Ukraine agrees to partial ceasefire plan; Trump to sign order to eliminate the Education Department

Trump said tonight that the Federal Reserve "would be MUCH better off CUTTING RATES as U.S.Tariffs start to transition (ease!) their way into the economy. Do the right thing."

He posted on Truth Social hours after the U.S. central bank kept interest rates unchanged but warned that it now sees growth slowing and inflation rising more than it did when it last issued economic projections in December.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell, whom Trump has repeatedly clashed with, told reporters earlier today that Trump's tariff policies were at least partly responsible for the increasing "uncertainty" about the direction of the U.S. economy.

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., was loudly booed and interrupted at tonight's town hall in Laramie as she defended the Trump administration and Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

At one point she commented that "it’s so bizarre to me how obsessed you are with federal government" in response to a question about the recently passed continuing resolution and the whereabouts of money for federal employees who have been fired, which prompted the crowd to grow even rowdier.

"Calm down," Hageman said repeatedly as the crowd interjected angry disapproval. "You guys are going to have a heart attack if you don't calm down."

The Albany Democratic Party chair briefed a group of protesters before heading inside the building and urged attendees to “remain civil” but also press Hageman and demand answers. The packed town hall in Albany County is taking place in a theater with a capacity of 500 people.

Democratic Reps. April McClain Delaney and Jamie Raskin of Maryland held a town hall today in Frederick, Maryland, that was met with mixed reactions from residents and calls for a plan to push back against the Trump administration.

Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said, “Of course, you know the Judiciary Committee is where impeachment starts,” a comment that was met by applause.

Toward the end of the town hall, attendees shouted, “We need a plan." One person disputed McClain Delaney's remark that her office is accessible to constituents.

After the event, several constituents told NBC News they were not satisfied with the answers they received.

Angry constituents, most of them Wyoming residents voting in Albany County, are lined up around the block outside Rep. Harriet Hageman’s town hall in Laramie.

Democratic residents from all over the state are waiting with signs in hand, some reading “Defund DOGE!” or “Liz Cheney was right,” awaiting Hageman’s arrival for a town hall set to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Hageman is one of the only congressional Republicans who has continued to hold town halls against the suggestion of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who urged his members to refrain from holding in-person public meetings amid public backlash.

While Hageman, who defeated Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., in a 2022 primary, is in a politically safe seat, attendees lined up tonight expressed concerns about cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency, fear over the possibility of Social Security’s being slashed and frustration overall with the Trump administration’s policies.

Diego Jose Ibarra, the brother of the man who killed nursing student Laken Riley last year, will be deported after he completes a four-year federal prison sentence for possessing a fraudulent green card, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia announced in a news release.

Authorities approached Ibarra in the investigation into Riley's death because he matched the description of the man they were seeking. He presented officers with the fake identification, according to the attorney's office release.

During the investigation, he pleaded guilty to having the fraudulent green card, according to the release.

Officials said he illegally entered the United States on April 30, 2023.

Trump is expected to sign an executive order tomorrow to close the Education Department, fulfilling a yearslong pledge to dismantle it, the White House confirmed.

Trump will hold an event at the White House to sign the order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

Read the full story here.

The federal judge at odds with the White House over its immigration enforcement and now the target of impeachment calls driven by Trump is a bipartisan appointee whose three-decade career in Washington, D.C., has included cases that have favored Trump.

James Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia since 2023, drew Trump’s ire after he temporarily blocked the administration’s effort to carry out migrant deportations by plane over the weekend under a rarely used wartime law.

In an interview that aired yesterday on Fox News, Trump mentioned impeaching Boasberg, whom he slighted as a “local judge.” Trump earlier pressed for Boasberg’s impeachment in a social media post and branded him a “radical left lunatic, a troublemaker and agitator.”

Those who know Boasberg and his record insist he is anything but.

Read the full story here.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said today there’s been “no discussion” of the United States' taking over Ukraine’s power plants or utilities, despite the administration’s readout of Trump’s call with Zelenskyy indicating the two leaders discussed such a possibility.

"No discussion about that right now," Wright told reporters at the White House when he was asked about Trump's discussion of the nuclear plants detailed in the readout.

"The United States and this president’s agenda is more energy. More energy, ideally produced in the United States, but more energy to better lives and lower prices," Wright added.

