Judge halts Trump’s funding freeze as administration offers payouts to federal workers
The Senate confirmed another Trump Cabinet nominee today.
What Trump and Congress are doing today
- A federal judge this afternoon temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s freeze on all federal foreign and domestic aid. The White House argues a funding pause is needed to let agencies conduct reviews to ensure spending aligns with the president’s agenda.
- The administration’s move drew fire from numerous Democrats and some Republicans — as officials struggle to determine what the impact would be. The effort to halt the aid comes amid a continued barrage of executive orders reversing Biden administration policies and a major effort by immigration enforcement agencies to carry out Trump’s mass deportation plans.
- Federal workers began receiving payout offers from the Trump administration. A senior administration official told NBC News that the administration expects up to 10% of the federal workforce to leave.
- The Senate confirmed Trump’s nominee for transportation secretary, former Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., this afternoon.
Coverage of this liveblog has ended. For the latest news, click here.NEW UPDATES
359d ago / 10:54 PM EST
Republicans are in their honeymoon phase. But big clashes over Trump’s agenda are unresolved.
Reporting from Doral, Florida
Ebullient House Republicans gathered here this week at Trump’s eponymous golf club in sunny South Florida to toast the president, Vice President JD Vance and the party’s takeover of the federal government.
But it’s a question of when — not whether — the honeymoon will end.
During a three-day policy retreat at Trump National Doral Miami, Trump, Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other top Republican leaders largely avoided getting into the weeds of how they plan to pass a sweeping package that will be the centerpiece of Trump’s legislative agenda or how to pay for it.
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359d ago / 10:54 PM EST
Trump says he asked Elon Musk and SpaceX to retrieve stranded astronauts
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Tara Prindiville, Jay Blackman and Zoë Richards
Trump said tonight on Truth Social that he asked tech billionaire Elon Musk and his SpaceX company to retrieve two NASA astronauts who have been stranded on the International Space Station since the summer.
“I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration,” Trump wrote. “They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe.”
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been at the International Space Station since their Boeing spacecraft encountered problems midflight in June.
NASA said tonight that the astronauts “are currently slated to return to Earth in March aboard a Dragon spacecraft already docked to the International Space Station.”Show more
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359d ago / 10:10 PM EST
Tim Walz rebukes Trump administration over funding freeze directive
In his first interview since the election, former Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, rebuked the Trump administration over its directive to freeze federal funds to states and nonprofit groups.
Walz told MSNBC that he expects the freeze to hit red states hard and that some of them will “pay the price” more than his state would. He also chastised Republican governors who have not spoken out against the freeze.
Exclusive: Rachel Maddow interviews Tim Walz as Trump plots end of U.S. government
08:09
“The deafening silence of Republican governors, these are my colleagues, some of them are my friends, but shame on you. You know what this is doing. And look, I come from a wealthy state that has the lowest childhood poverty rates, and we have a strong safety net. I guarantee you, these Republican states would pay the price more than us, and they’re just silent on it,” Walz said on “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
Some Republican governors, such as Louisiana’s Jeff Landry and New Hampshire’s Kelly Ayotte, have raised some concerns about the freeze, but others, like Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin, have praised Trump’s move.
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359d ago / 9:58 PM EST
As a federal judge temporarily halted Trump’s federal funding freeze, NBC News’ Ellison Barber talks to California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Meals on Wheels CEO Ellie Hollander about the impacts of a potential freeze.
California attorney general discusses impact of Trump’s federal funding freeze
09:06
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359d ago / 9:27 PM EST
Democrats removed from the EEOC by Trump say they’re considering legal options
Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels, two of three Democrats serving on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said today that they are considering legal options after they received emails last night from the White House informing them that Trump was removing them from their roles.
“Removing me, along with Commissioner Samuels, well before the expiration of our terms is unprecedented and will undermine the efforts of this independent agency to do the important work of protecting employees from discrimination, supporting employers’ compliance efforts, and expanding public awareness and understanding of federal employment laws,” Burrows said in a statement.
