Trump targets federal DEI employees and defends Jan. 6 pardons: Highlights

Immigration raids that were expected to target major sanctuary cities immediately after Trump’s inauguration had largely failed to materialize as of tonight.

But after Trump signed a raft of executive orders relating to border security on his first day in office, the administration began laying the groundwork for further immigration actions.

The Department of Homeland Security said today it was ending a policy that restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ ability to arrest undocumented people at or near so-called sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals.

Read the full story here.

A handful of Republican senators pushed back today against Trump’s decision to issue pardons to roughly 1,500 criminal defendants and commute the sentences of more than a dozen others in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Some of the GOP senators specifically criticized the pardons for those convicted of committing violence against police officers, while others declined to defend Trump’s move.

“I’m disappointed to see that,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, adding that she is thinking about the hundreds of police officers who defended the Capitol that day. “And I do fear the message that is sent to these great men and women that stood by us.”

Read the full story here.

Trump's suspension of U.S. refugee resettlement is a "step backward" for the United States, the International Rescue Committee said today.

"America has a proud tradition of welcoming those who are persecuted or otherwise in danger," David Miliband, the New York-based group's president and chief executive, said in a statement. "The refugee resettlement program is a proven, orderly, cost-effective way of offering life-saving protection to some of the most vulnerable people in the world."

The group urged the White House to grant case-by-case exemptions permitted by the executive order that Trump signed yesterday and to carry out a prompt, evidence-based assessment so the program may be resumed.

The suspension could affect tens of thousands of extensively vetted refugees around the world, including Afghans who supported the United States in its war against the Taliban and who have been waiting for resettlement since U.S.-led forces withdrew in 2021.

The Trump administration is ordering all federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles be placed on paid leave by tomorrow evening, according to a new memo from the Office of Personnel Management.

The memo issued today to heads of departments and agencies sets a deadline of no later than 5 p.m. ET tomorrow to inform the employees that they will be put on paid administrative leave as the agencies prepare to close all DEI-related offices and programs and to remove all websites and social media accounts for such offices.

Trump signed an executive order yesterday ending “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity and inclusion programs in federal agencies, with DEI offices and programs being ordered to shut down.

Read the full story here.

After his win in the presidential election, Trump told Time magazine that he was still considering pardoning his supporters who were involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, but he was particularly eyeing those who were charged with “non-violent” crimes.

“I’m going to do case-by-case, and if they were non-violent, I think they’ve been greatly punished,” he said.

Instead, on his first day in office, Trump went far broader, issuing pardons for most of the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6 attack. His actions have paved the way for the releases of numerous people found guilty of violent attacks.

Read the full story here.

Trump signed an executive order tonight taking aim at hiring practices at the Federal Aviation Administration a day after he issued a flurry of orders that included going after federal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

The order signed tonight would rescind DEI initiatives "in favor of hiring, promoting, and otherwise treating employees on the basis of individual capability, competence, achievement, and dedication."

The order cited part of the FAA website that sought to recruit pilots with disabilities and claimed that DEI initiatives penalized "hard-working Americans who want to serve in the FAA but are unable to do so, as they lack a requisite disability or skin color."

A woman who destroyed a window at the Capitol with an ice ax and a giant cardboard tube was released from the D.C. Jail today. Rachel Powell — known in Jan. 6 circles as “Pink hat lady” or “Bullhorn lady” — was among the handful of people who have been released from the jail after Trump pardoned them last night.

Her message to Trump: “Thank you, ’cause he’s put my family back together again. Without him, I wouldn’t be out right now.” Her message to her family: “I’ll be home soon.”

Powell, who received a personalized hat from Trump last year, used a bullhorn to instruct rioters how to “take” the Capitol, urging them to “coordinate together if you’re going to take the building.” She also destroyed a window at the Capitol with an ice axe she took to the Capitol, along with a large cardboard tube.

Federal prosecutors called Powell a “leading participant in the most violent insurrection to occur at the U.S. Capitol in over 200 years” during her trial. She was sentenced to more than four years in prison and served just over a year.

As Trump’s health care agenda for a second term takes shape, it’s becoming clear that many Biden-era policies won’t make the cut.

Yesterday, Trump signed a sweeping order aimed in part at reversing several Biden administration executive orders on health care, including efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs for people on Medicare and Medicaid, enhancing the Affordable Care Act and increasing protections for Medicaid enrollees. The so-called initial rescissions order, according to the Trump White House, is aimed at Biden policies that it says are “deeply unpopular” and “radical.”