The comments contrast with a statement in which Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz said that in addition to ceasefire discussions, Trump and Zelenskyy "also discussed Ukraine’s electrical supply and nuclear power plants" and that Trump "said that the United States could be very helpful in running those plants."

Trump made his call to impeach a federal judge the focus of a fundraising email sent to his supporters today.

"This Radical Left Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, should be IMPEACHED!!!" the fundraising email reads. "Am I right friend? — Should deranged, power-hungry judges who let violent criminals roam free—putting your life and your family in grave danger—be impeached?"

The email directs readers to "respond to Trump" through a financial contribution to the Trump National Committee JFC.

The language of the fundraising email mirrored an earlier social media post in which Trump he called for U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to be impeached for ruling against one of his deportation efforts. Musk, too, has increased his calls to impeach judges who have blocked implementing Trump's agenda.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said Trump will not back down on his calls to impeach a federal judge who ruled against his deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act.

“Of course, the president stands by his comments. Absolutely. As do we all, as is the entire administration," Miller told reporters at the White House this afternoon.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare statement yesterday saying “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”

“The president has been clear that he is, has tremendous respect for Justice Roberts and believes it’s essential the Supreme Court crack down and stop this assault on our democracy from these radical rogue judges,” Miller said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized the judge who blocked Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations and called on the Supreme Court to “rein in activist judges.”

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell denied the U.S. Institute of Peace's request for a temporary restraining order that would have barred the Trump administration from trespassing at the institute and would have ensured the institute retained control of its computer systems, accounts and records.

“I am very offended by how DOGE has operated at the institute and treated American citizens trying to do a job that they were statutorily tasked to do,” she said. “But that concern about how this has gone down is not one that can sway me in the factors of” a temporary restraining order.

Howell added she was particularly concerned about the success of the plaintiffs’ likelihood of success, particularly because they had sued in their official capacities even though they had been removed.

The Institute of Peace sued the Trump administration after members of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency effectively executed a physical takeover of the institute’s headquarters in Washington this week. 

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich today denied a request to temporarily block the release of tax information to the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Trump administration and local law enforcement agencies. 

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos and several immigration organizations were concerned that individual tax number identification number applications, income tax returns and other records could be used to “identify targets for immigration enforcement.”

“I don’t think you have met the burden in terms of alleging that they are about to violate 6103,” Freidrich told plaintiffs at a hearing today, referring to the part of the Internal Revenue Code that makes tax information confidential. 

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell questioned the use of several law enforcement agencies to takeover the headquarters of the U.S. Institute of Peace at an emergency hearing today, questioning whether DOGE needed “armed law enforcement at the ready” to resolve a dispute over the agency’s status.

“This conduct of using law enforcement, threatening criminal investigation, using armed law enforcement from three different agencies ... to carry out the executive order ... probably terrorizing the employees and staff at the institute ... when there are so many lawful ways to accomplish the goals ... why? Why those ways here? Just because DOGE is in a rush?” Howell asked a government attorney.

“That’s a lot of law enforcement at a charitable institution’s building,” Howell speaking with the plaintiff’s lawyer, questioning whether there was a way to try to accomplish its goals through legal procedures and Congress “without using the force of guns and threats by DOGE against American citizens and those who served our country for years.”

The Federal Reserve said today it was leaving interest rates unchanged, signaling it wanted further clarity on the direction of the economy before it changes borrowing costs for businesses and consumers.

The Fed’s key federal funds rate, which serves as a benchmark for interest rates throughout the economy, will remain at about 4.5%.

Though it said current economic conditions were solid, it lowered its forecast of gross domestic product, a measure of the total value of all goods and services produced within the United States, for the rest of the year from 2.1% in December to 1.7%, while warning a key measure of inflation would now be closer to 3% than 2%.

Eighteen out of 19 policymakers now say there is increased risk that GDP will fall, compared with just five in December.

Read the full story here.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia has dropped an assault case against Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys member who was serving 22 years in federal prison after he was convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol until Trump granted him clemency on his first day back in office.

Tarrio was arrested last month after dozens of the more than 1,500 defendants Trump pardoned or granted commutations showed up at the Capitol, and Tarrio was seen swatting a phone from a protester's hand in an event witnessed by nearby police. Tarrio was arrested, and an initial hearing had been set to take place in D.C. Superior Court tomorrow.