Samuels similarly referred to the move as “unprecedented” in a statement on X that contended her termination was unlawful and that work to protect employees from unlawful discrimination “is an American value; it is not — and should not be — a partisan issue.”Show more
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359d ago / 9:21 PM EST
Trump allies coast in special House primary to fill vacant Florida seats
Bridget Bowman and Scott Bland
A pair of Trump-endorsed Republicans easily won a pair of special House primaries today in Florida, setting them up to fill two vacant, deep-red seats and pad the party’s slim House majority.
The Associated Press projected the primary in Florida’s 6th District for state Sen. Randy Fine shortly after polls closed in the district at 7 p.m. ET, with Fine taking more than 80% of the GOP primary vote.
State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis had more than two-thirds support in the GOP primary in the 1st District when the AP called his race soon after 8 p.m. ET, easily outpacing a crowded field of candidates.
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359d ago / 9:14 PM EST
Trump administration may pull money from TSA, Coast Guard to help ICE afford costly deportations
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the principal agency tasked with carrying out Trump’s promise of mass deportations, faces a budget shortfall, and Trump administration officials are considering pulling funding from the Transportation Security Administration to make up for it, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.
The administration is also looking at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Coast Guard as possible areas from which to take money to give ICE.
The executive branch is allowed to move money appropriated by Congress from one agency to another within a department, and the Trump administration would not be the first to do so to make up for an ICE budget shortfall.
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359d ago / 8:57 PM EST
Netanyahu to meet with Trump at the White House next week
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Garrett Haake, Kelly O’Donnell and Zoë Richards
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to become the first foreign leader to meet with Trump during his second term with a trip to the White House next week.
A White House official confirmed to NBC News that Trump had extended an invitation to Netanyahu and that he accepted. Netanyahu’s office said they agreed to meet Feb. 4.
“I look forward to discussing how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries,” Trump wrote in a letter to Netanyahu today.
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359d ago / 8:20 PM EST
Republicans largely back Trump’s attempted federal aid freeze — with some notes of caution
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Sahil Kapur, Scott Wong, Brennan Leach and Adam Edelman
Elected Republicans in Washington and around the country largely supported the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze federal aid programs amid the chaos and confusion sparked by the budget office’s sweeping directive.
Across the board, GOP members of Congress and governors generally said that they backed the idea of reviewing federal spending and that the order was in line with Trump’s campaign promises. Still, a few said it was important for the White House to provide more clarity to ensure certain services weren’t affected.
“This is not unusual for an administration to pause funding and to take a hard look and scrub of how these programs are being spent and how they interact with a lot of the executive orders that the president signed,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters when he was asked whether Republicans plan to accept Trump’s move or assert the power of the purse given to Congress.
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359d ago / 7:43 PM EST
Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair: Funding freeze is ‘rooted in racism’
Annemarie Bonner
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said today that the Trump administration’s funding freeze stems from “a contempt” for “underprivileged communities.”
“Following the Trump Administration’s most recent attack on families, minority communities, students, and seniors is not only flagrantly illegal but is inherently rooted in racism and a contempt for our nation’s most underprivileged communities,” Espaillat said in a statement. “We will not remain silent in the face of such flagrant disregard for the fundamental values and ideals of who we are as a nation.
“This latest, illegal OMB memo issued by Trump is an incitement and chaos move, which again proves that President Trump and Republicans are intent on prioritizing the interest of billionaires and corporations over those of working families, minority communities, students, and seniors,” he added.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Espaillat’s statement.
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359d ago / 7:17 PM EST
Trump signs sweeping order to restrict transgender care for minors nationwide
Trump today signed a broad executive order targeting transition-related medical care for minors.
The order, titled Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation, intends to restrict access to gender-affirming medical care — including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery — for minors, which it defines as those younger than 19.
It prohibits federal funding from covering such care for minors, restricts research and education grants to medical schools and hospitals and directs the secretary of health and human services to issue regulations to end such care for minors. The order also directs all federal agencies to rescind guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a nonprofit association dedicated to transgender medical care that issues guidance widely used by health care professionals.
