The Trump administration has directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) employees be placed on paid leave by Wednesday evening.
In a Tuesday memo to heads of departments and agencies, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directed them to place staff on leave and to remove all DEI-related websites and social media accounts by Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Charles Ezell, OPM’s acting director, also instructed the heads to send an agency-wide notice of the closure and ask the staff about any known efforts to disguise similar programs.
The move is an apparent effort to repeal President Biden’s executive order to remove potential workforce barriers for the outlined demographic in 2021.
Federal agencies and departments must report on all steps taken to comply with what is outlined in the memorandum by Thursday and provide a complete list of DEIA employees as of November 2024.
Heads are also asked to submit a written plan to fulfill Trump’s decree by Jan. 31.
“Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law, and we are going to bring law and order back to our cities,” Trump said during his inaugural speech.
“This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based,” he added.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Americans should not be equating the pardons issued by President Trump and former President Biden.
Sanders joined CNN’s “The Source” on Tuesday evening, where he was asked about the flurry of executive action from Trump, including pardons for Jan. 6 rioters
, and how some are comparing it to the pardons seen from Biden before he left office.
“What I think is that he was worried that, given all of Trump’s rhetoric, that [Biden] was going to go after his family and close associates,” Sanders said. “All right, that’s a concern, but don’t equate the two.”
Sanders said he doesn’t know anyone in Trump’s family that attempted to overthrow the U.S. government.
“What Trump is saying to the world is that it is okay for you to attack police officers when you have a mind to do that,” he said. “And I think that is an outrageous message to send to the world.”
Sanders admitted that the argument could be made about whether it was the right or wrong thing for Biden to preemptively pardon his family members but said still, “It has nothing to do with what Trump did today.”
Biden’s move to pardon family was an unprecedented use of power on his last day in office. He was concerned that in his second administration, Trump would follow through on his threats of retribution. The issue divided Democrats, with some agreeing with the pardon and some disagreeing with the action.
Once Trump took office, he moved swiftly to pardon nearly all rioters who stormed the Capitol four years ago.
Sanders said Tuesday that it “says a lot” that Trump would pardon them, particularly as a supporter of law enforcement.
“To tell the entire world that we’re going to pardon people who attacked and hurt police officers is telling,” Sanders said. “I think that is a horrible message and I strongly disagree with his pardoning of those insurrectionists.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said the Democratic Party “left” him and the working class behind as much of his own party has distanced themselves from him and he faces poor polling numbers.
Adams told political commentator and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in an interview
that aired on Tuesday that those in the “orbit” of the Justice Department under the Biden administration felt he was “not a good Democrat,” leading to his indictment
on multiple federal charges, including bribery and wire fraud. He has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
Adams said he believes he was indicted because he complained about the state of U.S. immigration policy and an influx of migrants into New York City.
Carlson asked Adams if the indictment was punishment for complaining, and Adams said, “That is my belief based on several aspects of it,” but said he couldn’t go into details. Adams has previously alleged without evidence that the charges against him were politically motivated.
“People often say, ‘You don’t sound like a Democrat. You seem to have left the party,’” Adams said. “No, the party left me, and it left working-class people.”
“People are concerned about the future of their families, and that should be our focus, and that’s the focus of this administration,” he added.
Adams faces a significant challenge as he mounts a reelection campaign with the Democratic primary in June. His trial is set to begin in April, and numerous challengers have jumped into the race against him.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) appears poised
to also enter the race as soon as next month, potentially giving Adams an opponent with strong name recognition and fundraising ability.
While not much polling has been conducted in the race yet, the early surveys show Adams has a significant deficit to make up for. Surveys after Adams’s indictment showed his approval rating plummeting and most voters wanting him to resign.
A poll released last week showed
Adams with 6 percent support in the first round of a hypothetical ranked-choice voting matchup.
Adams avoided commenting on a question from Carlson about his reaction to the possibility of Cuomo entering the race, but he said he’s a “firm believer” that he’s not running against anyone and is just “running against myself.”
“We have to run our race, and so no matter who’s in the race, I’m going to run my race, and I’m going to sell to New Yorkers what we did with this city,” he said.
Adams has been particularly outspoken among Democrats in criticizing the Biden administration’s immigration policies long before the indictment, creating some tension with the administration, but Democrats particularly distanced themselves after Adams’s indictment.
Adams has also stirred
speculation about the possibility of him seeking a pardon from President Trump as both have made similar claims alleging charges against them have been politically motivated. Trump has said he’d consider pardoning Adams, who also avoided sharp attacks on Trump during the campaign, unlike other Democrats.