Three sources in the law enforcement community confirmed to NBC News and NBC Washington that U.S. attorney’s office “no papered," or dropped, the assault case.

Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, a "stop the steal" organizer who previously represented Jan. 6 defendants, heads the office in Washington, which is unique among U.S. attorney's offices in that it handles both federal prosecutions and most local criminal cases in D.C. Superior Court.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is delegating authority over the the U.S. Agency for International Development to DOGE, senior staffer Jeremy Lewin, who will now run the day-to-day operations of the largely dismantled agency.

A judge ruled yesterday that the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down USAID were most likely unconstitutional but did not reinstate its thousands of terminated employees and contractors or associated foreign aid programs.

In an email to the remaining staff of USAID last evening, Pete Marocco, who had been acting deputy administrator and oversaw the cuts to 84% of its foreign aid programming, said he was returning to his post as the head of the State Department’s Foreign Assistance bureau.  

Members of the American Postal Workers Union, the labor organization that represents more than 200,000 U.S. Postal Service workers, will participate in planned protests across the country tomorrow in rebuke of the Trump administration’s moving toward privatizing the Postal Service by moving it under control of the Commerce Department. 

Though the Trump administration has not announced official plans to privatize the Postal Service, a public institution created and partly funded by Congress, Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have indicated they are looking at pathways to do so, drawing sweeping pushback from postal worker unions and congressional Democrats. 

Trump said shortly after Lutnick’s swearing-in ceremony last month that Lutnick would be “looking at” the Postal Service, adding, “We’re losing so much money with the Postal Service, and we don’t want to lose that kind of money.” He also floated the idea as he spoke to reporters last year. The notion has been echoed by Musk, who argued the Postal Service and other public-sector services are “ripe for privatization” at a recent tech conference. 

The Trump administration and Zelenskyy said today that Ukraine has agreed to move forward with a partial ceasefire with Russia, which Trump and Putin had discussed a day earlier.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz said that after Trump spoke to Zelenskyy by phone this morning, the two leaders agreed “on a partial ceasefire against energy,” according to a joint statement released by the White House.

Zelenskyy wrote in a lengthy post on X: “One of the first steps toward fully ending the war could be ending strikes on energy and other civilian infrastructure. I supported this step, and Ukraine confirmed that we are ready to implement it.”

Read the full story here.

A group of distinguished Chinese Americans, known as the Committee of 100, condemned a bill that would block all Chinese nationals from obtaining U.S. student visas, saying it would hamper U.S. innovation and fuel discrimination, including against Chinese Americans in the U.S.

The Stop CCP Visa Act was introduced last week by Rep. Riley Moore, a first-term Republican congressman from West Virginia, who cited concerns about espionage and intellectual property theft. It would deny student visas to all Chinese nationals regardless of their field or academic level.

“Shutting the door on Chinese students doesn’t just betray our values — it weakens our leadership in science, technology, and innovation,” said Gary Locke, chair of the Committee of 100 and the U.S. ambassador to China from 2011 to 2014.

“The Stop CCP Visas Act is not just exclusionary but self-defeating,” he said in a statement. “We must stand for opportunity, not fear, and ensure that talent and progress continue to flourish in our nation.”

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP), an independent non-profit established by Congress 40 years ago, is asking a federal judge to immediately block the Department of Government Efficiency’s attempted forced shutdown of the organization after what its lawsuit portrayed as a “takeover by force” of their headquarters building that took place with the assistance of the FBI, the Justice Department, and local D.C. police.

The lawsuit — which was brought by the Institute of Peace and member of the board and names Assistant to the Administrator for Management and Resources for USAID Kenneth Jackson, DOGE, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump, among others — contends that the Trump administration attempted to unlawfully fire USIP President George Moose after moving to fire board members and replace them with Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Vice Admiral Peter A. Garvin.

Read the full story.

Former Sens. Mitt Romney, of Utah, and Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, have joined the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget's board of directors. The board is tasked with steering the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan, nonprofit fiscal policy group that aims to reduce the national deficit and educate Americans about its implications. 

Romney, a Republican who retired after one term late last year, used his farewell address to sound alarm bells over the nation’s mounting debt, which is expected to reach $37 trillion by July. Romney often cited partisan politics as a bulwark to reducing the deficit.  

