Demonstrators outside the U.S. Senate buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., protest billionaire Elon Musk and the Trump administration's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development on Feb. 5, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — Less than three weeks into his second term, President Donald Trump and those working under his auspices — most prominently billionaire Elon Musk — are making no apologies for barreling over institutions and flouting the law.

The Trump administration’s sweeping actions tee up a major test for the guardrails Americans, red or blue, count on — fair application of the law, privacy of tax and benefit information, civil rights in schools, labor laws in the workplace.

Protests led by Democratic lawmakers, former officials and activists have popped up in the nation’s capital and around the U.S. — from Georgia to Maine to Utah, and several other states. Democrats outnumbered in the U.S. House and Senate during the past week have tried to gain attention with tactics like barging into the House speaker’s office and rallying outside agencies.

Senate Democrats gave speeches overnight Wednesday into Thursday objecting to the nomination of Project 2025 architect Russ Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought was confirmed on a party-line vote, 53-47.

With opponents unable to deploy more than these limited defenses, and many powerful Republican lawmakers either shrugging or downright agreeing, the federal courts have emerged during the past weeks as the only obstacles to some of Trump’s more provocative moves. That has included the president’s orders to freeze many federal grants and loans, corner federal workers into slap-dash career decisions and outright strip the Constitution of birthright citizenship.

Casey Burgat, a George Washington University legislative affairs professor, said, “Historically, presidents are stopped when members of Congress think they’re going too far.”

“Congress could stop it today, but again, that would take Republicans signing on. The courts are probably the best option, given that Congress seems to be unwilling to do that,” Burgat said.

Republicans indeed cheered Trump along the campaign trail as he promised to stamp out diversity and inclusion, orchestrate mass deportations, maintain tax cuts for corporations, amp up tariffs and close legal immigration pathways.

The majority of Americans backed this campaign pitch. Trump handily won the Electoral College over his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and squeaked by with 49.8% of the popular vote. Voters in all seven swing states backed Trump.

That likely will leave it to the third branch of government, the courts, to determine just how much upheaval and constitutional crisis the United States can withstand — though there as well Republicans hold the upper hand, with a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

A legal tracker by the online forum Just Security as of Friday registered 37 lawsuits already lodged against the administration, beginning on Inauguration Day.

Here is a rundown of just some of the executive orders unleashed since Jan. 20 and the legal pushback:

Breaking into Americans’ data

When Trump signed an executive order on his first night in office to establish the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, he aimed to make good on his campaign promise to put the world’s richest man — and major campaign donor — Musk in charge of cutting $2 trillion in federal spending.

DOGE is not an actual department because only Congress, not the executive branch, has the power to create new government agencies. Musk, at the helm of DOGE, was not vetted or confirmed by senators.

Musk is a “special government employee,” according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told reporters Feb. 3 that she is “not sure” of Musk’s security clearances. The White House did not respond to States Newsroom follow-up requests for terms of Musk’s special government employee status, signed ethics agreements or financial disclosures.

The White House defended Musk’s actions in a statement, saying DOGE is “fulfilling President Trump’s commitment to making government more accountable, efficient, and, most importantly, restoring proper stewardship of the American taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars. Those leading this mission with Elon Musk are doing so in full compliance with federal law, appropriate security clearances, and as employees of the relevant agencies, not as outside advisors or entities. The ongoing operations of DOGE may be seen as disruptive by those entrenched in the federal bureaucracy, who resist change. While change can be uncomfortable, it is necessary and aligns with the mandate supported by more than 77 million American voters.”

But details of Musk’s far reach across numerous federal agencies are steadily coming to light. Musk and his DOGE appointees gained access to the U.S. Treasury’s central payment system that processes everything from tax returns to Social Security benefits.

Two unions and a retirement advocacy group, together representing millions of Americans, sued Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, arguing he granted access to Americans’ personal information, including bank account and Social Security numbers, that is protected by federal privacy law.

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Treasury Department to limit Musk’s access to “read only” status for just two DOGE personnel — Tom Krause, a former tech executive, and software engineer Marko Elez.

Elez resigned Thursday after the Wall Street Journal linked him to a deleted social media account that was brimming with racist statements as recently as the fall of 2024. Elez, 25, worked for Musk at SpaceX and X, according to the publication WIRED, which uncovered that Musk filled DOGE with several engineers barely out of college.

Vice President J.D. Vance advocated on X Friday for Elez’s return to DOGE. Musk agreed: “He will be brought back. To err is human, to forgive divine.” The White House did not immediately respond to States Newsroom on whether Elez will be rehired.

Gutting the feds

Within days after Trump’s inauguration, Musk’s team reportedly asked the Treasury Department to block all funds appropriated for the U.S. Agency for International Development but was denied by a top career official, according to CNN.

