days after Trump was sworn in to office.
The suit says the firings are “contrary to the rule of law,” including protections for inspectors general that were strengthened by Congress in 2022.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination clears key procedural hurdle
The Senate agreed to move ahead with a vote on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to be the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy was able to overcome Democratic and some Republican pushback over his anti-vaccine activism, including from the Republican chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who is a physician.
The Senate action sets up a final vote tomorrow on Kennedy's nomination, which is likely to be confirmed, giving Trump another Cabinet victory.
Eric Adams' attorney says Trump was 'not involved' in the DOJ dismissal of his federal case
New York City Mayor Eric Adams' attorney, Alex Spiro, said at a news conference this morning that Trump "was not involved at all" in the Justice Department memo that dismissed the mayor's federal corruption case.
Adams met with Trump last month ahead of his inauguration.
Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered federal prosecutors in New York to drop five criminal counts, including bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national, from Adams’ case Monday night.
Spiro also told reporters that Adams did not promise to cooperate with immigration enforcement tactics from the Trump administration in order to procure the dismissal.
"Did you or the mayor ever promise a level of cooperation on any issue, be it immigration or crime, in exchange for what has now become the dismissal memo?" a reporter asked at the news conference.
"Of course not. That’s absurd," Spiro said.
"So is he expected to, in any way, take any particular actions on immigration, since the memo is explicitly saying this has been inhibiting his ability to do so?" the reporter continued.
"No," Spiro said, having said earlier in the news conference that Adams' stance on immigration "came well before this case was ever brought."
Trump's "border czar," Tom Homan, said earlier today that he plans to meet with Adams to discuss immigration in New York tomorrow.
McConnell says Gabbard has a history of 'alarming lapses in judgment'
After he cast the only GOP vote against Tulsi Gabbard's nomination to serve as director of national intelligence, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement that Gabbard’s controversial track record makes her “unworthy of the highest public trust.”
“The nation should not have to worry that the intelligence assessments the President receives are tainted by a Director of National Intelligence with a history of alarming lapses in judgment,” McConnell said, citing Gabbard’s defense of Edward Snowden and positions on U.S.-China relations and the Russia-Ukraine war as making her untrustworthy.
“Entrusting the coordination of the intelligence community to someone who struggles to acknowledge these facts is an unnecessary risk,’ McConnell said. “So is empowering a DNI who only acknowledged the value of critical intelligence collection authorities when her nomination appeared to be in jeopardy.”
Following Gabbard’s confirmation, McConnell said he will join the Americans who make up the intelligence community in “hoping that she rises to the immense responsibilities of her office.”