The moves, experts say, are likely to be inconsequential to many people in terms of what they pay in out-of-pocket health care costs.

Read the full story here.

Trump said he was considering imposing a 10% tariff on Chinese goods imports over China’s role in the international flow of precursor chemicals for the deadly opioid fentanyl, a move likely to increase trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies.

“We’re talking about a tariff of 10% on China based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” from where it enters the United States, he told reporters at the White House after he made an announcement about AI investment.

He said that the tariff would probably start Feb. 1 and that the European Union was also “going to be in for tariffs.”

Trump followed through today on several actions he pledged to take on his first day in office, but he still has some major items left on the to-do list he made for himself during the presidential campaign.

Trump signed 46 executive orders and presidential actions on his first day back in the White House aimed at a variety of policy priorities he promised to address on Day One, such as border security, energy, production, transgender rights and pardoning the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters.

A few big issues Trump promised to address were not among those actions, including tariffs and ending the war in Ukraine.

Read the full story here.

Trump said on Truth Social tonight that he had spoken by phone with the mother of Ross Ulbricht, a Bitcoin pioneer who was sentenced to life in prison in connection with creating a dark web black market, to let her know he had pardoned her son.

"I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross," Trump wrote. "The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me."

The post was deleted and reposted with Ulbricht's last name spelled correctly.

Trump said last year at the Libertarian National Convention that he would commute Ulbricht's life sentence for crimes related to creating Silk Road, a market where users could buy and sell drugs, fake identity documents and other illegal products.

Trump said today that he’d consider the possibility of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s or Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison’s purchasing TikTok.

At a briefing to announce a joint venture for investing in artificial intelligence infrastructure, a reporter asked Trump whether he was open to “Elon buying TikTok.”

“I would be if he wanted to buy it, yes,” Trump responded. “I’d like Larry to buy it, too.”

Read the full story here.

An estimated 24.6 million viewers watched Trump's inauguration yesterday, Nielsen announced.

That compares with the nearly 31 million who watched his first inauguration, in 2017, and the 33.8 million viewers for Biden's 2021 inauguration.

According to Nielsen, about 17.4 million viewers ages 55 and older tuned in, making them the biggest demographic to watch yesterday's events. About 4.6 million viewers were ages 35 to 54, and fewer than 1.5 million were ages 18 to 34.

Ratings peaked when Trump took the oath of office around noon, Nielsen said.

It appears Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., jumped the gun today when he said he expected the full Senate to reach a bipartisan consensus confirming John Ratcliffe as Trump’s CIA director.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., objected to moving that quickly, citing “serious concerns” about Ratcliffe’s “ability to distance himself from the political interests of President Trump.”

As a result, Thune made a procedural motion setting up Ratcliffe’s confirmation vote for Thursday.

All of the FBI websites about the investigation into the Jan. 6 riot, including details of the probe such as video and stills of arrested people, as well as the outstanding suspects featured in the “seeking information” section, have been taken down.

There is now no trace of the probe, which was the largest in the FBIs history, on its website or on FBI field office websites.

An FBI spokesperson said the websites “are no longer active.” Asked for comment, the FBI wouldn't say why they were taken down or who ordered the move.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., criticized Trump for his inauguration speech yesterday, saying he ignored "virtually every important issue facing working families."

In a video posted to social media accounts today, Sanders said Trump failed to address solutions regarding health care, homelessness, prescription drug prices, wealth inequality and climate change.

Sanders urged people to stay focused on putting pressure on Congress to "do the right things," noting that Republicans have only a slim majority in the House.

On the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland tried to convey the enormous scope of the law enforcement effort to bring the rioters to justice, calling it “one of the largest, most complex and most resource-intensive investigations in our history.”

With the stroke of a pen, Trump turned that effort to dust yesterday with a blanket pardon of virtually every federal Jan. 6 defendant, save a few who still got their prison terms commuted.

“I don’t think that’s OK,” Jason Manning, who spent years as a line prosecutor working on Jan. 6 cases in Washington, said in an exclusive interview. “I find the pardons appalling.”

Read the full story here.

Trump said today that he read a letter Biden left him in the drawer of the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, calling it "a little bit of an inspirational-type letter."

"It was a very nice letter," said Trump, who had reached into the desk while he was answering reporters' questions last night to find the letter, which had "47" written on the front.

"I could show it because I think it was a nice," Trump said, adding that Biden urged him to "do a good job" and spoke about "how important the job is."