Musk’s team broke into the USAID’s Washington, D.C., headquarters over the weekend of Feb. 1 to access agency records. The data security personnel who tried to stop them were subsequently placed on leave.

Musk declared on his platform X: “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.” Meanwhile, USAID’s X platform disappeared, as did its website.

Congress created the global humanitarian agency in 1961 and appropriated roughly $40 billion for its programs in 2023, according to the Congressional Research Service. The agency’s expenditures hover around 2% of all federal spending.

By Thursday, the New York Times was reporting that the Trump administration planned to keep only 290 of the agency’s approximately 10,000 employees.

Together the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees on Thursday filed suit against Trump, Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and related federal agencies for “unconstitutional and illegal actions” that have “systematically dismantled” USAID.

“These actions have generated a global humanitarian crisis by abruptly halting the crucial work of USAID employees, grantees, and contractors. They have cost thousands of American jobs. And they have imperiled U.S. national security interests,” the plaintiffs wrote in the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.

A federal district judge temporarily blocked the USAID layoffs late Friday.

The turmoil at USAID also came amid targeted threats at the Department of Justice.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents sued Tuesday to keep their identities secret after acting deputy Attorney General Emil Bove — who last year represented Trump in his case against the DOJ — requested records of all agents who were involved in investigating Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, according to the Wall Street Journal.

‘Fork in the road’

Employees across nearly every federal agency — now including the intelligence communities — received an email beginning Jan. 28 titled “Fork in the Road.”

The offer, bearing the same subject line as the memo Musk sent to Twitter employees in 2022, contained a “deferred resignation” for federal employees who preferred not to return to the office in-person full-time and abide by new pillars that include being “reliable, loyal, trustworthy.”

The offer promised full pay and benefits until Sept. 30 with hardly any obligation to continue working. Employees were told they had until Feb. 6 to decide.

A federal judge extended the deadline after four large government employee unions sued, arguing the offer is “arbitrary and capricious in numerous respects.”

In just one example, the lawsuit points out, Congress’ temporary funding package for most federal agencies expires March 14, causing questions about whether deferred resignation paychecks are guaranteed.

“I think there’s real uncertainty that they can promise that the money to pay the salaries is actually going to be available,” said Molly Reynolds, an expert in congressional appropriations at the left-leaning Brookings Institution.

Pause on grants and loans

While federal employees wonder about their livelihoods, state and local governments, early childhood schools and numerous social safety net nonprofits were sent into panic when the Trump administration announced it planned to freeze trillions in federal grants and loans.

The Jan. 27 memo from the OMB set off widespread confusion over which programs would face the cut, including questions over whether millions could lose services through community health centers, Head Start, low-income home heating assistance funds —  and anything else for which Congress has appropriated funds, for example, small business loans.

A federal judge in Rhode Island blocked the order on Jan. 31, making clear that a law on the books since 1974 gives the president a legal pathway to ask Congress to rescind funds that have already been allocated and signed into law.

“Here, there is no evidence that the Executive has followed the law by notifying Congress and thereby effectuating a potentially legally permitted so-called ‘pause,’” Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island wrote in the 13-page ruling.

Article 1 of the Constitution gives Congress the “power of the purse,” and the 1974 Impoundment Control Act governs how the executive branch can challenge funding.

Trump’s newly installed OMB director, Vought, has repeatedly argued the 1974 law is unconstitutional.

Reynolds told States Newsroom that power of the purse is the “biggest remaining sort of bulwark of congressional power and congressional authority.”

“In addition to a number of these things being potentially illegal on an individual level, overall, we’re just in this world where, depending on how things unfold, we are in for a really profound rebalancing of power between Congress and the presidency,” Reynolds said.

Another stab at the Constitution

As Trump’s second Inauguration Day stretched into the evening, he signed a flurry of immigration-related executive orders and some are already facing legal challenges.

The president’s order to end the constitutional right of citizenship under the 14th Amendment by redefining birthright citizenship has been met with a nationwide injunction.

“Today, virtually every baby born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen upon birth. That is the law and tradition of our country. That law and tradition are and will remain the status quo pending the resolution of this case,” wrote Judge Deborah L. Boardman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

House Republicans, separately, introduced a bill to end birthright citizenship, and welcomed legal challenges to the measure in the hopes that it heads to the Supreme Court, where Trump has picked three of the six conservative justices.

Another executive order, which declared an “invasion” at the southern border and has effectively shut down the ability for immigrants without legal status to claim asylum, is being challenged in a major lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Can the president root out diversity?

Since Inauguration Day, Trump has issued several orders aimed at limiting options at school, work and the doctor’s office for particular groups of Americans.