Adams’s decision to sit for an interview with Carlson marks a possible shift in his view of the controversial commentator. After Carlson praised
Adams in 2021, Adams responded
that he doesn’t “want or need the support of Tucker Carlson, or anyone else who perpetuates racist, anti-immigrant propaganda.”
At the conclusion of Carlson’s interview, Adams said he looked forward to winning reelection and spending time with Carlson had been a “real pleasure.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) told Tucker Carlson that he’s “here to work with” President Trump following a meeting between the two politicians days before Trump’s inauguration.
Adams told Carlson, the political commentator and former Fox News host, in a roughly hour-long interview
that aired on Tuesday, that his conversation
with Trump that he had on Friday went “very well” and that the president loves New York City.
“We talked about how do we do things to work together to improve this city, and as I’ve told everyone, I’m not here to be warring with the president. I’m here to work with the president, and everyone should do that,” he said.
Adams noted that other Democratic officials have said the same about Trump, pointing to Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) saying
she had a “great meeting” with him and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) having said she is willing
to work with Trump where possible.
But Adams’s comments come as speculation has mounted about closer ties between him and Trump amid the criminal case against the sitting mayor. Adams has been charged
with wire fraud and bribery, among other charges, on allegations that he sought and accepted bribes from foreign businesspeople and a Turkish government official.
Adams has denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.
But Adams, like Trump, has also argued that the charges were politically motivated. In the interview with Carlson, he alleged that he was indicted because he regularly complained to the Biden administration about the state of immigration with an influx
of migrants into New York City.
Trump has also slammed the charges that he faced as politically motivated as a political opponent.
As president-elect, Trump said in December that he would consider a pardon for Adams, arguing that the mayor has been “treated pretty unfairly.” Before that, he expressed empathy for Adams’s situation and called him “honest.”
Adams hasn’t directly said if he would accept a pardon from Trump over the charges he faces, though he has said it’s “not on my agenda.”
Other Democrats have expressed some openness to working with Trump, but Adams particularly has spoken about it and avoided sharp criticism of the now-president during the campaign that his fellow Democrats invoked.
“I think there’s some great opportunities, and we need to find out those areas of agreement,” Adams told Carlson.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) put the procedural wheels in motion to confirm embattled secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth by the end of the week.
Senate Republicans are moving ahead quickly on Hegseth’s nomination despite an affidavit from his former sister-in-law obtained by Senate Democrats that accuses him of having an alcohol problem and being abusive to his ex-wife Samantha Hegseth.
Samantha Hegseth issued a statement to NBC News denying there was “physical abuse” in their marriage.
Thune on Tuesday filed a motion to end debate on Hegseth’s nomination, which was voted out of the Senate Armed Committee on a party-line 14-13 vote a few hours after President Trump took the oath of office.
That means the Senate will vote to advance Hegseth’s nomination sometime Thursday, setting up a final vote sometime Friday and, possibly, early Saturday morning.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told reporters that Republicans are willing to work into the weekend to confirm him.
“The next would be on cloture, and that would be Thursday afternoon,” Wicker told reporters.
Wicker dismissed the affidavit alleging that Samantha Hegseth once hid in her closet from the nominee because she feared for her safety.
“I have not reviewed the document. My reaction is that I have grave doubts as to the substance,” Wicker told reporters.
Wicker pointed to Samantha Hegseth’s statement denying that there was any physical abuse in the relationship.
“I think the nomination is going to go forward and the next vote is going to be Thursday,” he said.
He said Democrats could delay a final vote on Hegseth until “late on Friday night.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a prominent Republican vote on national security issues, dismissed the latest allegation.
“I heard what his wife said. It didn’t happen. I’m getting tired of this stuff being dropped at the last moment,” Graham said.
“You got the person who denies being physically abused. That’s it for me,” he said.
Asked about Hegseth’s former sister-in-law’s sworn claims that the nominee frequently drank to excess, Graham waved off the question: “Nah, I’m good.”
He reiterated he would vote for Hegseth.
Democrats said the affidavit is the latest evidence that Hegseth is unfit to lead the Pentagon.
“These first-hand observations are highly significant and credible and hopefully will persuade my Republican colleagues that Hegseth is unfit to be secretary of Defense,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Armed Services panel.
“There was no question that Pete Hegseth is unqualified and unprepared to be secretary of Defense. The affidavit adds additional weight to a case that is already overwhelming against him,” he added.