"I think it was a nice letter. I think I should let people see it, because it was a positive for him in writing it." Trump said. "I appreciated the letter."

Trump told reporters that recess appointments came up in his talks with congressional Republicans today, adding that he doesn't think they'll be needed.

He made the remark in response to a question at a news conference at the White House after he announced plans for AI investment in the U.S.

Recess appointments would allow Trump to appoint senior administration officials, bypassing Senate confirmation. During the race for Senate majority leader last month, Trump demanded that candidates allow him to make recess appointments. In 2020, Trump threatened to adjourn Congress to make recess appointments. He did not follow through.

Republicans John Husted of Ohio and Ashley Moody of Florida were sworn into the Senate this evening by Vance.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Husted, formerly the state's lieutenant governor, to replace Vance, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis selected Moody, formerly the state's attorney general, to fill the seat vacated by newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

With Husted and Moody officially members of the Senate, Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the chamber.

Trump today defended the pardons and commutations of roughly 1,500 defendants charged with crimes connected to the Jan. 6 attack, including some convicted of assaulting police officers.

In one of the first presidential acts of his second term, Trump commuted the sentences of 14 prisoners and pardoned all others convicted of offenses related to the 2021 riot. He also directed the attorney general to dismiss all indictments pending before judges related to what became the largest federal investigation ever.

“They’ve served years in jail,” Trump said in response to questions from reporters at the White House about why he pardoned violent offenders. “They should not have served, and they’ve served years in jail. And murderers don’t even go to jail in this country.”

Read the full story here.

Trump, taking questions from reporters, was asked why he removed his former national security adviser John Bolton’s security detail.

“Because that was enough time,” Trump said.

“We’re not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we? I thought he was a very dumb person, but I used him well,” Trump added.

Earlier today, Bolton said on X that Trump had removed his security detail, saying he was “disappointed but not surprised.” Bolton had had a security detail since 2022, after the Justice Department filed criminal charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official, alleging the official attempted to hire a hitman to kill him.

Trump is joined by Larry Ellison, Masayoshi Son and Sam Altman to announce a new American company that will invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure.

When an incoming White House official announced Trump’s executive order dismantling federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the official invoked a familiar line:

“This order is meant to return to the promise and the hope that was captured by civil rights champions, that one day all Americans can be treated on the basis of their character, not by the color of their skin.”

The statement echoed a well-known quote from Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, in which King declared, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Read the full story here.

The State Department appears to have removed a page from its website titled "Selecting your gender marker" a day after Trump issued two executive orders that will have broad effects for transgender people.

As recently as this morning, the page said that people applying for or updating a passport could select male (M), female (F), unspecified or another gender identity (X) as the gender marker on their U.S. passport books and cards.

"The gender marker you select does not need to match the gender on your citizenship evidence or photo ID," the page said, adding that applicants did not need to provide medical documentation to change their gender markers.

"We promote the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people — including LGBTQI+ individuals," the page said. "We are demonstrating this commitment to better serve all U.S. citizens, regardless of gender identity."

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said she is inviting all of the Jan. 6 defendants at the D.C. Jail on a guided tour of the Capitol when they are released.

Boebert made her remarks to reporters after she visited the jail this afternoon. About 20 Jan. 6 defendants remain behind bars almost 24 hours after Trump pardoned them.

The Trump administration fired four top officials late yesterday at the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review, which oversees U.S. immigration courts.

All four were civil servants, not political appointees: chief immigration judge Sheila McNulty; the office's acting director, Mary Cheng; general counsel Jill Anderson; and policy head Lauren Alder Reid.

Reid said in a statement that she and her colleagues were "shocked and severely disappointed in the decision to remove us from our positions without notice or cause."

Read the full story here.

“Mr. Trump, f--- off!” said Anders Vistisen, a Danish member of the European Parliament, rejecting the idea that Greenland could ever be for sale. He was then rebuked for using profane language in a parliamentary session.

In an interview with MSNBC, former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn criticized Trump's pardoning of criminal defendants for their actions on Jan. 6.

"I don’t want to say 'I told you so.' I don’t want accolades. I don’t want to be called a hero. I don’t want to need a pardon. I just wanted accountability, and that is gone. It’s gone," he said.

Dunn retired after 15 years with the Capitol Police after the Jan. 6 riot and later launched an unsuccessful bid for the Senate. Former President Joe Biden yesterday gave a pre-emptive pardon to Dunn, who has been outspoken about the actions of the pro-Trump mob that attacked the Capitol in 2021.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said allegations against Pete Hegseth made by his former sister-in-law are another sign that he's a poor pick to lead the Pentagon.