Manchin, who was elected as a Democrat in 2010 but left the party to register as an independent last year, often advocated for fiscal policy that would slash the national debt and co-sponsored bipartisan bills with Romney that sought to establish independent commissions to study federal government spending.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social this morning that he just concluded a "very good telephone call" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin told Trump he would agree to a partial ceasefire in Ukraine.

"It lasted approximately one hour," Trump said of the call. "Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs."

He added, "We are very much on track, and I will ask Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, to give an accurate description of the points discussed. That Statement will be put out shortly."

Despite Russia claiming it would halt strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure and Zelenskyy originally agreeing to a 30-day ceasefire, both countries accused the other of continued strikes overnight on civilian targets and infrastructure.

Elon Musk is continuing to push for judges who rule against the Trump administration to face impeachment, posting about judicial impeachment 17 times within the past 24 hours.

His posts come even as Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has pushed against Trump's call for a judge's impeachment. Roberts said in a statement yesterday that "impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision."

Hong Kong’s top leader said “serious attention” should be paid to concerns about the sale of two Panama Canal ports by a conglomerate based in the Chinese territory, as Beijing signals dissatisfaction over the deal.

The company, CK Hutchison, agreed this month to sell its stake in the ports at either end of the Panama Canal to a consortium including the U.S. asset manager BlackRock. The deal was touted as a victory by Trump, who had threatened to “take back” the U.S.-built canal over what he said was undue Chinese influence over the strategic waterway.

John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive handpicked by Beijing, refrained from criticizing CK Hutchison directly but said concerns over the deal deserved “serious attention” and that all transactions must comply with local law.

Workers at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration this week experienced a kind of whiplash as the federal government tried to reinstate probationary employees who had been fired.

More than 600 NOAA workers were laid off more than two weeks ago, including some in public safety roles, such as scientists who issue tsunami alerts, hurricane-hunting flight directors and meteorologists in local forecast offices. 

Read the full story.

Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said in a CNN interview that he believed Chief Justice John Roberts' statement yesterday was appropriate.

Roberts said that impeachment is "not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision," responding to Trump's calls for impeaching judges who ruled against him.

"He’s trying to explain to the people of this country how the legal system works and how it doesn’t work," Breyer told CNN. "It doesn’t work by impeaching a judge because you don’t like his decision."

Breyer said that Roberts' statement was "informative and educational." When he was asked whether he thought it was appropriate, Breyer responded, "I do."

The Trump administration's top intelligence officials are slated to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a public hearing next Tuesday. The hearing, which is held by the committee on a yearly basis to broadly discuss global security threats facing the United States, will mark the first congressional testimony from Trump's recently-confirmed heads of U.S. intelligence.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel will appear on the witness panel.

They will be joined by General Timothy D. Haugh, director of the National Security Agency, and Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Trump said it would be “easier” to work with a Liberal prime minister of Canada, which is preparing for a federal election amid a trade war Trump started with the long-standing U.S. ally.

“I think it’s easier to deal actually with a Liberal,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News yesterday, referring to Canada’s center-left governing party. “And maybe they’re going to win, but I don’t really care. It doesn’t matter to me at all.”

On Friday, newly elected Liberal Party leader Mark Carney took office as the new prime minister of Canada. His predecessor and fellow Liberal, the highly unpopular Justin Trudeau, stepped down after almost a decade in power amid criticism over his response to 25% tariffs that Trump has imposed on Canadian imports.

The U.S. Institute of Peace sued the Trump administration overnight over the removal of board members and what was effectively a physical takeover of its D.C. headquarters.

The independent agency asked a federal judge to immediately prevent the Trump administration from “committing further trespass against the real and personal property belonging to the Institute and its employees, contractors, agents, and other representatives." The filing also asked the judge to ensure that the organization maintains access to its offices, resources and records, and to keep board members from being removed.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, in Washington, D.C., ordered a hearing on the lawsuit today at 2 p.m.

The agency's filing also details a confrontation between its officials and four former employees of the institute's security contractor, who had been employed by the agency until the day before. The filing alleges that the contract with the security group, Inter-Con, had been suspended because of the group's efforts to coordinate access into the building with the Trump downsizing initiative known as the Department of Government Efficiency.

The judge presiding over the arrest of activist Mahmoud Khalil is allowing the case to be transferred to New Jersey's district court.

U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman, who serves in the Southern District of New York, wrote in the order that the Khalil's allegations against the government are “serious” and “warrant careful review.” 