Senators will move to Hegseth Thursday after voting to confirm former Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) to serve as Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director earlier Thursday.
Republicans had tried to confirm Ratcliffe to the post on Tuesday evening by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
“I just think we should have a full debate on Ratcliffe. A lot of us have real reservations about somebody with a history of politicizing intelligence, like they demanded a full debate on most all of Biden’s Cabinet and sub-Cabinet nominees,” Murphy told The Hill.
“I think it’s pretty rich that Republicans blocked hundreds of Biden’s national security nominees and are now complaining when we’re simply asking for two days of debate on one of the most important members of Trump’s national security team,” he said.
Thune said Tuesday evening that he now expects the next procedural vote on Hegseth to take place Thursday and a final vote to happen late Friday or “conceivably” early Saturday morning.
President Trump on Tuesday explained why he revoked former national security adviser John Bolton’s security clearance.
“I think there was enough time. We take a job, you take a job, you want to do a job, we’re not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we?” Trump said when asked by a reporter about the move.
“I thought he was a very dumb person, but I used him well because every time people saw me come into a meeting with John Bolton standing behind me, they thought that he’d attack them because he was a warmonger,” he added.
Trump’s comments about his former national security adviser follow the president revoking security clearances for numerous former officials’
via a Monday executive order.
Bolton
also told The Hill on Tuesday that protection for him that was Secret Service-based had been stopped by Trump.
“I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has decided to terminate the protection previously provided by the United States Secret Service,” Bolton said in an emailed statement to The Hill.
“Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden’s national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to extend that protection to me in 2021,” he added.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said he had a “great meeting” with Kevin O’Leary on Tuesday at the White House.
“It’s a new era of AMERICAN business growth with President Trump back in the White House! Great meeting with @kevinolearytv
this morning,” Scalise wrote on the social platform X
with a picture of the two in conversation.
O’Leary has wedged himself in between tech giants for a bid to acquire TikTok. The “Shark Tank” television star said he’s offered $20 billion
in cash to buy the company, which faces a divest or ban order.
President Trump issued a 75-day extension
on the directive, which would allow the Chinese parent company Byte Dance to continue operating the social media app while they consider ways to address the law banning the platform.
During a Tuesday announcement at the White House, the Republican leader said he would be open to Tesla CEO Elon Musk buying TikTok, according to pool reports.
The latest move by Trump would allow those working on policy to be swiftly hired and fired like political appointees.
The measure reignites an idea rolled out in the waning days of Trump’s first term in office, creating a class of employee — Schedule F — who can be hired outside the traditional merit-based system for bureaucrats, raising fears of politicization of the workforce.
In the recent suit filed by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), the group said that Congress “has enacted comprehensive legislation governing the hiring and employment of federal employees.”
“When establishing hiring principles, Congress determined that most federal government jobs be in the merit-based, competitive service. And it established that most federal employees have due process rights if their agency employer wants to remove them from employment.”
“Because the Policy/Career Executive Order attempts to divest federal employees of these due process rights, it is contrary to congressional intent,” it added. The order fromTrump complainedthat accountability among federal employees is currently “sorely lacking.”
Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter, we’re Aris Folley and Taylor Giorno — covering the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.
Trade battles being threatened by President Trump would spike food prices, help China and risk key U.S. economic relationships, Mexico’s former trade chief said Monday
Senate panel advances Bessent to confirmation vote
Welcome to Tax Watch, a new feature in The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter focused on the fight over tax reform and the push to extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts this year.
The Senate Finance Committee took a small but significant step toward advancing Trump’s tax agenda Tuesday.
The panel voted to recommend Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick to be Treasury secretary, for a full Senate confirmation vote, teeing up for confirmation sometime within the next couple of weeks.
Senators voted 16-11 to advance Bessent’s nomination, with Democratic Sens. Mark Warner (Va.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.) voting in favor of the nominee, along with all Republican members.
Most other Democrats, including Senate Finance ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), voiced opposition to Bessent, citing his support for Trump’s tax cuts and his handling of his own taxes.
“He has opted out of paying his fair share of his Medicare taxes. The IRS has gone to court twice to ban this particular scheme that Mr. Bessent is using,” Wyden said. “Treasury policy says what Mr. Bessent is doing is against the law.”
But Bessent nonetheless seems like a lock for confirmation in the GOP-controlled Senate, which is eager to begin work on Trump’s agenda.
Senate Republicans hit their full 53-member majority on Tuesday as Sens. John Husted (R-Ohio) and Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) were sworn into office by Vice President Vance.