"These allegations are extremely troubling," Schumer told NBC News. “It’s just more and more and more showing that this man is, of all the people they could have picked from a defense secretary, he’s one of the last they should have chosen."

Senators received an affidavit from Danielle Hegseth that alleges that Hegseth's behavior caused his second wife to fear for her safety. Hegseth has denied the allegations.

“I hope all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle read it before making any final judgment, because it is extremely troubling. And it just, you know, the allegations keep coming and coming and coming,” Schumer said. “They don’t seem to stop”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center — a Jewish human rights organization named for the writer and Holocaust survivor — called for Musk to apologize over his repeated use of a straight-armed salute at yesterday's Trump inauguration event.

"We have spent 47 years investigating, pursuing, and educating the world about the dangers of normalizing symbols and rhetoric tied to the Nazi regime," the group said. "We are deeply alarmed by Mr. Musk’s gesture at President Trump’s inauguration, which unmistakably resembles a Nazi salute. The gesture’s undeniable similarity to such a hateful and historically loaded symbol is unacceptable, particularly given the celebratory response it has elicited from Nazi-aligned groups online."

The Department of Homeland Security has reinstated Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy after last night's executive order blitz.

The policy allows officials to prevent migrants of all nationalities from entering the United States from Mexico until their asylum applications are processed. Mexico has said the United States made this decision unilaterally, not as part of an agreement with Mexico.

From 2019 until Biden suspended the program, more than 68,000 people were taken back to Mexico. Tent cities surfaced on the Mexican side of the border, and human rights groups said hundreds of asylum-seekers were kidnapped, raped, tortured or assaulted.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., criticized Trump for pardoning violent offenders for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021, saying she has "always sided" with law enforcement.

"Each president has the prerogative to be able to pardon those individuals. I may not always agree with all of it," she said in a CNN interview. "Some of those protesters, or some who were just walking through the Capitol, were treated very unfairly. But the people who assaulted our police officers do need to pay the consequence for that."

Some members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus have arrived at the D.C. jail to greet crowds of pardon supporters and some recently released inmates after Trump issued sweeping pardons for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The D.C. jail, once the site of protests over the imprisonment of people charged with Jan. 6-related crimes, has become a place of celebration over the last 12 hours as inmates have been released. Nearly two dozen supporters of Jan. 6 prisoners, some of them parents and friends of the inmates, have gathered outside the jail today anticipating further releases.

“They were prisoners. They’re hostages now,” said Ben Pollack, the father of two men who were arrested and is unhappy with the speed of the releases. “They’re free men.”

Among the Freedom Caucus members standing with the crowd are Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who earlier today announced he is considering a gubernatorial bid in Arizona, and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.

The Department of Homeland Security announced that it is rescinding the restrictions that kept Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from conducting arrests in “sensitive locations” such as schools, churches or day care centers, even during weddings or funerals.

NBC News had previously reported that the Trump administration intended to rescind the policy.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement announcing the move.

The policy originally preventing agents from making arrests in sensitive locations started in 2011, and continued under the Trump and Biden administrations.

Michael Fanone, a former police officer who defended the Capitol when it was attacked on Jan. 6, 2021, told NBC News today that he began the process of seeking protective orders against the five individuals who assaulted him that day.

Fanone said he made the decision to pursue the orders after speaking with Justice Department representatives who told him there would be no other protections from the individuals who harmed him or have threatened his family.

“I think that the anticipation was that these individuals would serve these lengthy sentences that they were given for the violent assault that they carried out against me, and now they’re free,” Fanone said. “And so my thoughts are on protecting myself and members of my family, and nothing else right now.”

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, criticized Trump's pardon of Jan. 6 defendants, saying those who have committed violent crimes should not have been pardoned. She also noted that she has been in contact with one officer, whom she did not name, who shared a video of his own assault.

"The police officer involved contacted me today because he’s so, understandably, distraught. I don’t disagree with him at all. People who committed violent crimes on Jan. 6 of 2021 should not be pardoned," she said. "I would make a distinction between those individuals who do not deserve pardons versus those who may deserve clemency, because they were just caught up in the moment."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also expressed dissatisfaction with the president's action, saying she's "disappointed" and fears "the message that is sent to these brave men and women who stood by us."

The bishop leading Tuesday’s official inaugural prayer service urged President Donald Trump to “have mercy” on his constituents, specifically naming LGBTQ people and immigrants.