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359d ago / 7:13 PM EST
Mike Johnson says Trump’s remark about running for a third term was ‘tongue in cheek’
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Syedah Asghar, Kyle Stewart and Raquel Coronell Uribe
Johnson said that Trump’s remarks yesterday musing about running for a third term were “clearly tongue in cheek” and that “we laughed about it.”
“Of course, I can’t change the Constitution, but, you know, there are means to do that. I don’t think he’s suggesting a constitutional amendment,” Johnson said during a fireside chat The Hill hosted at the GOP retreat in Florida.
Trump said yesterday, “I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not 100% sure.”
“Am I allowed to run again? Mike, I better not get you involved in that,” he added, referring to Johnson.
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359d ago / 7:11 PM EST
Mike Johnson says he supports federal freeze: ‘It’s not a big thing’
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Syedah Asghar, Kyle Stewart and Raquel Coronell Uribe
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he “fully supports” the Trump administration’s effort to freeze federal grants, saying that it was “not a big thing” and that direct aid to individuals is not in the White House memo.
Johnson added that the directives would halt federal aid pending a review, which he said would be “temporary” and “quick,” calling it an “application of common sense.”
“I don’t think this is big in a major interruption of programming or anything,” Johnson said. “I think this is something that the American people will approve of.”
The directive, which a federal judge in Washington, D.C.m temporarily blocked from going into effect, has set up a constitutional showdown.
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359d ago / 6:37 PM EST
Jim Justice sees backing Trump as his Senate mandate
Kate Santaliz and Julie Tsirkin
Reporting from Washington
West Virginia’s new Republican senator, Jim Justice, is already unmissable in the Capitol — standing 6-feet-7, moving around the complex using a bright red mobility scooter and never far from his 62-pound bulldog, Babydog.
But don’t expect him to start his time in Washington as a key swing vote like his predecessor.
‘Just give [Trump] a little time’: Republican senator reacts to federal spending freeze confusion
06:03
!['Just give [Trump] a little time': Republican senator reacts to federal spending freeze confusion](https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto,w_390,h_220/mpx/2704722219/2025_01/1738101572102_now_mtp_full_justice_250128_1920x1080-j7ssr9.avif)
Justice replaced Democratic-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin, who was one of the most influential — and unpredictable — members of the Senate. Manchin regularly frustrated his party by breaking with Democrats over key priorities, but he was also a bipartisan dealmaker who helped broker significant legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, which appropriated funding for projects in his state.
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359d ago / 6:21 PM EST
22 states and D.C. sue Trump administration over funding freeze
Daniel Barnesis reporting from the federal courthouse.
Twenty-two states and Washington, D.C., sued the Trump administration today over its planned federal funding freeze, minutes after a federal judge in Washington temporarily blocked the pause from going into effect.
The states are challenging the freeze on the grounds that it is “arbitrary and capricious” and that it violates the separation of powers, having “overridden” Congress’ judgments to disburse funding for federal grant programs.
“The OMB Directive violates the separation of powers because the executive branch has overridden the careful judgements of Congress by refusing to disburse funding for innumerable federal grant programs—some of which are even formula grants dictated by precise statutory formulas. Pausing funding under the affected programs and permanent refusal to disburse funds appropriated by Congress contrary to congressional intent and directive both violate the separation of powers,” attorneys general argued in the lawsuit.
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359d ago / 6:12 PM EST
Trump’s OMB pick tells senator: ‘I believe that the 2020 election was rigged’
Frank Thorp V and Zoë Richards
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has released Russell Vought’s responses to a questionnaire he submitted during the confirmation process to lead the Office of Management and Budget that sheds light on his claim that the 2020 election being “rigged.”
Vought wrote “I believe that the 2020 election was rigged” in response to one of Whitehouse’s questions for the record about whether Biden defeated Trump that year.
