White House formally instructs agencies to prepare for ‘large-scale’ layoffs and reorganization
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(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration is directing all federal agencies to “promptly” begin preparations for large-scale layoffs and restructuring, and submit plans for doing do so by March 13, according to a new memo obtained by ABC News.
The memo, from White House budget director Russ Vought, and Charles Ezell, the head of the Office of Personnel Management, was issued Wednesday morning, and includes instructions for agencies to follow as they work to downsize their workforces, and in some cases, physical footprints.
The move could formally clear the way for the administration to begin dismantling or shrinking agencies like the Department of Education and will likely prompt a new flurry of lawsuits as the process takes shape.
“President Trump required that ‘Agency Heads shall promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force (RIFs), consistent with applicable law.’ President Trump also directed that, no later than March 13, 2025, agencies develop Agency Reorganization Plans,” the memo states.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance are making their way to Greenland on Friday morning for a scaled back visit to the Pituffik Space Base.
The couple boarded Air Force Two shortly after 6 a.m. ET and were joined on the trip by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Energy Sec. Chris Wright and Sen. Mike Lee. They are expected to arrive at approximately 11:45 a.m. ET.
The trip was originally planned as a visit by the second lady to attend a dogsled race but that plan was scrapped after heavy criticism.
Vice President Vance is expected to deliver remarks and receive briefings at the Pituffik Space Base, according to a spokeswoman.
The visit comes as President Trump has repeatedly suggested that the U.S. should take over Greenland “one way or the another” for national security purposes and as he continues to emphasize Greenland’s importance as China and Russia ramp up activity in the Arctic.
Ahead of the Vance’s trip, Trump discussed how he views Greenland as vital to U.S. national security.
“We need Greenland for national security and international security. So we’ll, I think, we’ll go as far as we have to go,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “We need Greenland. And the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark. Denmark has to have us have Greenland. And, you know, we’ll see what happens. But if we don’t have Greenland, we can’t have great international security,” Trump said.
The president made overtures about buying Greenland in his first term in office.
In a press release announcing the visit, Vance said, “In the decades since neglect and inaction from Danish leaders and past US administrations have presented our adversaries with the opportunity to advance their own priorities in Greenland and the Arctic. President Trump is rightly changing course.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who is also making the trip, told Fox News on Thursday that Greenland has tried for years to interest U.S. mining companies to develop resources there because there’s not enough infrastructure to make mining economical.
“So, heck, maybe that is going to happen,” he said. “I think that is in the best interest of Greenland and Greenlanders and they have expressed that for years. If the United States can have the right cooperation, I think capital can flow there which would bring jobs and economic opportunity to Greenland and critical minerals and resources to the United States — a win for both sides.”
The idea of Greenland becoming part of the U.S. is opposed by many in Greenland and Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory.
Usha Vance was originally scheduled to make the trip to learn about Greenland’s cultural heritage and attend a national dogsled race before it was announced that the vice president, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright would join her. The trip was later scaled back to just a visit to the space base. The White House confirmed Thursday that Waltz will make the trip.
JD Vance and Waltz are at the center of the scandal over the purported conversation discussing the attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen over the commercially available Signal app that inadvertently included The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, who reported details of the conversation on Monday.
Officials in Greenland and Denmark have pushed back against the visit.
Reuters reported that Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen called Trump’s statements an “escalation” in Trump’s rhetoric.
“These very powerful statements about a close ally do not suit the U.S. president,” Poulsen told reporters in Copenhagen on Thursday. “I need to clearly speak out against what I see as an escalation from the American side,” he said.
On Wednesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a post on social media the U.S. is putting “unacceptable pressure” on Greenland and Denmark ahead of the unsolicited visit, adding that the two regions will “resist.”
The timing of the visit was criticized in both Greenland and Denmark as Greenland tries to put together a coalition government after parliamentary elections two weeks ago.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Kristi Noem, South Dakota’s firebrand Republican governor, faces a grilling Friday at her confirmation hearing to be secretary of homeland security.
Noem, the daughter of a farmer and a former representative from South Dakota, will be questioned before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
She first came on the national scene during the pandemic and gained notoriety when she did not shut down businesses and schools in the state — instead keeping it open and even hosting a Fourth of July fireworks show at Mt. Rushmore.
“We didn’t mandate anything,” Noem said at the Republican National Convention in July 2024. “We never ordered a single business or church to close. I never even defined what an essential business was, because I don’t believe that the government has the authority to tell you that your business isn’t essential.”
During her last state budget address in December, Noem touted what she called progress on the state economy, education and public safety.
Noem was one of the Republican governors to send National Guardsmen to the southern border to help the Texas National Guard.
If confirmed, border security will be a main concern as Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would fall under her purview at the Department of Homeland Security.
“I have increased resources to combat the horror of human trafficking,” she said in December. “And when President Trump secures the southern border, we’ll cut off the primary pipeline for human trafficking into our country.”
In an interview on Newsmax shortly after President-elect Trump’s election victory she said the “number one priority” will be the border.
“We’ve got to secure our country, and we’ve got to get the murderers and terrorists and rapists out of this country, and make America safe again. That’s really what his goal is. And I’m just so proud of him that he’s working so hard at it immediately,” she said.
A one-time potential vice-presidential prospect, Noem would oversee 22 agencies with more than 260,000 employees — on issues ranging from the border to federal disaster management to the Secret Service.
Earlier this year, she was embroiled in a series of controversies, including drawing scrutiny and a lawsuit over her social media endorsement of a dental work she received from a practice in Texas.
She was also criticized for writing in her new memoir about how she shot and killed her 14-month-old dog “Cricket” after she said it demonstrated an “aggressive personality, and she was forced to admit what she called “errors” in her book, including claiming she once met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. That description was removed from the book, according to the publisher.
Trump defended and praised her amid the controversies last year, saying she’s gone through “rough” days but that he likes her “a lot.”
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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge is weighing whether to compel the Trump administration to unfreeze millions of dollars in previously allocated FEMA funds.
A coalition of 22 Democratic attorneys general says the administration is illegally withholding the funds despite a court order requiring their payment.
The attorneys general have asked the judge to compel the Trump administration to unfreeze the payments, alleging that at least 16 states have been unable to access money from 140 FEMA grants.
According to their motion filed in federal court on Friday, programs whose funds have been frozen include wildfire prevention, emergency management, terrorism prevention, cybersecurity, and flood mitigation.
“The safety of our residents is not a game and should not be subject to partisan politics and retribution from the President and his appointees,” said New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, one of the 22 attorneys general who filed the motion.
In January, a federal judge in Rhode Island prohibited the Trump administration from unilaterally freezing federal funding. While the Trump administration unfroze some of the funds, the attorneys general allege that the federal government continues to withhold millions in FEMA funding.
Their court filing included multiple examples of FEMA’s payment system showing the grants continuing to be frozen.
The dispute about the FEMA funds comes as the Trump administration is considering reshaping or abolishing FEMA. In January, Trump signed an executive order to begin the process to reform or consider “getting rid of” the agency tasked with disaster relief.