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s sermon was part of a larger post-Inauguration Day interfaith ceremony at Washington National Cathedral. Trump was seated in the first row alongside first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance during the service, a tradition undertaken by presidents of both parties.

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” said Budde, who was looking directly at the president. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for their lives.”

She added: “They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues.”

Read the full story here.

In a brief statement, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., criticized Trump's pardon, asking, "What happened to backing the Blue?"

"House Republicans are celebrating pardons issued to a bloodthirsty mob that violently assaulted police officers on January 6, 2021. What happened to backing the Blue? Far right extremists have become the party of lawlessness and disorder. Don’t ever lecture America again. About anything," Jeffries said.

Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton said he was "disappointed but not surprised" by the president's decision to remove his previously assigned Secret Service detail and pull his security clearance in an executive order signed yesterday. Bolton served as Trump's national security adviser during his first term but later became a vocal critic of the president.

“I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has decided to terminate the protection previously provided by the United States Secret Service,” Bolton wrote in a post on X.

Bolton had maintained a protective detail after the Department of Justice filed criminal charges against an IRGC official in 2022 for attempting to hire a hit man to target him.

House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain, R-Mich., said GOP lawmakers are looking to package the extension of Trump's tax cuts and border and energy provisions into one sweeping bill that they will try to advance in April, but added that the legislative strategy is still under discussion.

“I don’t want to get ahead of the president, but right now it looks like we’re doing one big bill, or one big beautiful bill," McClain said, echoing the remarks of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., last week. "At the end of the day, I think what matters most is the results. Right now, we’re pursuing one bill, but those are things that we’re going to be talking about when we meet today.” 

Johnson said last week that House Republicans would try to pass the legislation by April, an ambitious goal given the party's slim majority. But House members to his right and some GOP senators have expressed skepticism that, under the circumstances, such a broad package could be passed in one massive bill.

House and Senate Republicans are meeting with Trump at the White House this afternoon to discuss his legislative agenda.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., announced today that he is exploring a run for governor in 2026.

"Arizona has a bright future but will need strong leadership to reach its full potential," Biggs, the former chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, said in a statement posted on X. He later added, "I have a firm understanding of what the state needs to thrive. I look forward to conversing with my fellow Arizonans as I consider this weighty decision."

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who won her first term in 2022 by less than 1 percentage point, is up for re-election next year.

Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, confirmed to NBC News that he is assigning more people to help carry out Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests.

"We have more people assigned to the mission," Homan said, but declined to specify a number.

Homan's confirmation follows remarks he made on CNN and Fox News saying that ICE would be "enforcing the law" today. Homan declined to confirm that ICE "raids" would begin today, instead calling the actions "targeted enforcement operations."

Homan did not directly respond to NBC News when asked whether the actions had already been planned and would have taken place regardless of who took office on Monday.

Senators received an affidavit today from the former sister-in-law of defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth, in which she says his behavior caused his second wife to fear for her safety. The receipt of the affidavit comes after Senate Armed Services Committee staffers were in contact with her for several days.  

The former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, submitted the affidavit in response to a Jan. 18 letter from Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., seeking “a statement attesting to your personal knowledge about Mr. Hegseth’s fitness to occupy this important position.” 

Danielle describes in the affidavit allegations of volatile and threatening conduct by Hegseth that made his second wife, Samantha Hegseth, fear for her safety.  

Read the full story here.

Former Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., Trump's pick to serve as veterans affairs secretary, said at his confirmation hearing this morning that he plans to review a Biden-era policy that has provided veterans with access to abortion care and counseling, including in states with abortion restrictions.

In response to a question from Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., about whether a veteran who lives in Texas, where a strict abortion ban is in place, should be able to have the procedure at her local VA if she is raped and becomes pregnant, Collins said: "That is an issue that is very sensitive in this body. It is something that has been looked at."

Collins said the law in its original form from 1992 stated, "The VA does not do abortions."

Jacob Chansley, a U.S. Capitol rioter better known as “QAnon shaman,” wrote last night on an X post, in all caps, “Now I am gonna buy me some motha f---ing guns!!!” after receiving a pardon from Trump.

“I just got the news from my lawyer ... I got a pardon baby! Thank you President Trump!!!” Chansley wrote, also in caps. “J6ers are getting released & justice has come... everything done in the dark will come to light!” he continued.

Trump issued roughly 1,500 pardons yesterday in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, including for people who assaulted law enforcement officers.

In November 2021, Chansley was sentenced to 41 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of felony obstruction of an official proceeding. Federal prosecutors had described Chansley as the “public face of the Capitol riot.”