Vought’s nomination has become a top target for Senate Democrats in the wake of the Trump administration’s effort to freeze federal funding.Show more
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359d ago / 6:03 PM EST
Trump’s effort to withhold federal funding triggers constitutional showdown
Reporting from Washington
The Trump administration’s attempt to withhold federal funding is fueling a long-brewing legal battle over the core constitutional principle that Congress gets to decide how to spend taxpayer money.
And as with Trump’s early executive order on birthright citizenship, the fight is leading to immediate litigation that could quickly end up at the Supreme Court.
A lawsuit filed by nonprofit groups has already led a federal judge to temporarily put Trump’s plan on hold.
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359d ago / 5:45 PM EST
Trump administration will offer all 2 million federal workers buyouts to resign
Garrett Haake and Amanda Terkel
The Trump administration is set to offer every single federal worker the chance to take “deferred resignations” with severance packages of roughly eight months of pay and benefits.
A senior administration official told NBC News the administration expects 5% to 10% of the federal workforce to quit, which, it estimates, could lead to around $100 billion in savings.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement: “American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees, and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers. If they don’t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of 8 months.”
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359d ago / 5:27 PM EST
Caroline Kennedy calls RFK Jr. a ‘predator’ and urges Senate to reject his nomination
In a letter today urging the Senate to reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for health and human services secretary, Caroline Kennedy referred to her cousin as a “predator.”
Caroline Kennedy, a former U.S. ambassador to Australia and the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, said RFK Jr. was unqualified to lead HHS, which oversees 13 federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Among her many criticisms in the letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Kennedy said that “siblings and cousins who Bobby encouraged down the path of substance abuse suffered addiction, illness and death.”
Caroline Kennedy urges Senate to reject RFK Jr.’s nomination in social media post
02:02
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359d ago / 5:15 PM EST
Federal judge pauses Trump’s planned funding freeze until Monday
Daniel Barnes and Zoë Richards
A federal judge paused the start of the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze until Monday. The freeze had been scheduled to take effect at 5 p.m. ET today.
The pause doesn’t address the legality of the freeze; it just allows the court more time for briefings and to hear arguments on nonprofit groups’ request for a temporary restraining order that would halt the freeze for 14 more days.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan will hear arguments on the motion for a temporary restraining order at 11 a.m. ET Monday.
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359d ago / 5:04 PM EST
Karoline Leavitt holds first briefing as Trump’s White House press secretary
Reporting from Washington
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt made her debut in the White House briefing room, where she defended Trump’s plans to slash federal spending and mass deportation efforts.
Leavitt, the youngest White House press secretary ever, faced repeated questions about the decision to unexpectedly freeze federal aid last night. She argued that it was what Americans expected when they elected Trump and that the latest actions by his administration are simply fulfilling a promise.
“That’s what this pause is focused on, being good stewards of tax dollars,” she said.
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359d ago / 4:59 PM EST
Raids snag U.S. citizens, including Native Americans, raising racial profiling fears
Suzanne Gamboa and Nicole Acevedo
American citizens, including citizens of Native tribal nations, have been pulled into the vast immigration operations Trump ordered in accordance with his campaign vow to conduct mass deportations since Day One.
Those who are getting caught in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement raids are being targeted because of their race or skin color, according to witnesses.
The Navajo Nation Office was flooded with calls from tribal members living off-reservation, many of whom reported being questioned about their identities by ICE officers, Native News Online reported.
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359d ago / 4:50 PM EST
Republican senator blocks Democratic resolution condemning Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons
Sydney Carruth and Frank Thorp V
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., blocked an effort by Democrats to pass a resolution condemning Trump’s pardon of Jan. 6 rioters.
Barrasso blocked the resolution on the Senate floor this afternoon and cited President Joe Biden’s pre-emptive pardoning of his family members and key lawmakers who served on the House Jan. 6 committee as the reason.
All 47 Senate Democrats signed on to the resolution, which would not have had any material effect on the pardons. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the last Democrat to sign on, calling it a “performance art vote.”