The pair cemented the full majority after weeks of being stuck at 51 or 52 GOP members.
“Both our new senators bring valuable experience, expertise and perspective to the Senate Republican majority and the whole Senate will benefit from them joining our ranks,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said to open the Senate floor. “I look forward to working with them.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) tapped Husted, the former state lieutenant governor, last week as Vance’s replacement. He resigned his seat on Jan. 10.
Moody fills the seat previously occupied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced her selection on Thursday after months of speculation, which included possibly selecting Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump who served as co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee last year.
Rubio resigned from the upper chamber on Monday evening after he was unanimously confirmed to become the nation’s top diplomat.
Also complicating the number of Senate GOP members was rhetoric delayed swearing in of Sen. Jim Justice (W.Va.) until his gubernatorial replacement was seated. He joined the Senate on Jan. 14.
President Trump’s plan to save TikTok is putting him at a crossroads with some Republicans as questions mount over the legality of delaying a ban on the app.
Trump signed an executive order
Monday giving TikTok an additional 75 days before a law banning the popular video-sharing platform takes effect.
Trump instructed his attorney general not to enforce the law so his administration can “determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans.”
Former President Biden said he wouldn’t enforce the ban during the final days in the White House, but the app still shut down for more than 12 hours beginning Saturday night — then came back online Sunday following Trump’s announcement that he planned to delay the ban.
Some China hawks in Congress are already breaking from the newly inaugurated president on the issue, standing firm that the app should not be available in the U.S. without an official divestiture deal on the table.
“We commend Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft for following the law and halting operations with ByteDance and TikTok, and we encourage other companies to do the same,” Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) wrote in a statement Sunday.
“The law, after all, risks ruinous bankruptcy for any company who violates it,” they added.
Trump’s shifted plans on TikTok has created one of the earliest disagreements between the president and members of his party on a highly polarizing issue.
In his first term, the president sometimes clashed with Republican defectors, whether it be in public or online spaces.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) also questioned the legality of a potential executive order delaying the ban Monday.
“I’m not sure what the legal authority is for a president to issue an executive order down to a law that was just passed and upheld by the Supreme Court of United States,” Cramer told CNN’s Manu Raju, according to a post on the social platform X.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is launching “a crypto task force.” In a Tuesday press release, the SEC described the task force as “dedicated to developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.” The agency also said that the SEC, alongside the task force, will work “to set the SEC on a sensible regulatory path that respects the bounds of the law.” SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce will …
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) urged Apple to officially change the name of the Gulf of Mexico on its mapping platform following President Trump’s Monday executive order declaring the land mass the Gulf of America. “Hey @tim_cook, just noticed Apple Maps still calls it the Gulf of Mexico. Sent a report through the app, but thought you’d want to know,” Crenshaw wrote in a Tuesday post on X tagging the company’s CEO. …
Comedian Jon Stewart on Monday criticized the appearance of tech moguls at President Trump’s inauguration. “Yes, taking the place of seats normally reserved for Democratic or Republican governors, sat Zuck, Bezos, Tim Cook, Elon, Tic Tac guy, Google guy, the six guys who control maybe 20 percent of the world’s wealth and 100 percent of your nudes,” Stewart said of the inauguration on “The Daily Show.” “Shouldn’t …
Elon Musk responded to criticism of his gesture during a speech Monday after the inauguration, saying those comparing it to a Nazi salute were deploying “dirty tricks.” “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks,” Musk wrote on the social platform X, responding to a post describing the “salute hoax” as “just another part of the ‘dirty tricks campaign.’” “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” Musk added, with …
News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
Trump repeals Biden AI executive order
President Trump repealed an executive order issued by former President Biden that sought to curb the potential risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI), TechCrunch reported
.
Lina Khan to step down in coming weeks
Lina Khan, who led the Biden administration’s aggressive antitrust push as Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair, plans to step down from the agency in the coming weeks, Reuters reported
.
On Our Radar
Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
The House Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing titled “Unconstrained Actors: Assessing Global Cyber Threats,” on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy confirmed on Monday he will not serve on President Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) commission, leaving Tesla CEO Elon Musk to singularly lead the advisory group. “It was my honor to help support the creation of DOGE,” Ramaswamy wrote Monday on the social platform X. “I’m confident that Elon & team will succeed …
Russia warned President Trump on Tuesday against seizing the Panama Canal, after he reiterated his intent to take control of the strategic waterway … Read more
President Trump is expected to attend an inaugural prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, meet with Republican leaders, and continue to work … Read more