NBC News’ Christine Romans looks at an overview of the economy President Trump is inheriting heading into his second term, and offers an outline of his new agenda.

A federal judge today barred the Justice Department from sharing former special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on the classified documents case against Donald Trump with members of Congress.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, found there was no urgent need for the Justice Department to share the report with the chair and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees while an appeal involving Trump’s co-defendants in the case is still pending.

Then-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said earlier this month he would not make the report public until the appeals involving Trump co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira were decided, but planned to share it with the committee heads for a private review “upon your request and agreement not to release any information” about the report publicly.

In her ruling, Cannon said there had not been such a request, and suggested that the members of Congress could not be trusted not to share the contents of the report publicly.

Read the full story here.

A coalition of Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit today in Massachusetts seeking to block President Donald Trump‘s attempt to revoke the right to automatic birthright citizenship.

Trump yesterday signed an executive order that purports to limit birthright citizenship to people who have at least one parent who is a United States citizen or a permanent resident.

The proposal faces an uphill battle and strong opposition not just from the 19 Democratic attorneys general, including officials from New Jersey, California, New York, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, but also civil rights groups, which have already filed their own lawsuit.

Read the full story here.

In his first message to the U.S. diplomatic corps, Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged to restore the department as the primary agency leading U.S. foreign policy, but warned that achieving this will require change.

“Certain priorities will be replaced, certain issues de-emphasized, and some practices we will cease altogether,” Rubio said in the departmentwide letter obtained by NBC News. He said, “Trump was elected with a clear mandate for sweeping change, in foreign no less than in domestic affairs." 

Among those priorities will be “securing America’s borders, stopping illegal and destabilizing migration, and negotiating the repatriation of illegal immigrants,” the secretary wrote. “Mass migration is among the most consequential issues of our time. The era of mass migration must end.”

WRC, NBC’s affiliate in Washington, D.C., spoke briefly with Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers militia, outside the D.C. Central Detention Facility, a day after Rhodes was released from prison. Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2023 after being convicted of seditious conspiracy, evidence tampering and obstructing an official proceeding for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump commuted Rhodes’ sentence to time served as part of a sweeping set of roughly 1,500 pardons in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, including those who assaulted police officers. He was released from prison hours after the pardons were announced, his attorneys said.

Other members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, another militia involved in the attack, had their sentences commuted. Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was released from custody last night, his family said in a statement.

Rhodes told WRC that Trump “did the right thing” in pardoning the Jan. 6 defendants, calling the day “a good day for America.”

Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told reporters that he “can’t agree” with Trump’s decision to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters and that he was “surprised” it was a blanket pardon. Tillis said he plans to introduce two bills that will increase the penalties for those charged with assaulting or murdering police officers. 

“That should give you everything you need to know about my position,” he said.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said that the pardons were “justified” but that he doesn’t want pardons for violent offenders. When reporters followed up that violent offenders did receive pardons, Johnson said, “I haven’t seen the details, but I think a lot of those crimes are definitely well deserved.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized Trump today for his actions and pardons in his first day in office.

“On Day 1 into his presidency, it’s clear Donald Trump’s golden age is not for the working and middle class,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “His golden age, rather, is for the special interests, for the wealthy elite and the corporate insiders he promised to take on as president.” 

Schumer also criticized Trump for pardoning the people convicted of assaulting Capitol police officers, saying: “And sadly, it’s a golden age for lawlessness and lawbreakers who were pardoned yesterday by President Trump. There’s no other way to describe President Trump’s pardon of Jan. 6 offenders than un-American.”

“It’s a betrayal of the highest order of our Capitol police officers who risked their lives to keep us safe,” Schumer said. 

Rep. Jonathan Jackson, a Democrat who represents parts of Chicago, said Tuesday that his community was bracing for potential ICE raids in the opening days of the Trump administration and that he’s “very much concerned.”

“I hate to see the level of fear that [Trump is] putting into society,” Jackson said on MSNBC's "Way Too Early" when asked about NBC’s reporting that Chicago could be among the cities that see action on mass deportation at the outset of the new administration.

“We all agree there should be a strong border. We all believe that people should obey laws. We also believe that there should be a path towards reconciliation, towards citizenship ... towards restoration,” he said. “But this sort of meanness, divisiveness, and from what President Trump says, is one thing. But people are going to act out on the law and on the ground is going to be something totally different.”