"But before the Court may review Khalil’s allegations and arguments, it must confront a threshold question: whether it is the proper tribunal to even consider Khalil’s Petition," the judge wrote.

The judge said that his decision stemmed from "the undisputed fact that, at 4:40 a.m. on March 9, 2025, when Khalil’s lawyer filed the Petition on his behalf, he was detained in New Jersey."

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a U.S. government-funded news outlet in operation for more than 70 years, is suing the Trump administration to block the termination of its federal grant.

In a news release accompanying its filing yesterday, the outlet said the White House had denied it funds appropriated by Congress, claiming the move was in violation of the U.S. Constitution, “which vests Congress with exclusive power over federal spending.” 

The U.S. Agency for Global Media, a government agency that runs Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Voice of America and other editorially independent news outlets that broadcast in dozens of languages around the world and are known for their reporting on human rights, was designated for elimination in an executive order Trump signed Friday. The move was criticized as a win for authoritarian regimes such as China and Russia at a time when they are trying to expand their own global media presence.

“This is not the time to cede terrain to the propaganda and censorship of America’s adversaries,” said Stephen Capus, president and chief executive of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. “We believe the law is on our side and that the celebration of our demise by despots around the world is premature.”

Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin engaged in a high-stakes phone call aimed at ending the war in Ukraine in what could be an initial step toward the White House’s goal of a ceasefire. Hours after agreeing to a partial ceasefire, Russia launched new attacks on targets inside Ukraine, including a hospital and a railway power station. NBC’s Richard Engel reports for "TODAY."

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., is set to hold a town hall tonight, bucking advice from the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which works to elect GOP members, not to hold in-person town halls.

Town hall attendees have recently berated Republicans for their support of budget cuts and DOGE initiatives like federal workforce layoffs.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has also encouraged his party members to hold telephone town halls and small group discussions rather than open town halls, where Republicans lawmakers have faced jeering crowds.Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., is scheduled to hold a tele-town hall on Tuesday.

Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., said during a town hall last night that it may be time for Democrats to find new Senate leadership. He is the latest Democrat to cast doubt on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's leadership after the New York Democrat allowed a GOP-led funding bill to move forward.

"I respect Chuck Schumer. I think he’s had a great, long-standing career," Ivey said. "He’s done a lot of great things, but I’m afraid that it may be time for the Senate Democrats to pick new leadership as we move forward."

Ivey also argued that Schumer "did not" meet the moment during the fight over the temporary funding bill, which ultimately passed Congress and was signed into law.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he would speak with Trump today after Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday.

"Putin’s words are very, very different from reality," Zelenskyy said during a news conference, during which he detailed overnight Russian attacks.

The White House said yesterday that during the phone call between Trump and Putin, "the leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace."

A federal judge has given the Trump administration until noon today to submit a sealed filing answering his questions about the timing of deportation flights that he had ordered to turn around over the weekend.

Flights carrying alleged gang members deported under a rarely invoked wartime act known as the Alien Enemies Act later arrived in El Salvador, despite the judge's order. The government has said that two planes of deportees left U.S. airspace before the U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's written order and argued that the judge lacked jurisdiction in the case.

The Justice Department refused to answer certain questions from Boasberg yesterday, prompting the judge's latest request for more information under a deadline.

Earlier this week, Boasberg said that if the government decided not to provide more details about the flights, "it must support such position, including with classified authorities if necessary." The judge then said the government could file the information under seal if warranted, prompting the Justice Department to push back on the suggestion.

As a federal judge presses Trump’s administration over whether it violated an order halting deportations, in a growing clash between the presidency and the judicial branch, more American voters are saying they think the executive branch and the courts have too much power, according to a new NBC News poll.

What’s notable, though, is that the change over the last six years has been driven by Democratic-leaning voters, who have been frustrated at different times by both Trump’s expansive policy agenda this year and the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

The new poll was conducted March 7-11, before Trump called for the impeachment of a federal judge who issued an order blocking the deportation of Venezuelan migrants. And as Trump and allies grow more vocal about policies of his that are getting blocked by courts, it’s possible that there could be significant shifts in how voters weigh the power of the courts and the executive branch.

The NBC News poll found that 43% of registered voters believed the president and the executive branch have too much power, while 39% said the branch’s power is about right and 6% said it has too little power.

Read the full story here.