Jackson also talked about watching Trump’s swearing-in and remarks in the rotunda yesterday, calling them “dystopic,” “morose” and “a bit dark.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he expects the full Senate to vote this afternoon on the nomination of John Ratcliffe to be the next CIA director. 

Thune also said that they plan to file cloture on a couple more of Trump’s nominees later today, which would start the process of confirming them later this week, although he did not say which nominees.

In the Senate, if there are any objections to quickly voting on a nominee, the majority leader must file cloture to bypass a filibuster of the nominee. That starts a process that takes a couple of days to complete. If Thune filed cloture on nominees today, it would set up confirmation votes on Thursday. 

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., asked Stefanik about hand gestures that Trump adviser Elon Musk made at the president’s rally yesterday afternoon, which many people described as Nazi salutes.

"What do you think of Elon Musk, perhaps the president's most visible adviser, doing two Heil Hitler salutes last night at the president's televised rally?" Murphy said.

"No, Elon Musk did not do those salutes," Stefanik responded. "I was not at the rally, but I can tell you, I've been at many rallies with Elon Musk, who loves to cheer when President Trump says we need to send our U.S. space program to Mars. Elon Musk is a visionary. I'm looking forward to his work in DOGE, the department of government efficiency, and look forward to looking how we can be more efficient and effective. But that is simply not the case. And to say so is — the American people are smart. They see through it. They support Elon Musk."

New York City police officers received a notice from their department Saturday reminding them not to take part in or interfere with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

“Members of the service are not permitted to engage in civil immigration enforcement," the order said. It went on to say “members of the service will not take any action that will interfere with or impede civil immigration enforcement taken by federal authorities."

The departmentwide order came just days before Trump's inauguration. The president has pledged to begin mass deportations on "Day 1" of his term.

Unlike Democratic leaders in some other states, NYC Mayor Eric Adams has said he is ready to work with Trump on his initiatives. The mayor also had a meeting with Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, in December, saying, "His goal is the same goal I have."

A Coast Guard notification to the force dated today reports that acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman relieved Adm. Linda Fagan of her duties as commandant of the Coast Guard. 

The notice — known as an ALCOAST — does not specify why she was relieved. 

Adm. Kevin Lunday is now the acting commandant.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, asked Stefanik how she would use her role at the United Nations to address and deter Russia's war with Ukraine.

"My effort will be supporting President Trump's mission to bring that to a resolution, and to deter Russia in the long term," Stefanik said.

Stefanik said she has a "strong record when it comes to deterring Russia, pushing back on Russia, including during President Trump's term, voting for defensive lethal aid to Ukraine."

Colette Peters, director of the federal Bureau of Prisons, has stepped down after a two-and-a-half year tenure, the agency said. Her deputy director, William Lothrop, has been named acting director.

In a statement shared today with BOP employees, Lothrop, a 30-year veteran of the bureau, acknowledged “ongoing challenges, including staffing shortages and operational issues,” but said he is “committed to working alongside you to find real solutions that strengthen our facilities."

The Senate Finance Committee has favorably reported the nomination of Scott Bessent to be treasury secretary.

The vote was 16-11 in favor, with Democratic Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire joining all committee Republicans in supporting Bessent.

The family of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after responding to the Jan. 6 attack, called the pardons of those responsible for the attack, including the ones who assaulted officers, an "undoing of justice."

The family, in a statement, referred to the pardons as "the undoing of the justice that was previously determined by the Court’s sentencing of Brian’s assailants" adding, “It is our hope that the truth of what happened that tragic day will survive, irrespective of partisan political objectives.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said during his opening statement during Collins' confirmation hearing that he's "incredibly disheartened that the Trump administration is canceling the flights of nearly 1,660 Afghan refugees who were already cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the United States."

"These allies aided our troops in Afghanistan," he said. "The risks to these Afghan allies are so dire and dangerous, and many of our veterans groups have been advocates for them, as you know. In fact, the strongest advocates for resettling those at-risk Afghan allies are the veterans who benefited from their protection and their service."

Blumenthal continued, "Our nation has a sacred promise that we’ve made to do right by the men and women who risk their lives for our freedoms and democracy and do right for their families, and that includes those translators, the guards, the others that put their backs in targets and became our loyal friends."

Trump signed an executive order addressing birthright citizenship on his first day in office, a constitutionally protected right. NBC News’ Danny Cevallos reports on how the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution on birthright citizenship has been legally scrutinized.

The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee will hold a confirmation hearing at 10 a.m. today for Doug Collins to be secretary of veterans affairs.

Collins, a former House member from Georgia and a Navy veteran, was a staunch defender of Trump during his first impeachment investigation, during which Collins served as the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. 

Collins is not expected to face a difficult path to confirmation but is likely to be pressed today on potential cuts he would make to the department, his views on private medical care for veterans and certain health care policies like the Biden administration’s rule that allows the VA to provide abortions to veterans.  

Marco Rubio has been sworn in as secretary of state. Vice President JD Vance swore him in and gave him the oath of office. The two of them served in the Senate together.

"Everything we do must be justified by the answer to one of three questions: Does it make us stronger? Does it make us safer, and does it make us more prosperous? If it doesn't do one of those three things, we will not do it," Rubio said.

The dismissals of Jan. 6-related cases are underway as incarcerated Jan. 6 rioters are set to be released from jail and prison following Trump's pardons and commutations.

At least 17 dismissal motions have been filed so far and they are signed by Edward Martin, the Jan. 6 defendant advocate who is now acting U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.

Some people were released last night and releases are going to continue.

At 10 a.m., the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be Trump’s U.N. ambassador.

Stefanik has been an ardent ally of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, and a strong ally of Trump’s after first being elected as a moderate Republican in 2015.

Aides expect this hearing to run around three hours. 

Barring a major stumble in her confirmation hearing, Stefanik is expected to be eventually confirmed by the Senate, and Republicans had hoped to schedule her confirmation hearing last week but background check paperwork was delayed (like it is for many others).

LONDON — In a freewheeling Inauguration Day of speeches, casual remarks and formal balls, Trump wasted no time trying to shape the world in his unmistakable image.

Unlike four years ago, when his term began in a flurry of unpreparedness, this time Trump let fly with a series of actions and statements that seek to scrub out many of former President Joe Biden’s decisions and replace them with his own stark imprimatur.

From tariffs, TikTok and the Middle East to the climate crisis and world health, here are the headlines of Trump’s foreign policy moves during the first 24 hours of a term set to last 1,461 days — and how the world reacted.

Read the full story here.

Early this morning, Trump said on his Truth Social account that he’s firing José Andrés from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council.

He also dismissed former U.S. special representative to Iran, Brian Hook, from the Wilson Center for Scholars and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council.

“You’re fired!” he wrote in all caps.

Biden yesterday issued a pre-emptive pardon for Milley, a retired general, after Trump had made threatening remarks about him.

Andrés responded on X by saying that he had already submitted his resignation last week and that his two-year term was already up.

Newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio refused to comment this morning on Trump’s pardons of 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters despite saying after the 2021 attack on the Capitol that it was “one of the saddest days in American history.”

In an interview on NBC’s “TODAY” show, he was asked what message the pardons send to the rest of the world, but deflected the question as outside his foreign policy purview.

“We’re going to focus on what makes America stronger and more prosperous and safer,” Rubio said. “I’m not going to engage in domestic political debates. I can’t in the role of State Department. My job is to focus on the president’s foreign policy.”

Trump’s plan to roll back the constitutionally protected right to birthright citizenship is just one of several contentious executive actions that are likely to face pushback from judges and could be struck down by the Supreme Court.

Other policies that could be legally vulnerable include a plan to invoke an 18th century law called the Alien Enemies Act to round up and deport certain immigrants, legal experts said. Efforts to reallocate congressional funding to build a border wall and refusing to spend money appropriated by Congress for environmental policies would also most likely be challenged.

Civil rights groups and Democratic attorneys general are likely to sue over a number of Trump policies. In fact, lawsuits were filed challenging Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency within minutes of his taking the oath of office.

But not all lawsuits are created equal, and many will fail.

Read the full story here.

Today, the Senate will be holding confirmation hearings for Elise Stefanik to serve as ambassador to the United Nations and Doug Collins as secretary of veterans affairs. 

Both hearings take place before the Senate Foreign Relations and Veterans’ Affairs Committees at 10 a.m. ET.

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a markup at 10:15 a.m. of Scott Bessent’s nomination for treasury secretary. His confirmation hearing took place last week. 

Trump is expected to hold a news conference at the White House later today to make an infrastructure-related announcement, his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends."

"I won’t get ahead of President Trump, but I can ensure you, assure you, that it’s going to be a massive announcement, and it’s going to prove that the world knows that America is back," she said.

Republican House and Senate leaders are expected to meet with Trump today, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters yesterday.

The meeting will be at the White House in the afternoon, a congressional leadership source familiar with the meeting told NBC News.