He campaigned on a vision to “save American education,” and end DEI and “gender ideology extremism.”

Not even 24 hours after the first major tragedy of his presidency — the Jan. 29 midair collision between an Army helicopter and commercial airliner — Trump pointed his finger at diversity, equity and inclusion as the cause. The president blamed the deadly crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport that killed 67 on diversity hires, singling out people with disabilities. 

On Feb. 5 he issued an executive order that bars transgender athletes from competing on women’s sports teams consistent with their gender identity. The effort — which aims to deny federal funds for schools that do not comply — is sure to face legal challenges.

Other orders are already facing lawsuits.

Trump’s pledge to “keep men out of women’s sports” reflects only part of his broader anti-trans agenda. He took significant steps in January via executive orders to prohibit openly transgender service members from the U.S. military and restrict access to gender-affirming care for kids.

Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown sued the Trump administration Feb. 7 for its late January order that cuts federal funding to hospitals or medical schools that provide gender-related care for transgender children and young adults that the order defines as age 19 and under.

Trump is also facing multiple lawsuits from active U.S. troops, and those seeking to join, over an order banning openly transgender people from serving in the U.S. military. 

Per Trump’s order on Jan. 27, “[A]doption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”

Six transgender service members argued in a complaint filed Jan. 28 that Trump’s order “invokes no study of the effectiveness of transgender service members over the past four years, of their ability to serve, or of their integrity and selflessness in volunteering to serve their country, and the directive’s stated rationale is refuted by substantial research and testimony, as well as by years of capable and honorable service by transgender service members without issue.”

Ariana Figueroa, Jennifer Shutt and Shauneen Miranda contributed to this report.

Demonstrators gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, to protest the Trump administration's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — Thousands gathered on Capitol Hill Wednesday to protest the Trump administration’s bulldozing of U.S. disaster aid and critical medical care in war-torn and poverty-stricken regions around the globe.

The future of American humanitarian efforts is unclear after U.S. Agency for International Development employees were told late Tuesday to prepare for administrative leave and abandon global posts within a few weeks.

A throng of demonstrators near the U.S. Senate office buildings carried signs reading “Republicans, where are your spines?” and “USAID makes America safe, strong and prosperous.”

 They encircled Democratic lawmakers and former USAID officials, who pleaded with the crowd to “not give up” as the Republican-held Congress allows “Elon Musk’s illegal takeover of USAID” — as Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of California put it.

“And let’s be clear, while USAID might be first, it is not going to be the last. But joke’s on them because who knows better how to work in an authoritarian country than all of you?” she said to a cheering crowd that included humanitarian workers.

DOGE takeover

Individuals identifying themselves as part of Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” forcefully entered the computer systems at USAID’s Washington, D.C., headquarters over the weekend.

Democratic lawmakers have vowed “to fight this legally in every way we can,” Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey told the crowd.

“We will fight their violation of civil service laws. We will fight their violation of civil rights laws. We will fight their violations of separation of powers. We will fight their violations of our Constitution of the United States of America,” Booker said, issuing a plea for Republicans to join in sponsoring legislation to save USAID.

“This is not about demonizing a political party. It is about telling the truth about Donald Trump’s actions and Elon Musk’s actions,” Booker said.

Rep. Madeleine Dean told the crowd “do not fatigue.”

“These are not normal times,” said the Pennsylvania Democrat. “What is going on is corrupt. It is cruel, it is chaotic, it is lawless, it is unconstitutional, and that’s the point. Do not go home. Please stay with us. Bring more people to us and demand the same of our Republican colleagues. Where are they? When will they stand up to this lawless administration?”

In response to questions about Musk’s personnel gaining entry to USAID, President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that the agency is “run by radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out and we’ll make a decision.”

Trump placed Musk in charge of the “U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization” that, according to Trump’s own executive order, is supposed to modernize federal technology and software. Musk has used it to gain access to USAID, as well as the Treasury Department’s payment systems — for which the department is now facing a lawsuit. 

All workers on leave

All “direct hire” USAID workers will be placed on leave as of 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Friday, according to a message posted late Tuesday on USAID.gov. The message is the first item to appear on the website since it went dark Saturday.

Workers who are “designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs” will be notified by Thursday at 3 p.m. Eastern if they are expected to continue working, according to the memo. Overseas workers have 30 days to leave their posts unless given an exception for a special circumstance.

“Thank you for your service,” the message concluded.

The Department of State did not respond to States Newsroom’s questions regarding how many workers will remain employed and where they will continue humanitarian missions.

Two-thirds of the roughly 10,000 USAID employees work overseas. The top 10 recipients of USAID assistance in 2023, the most recent complete data available, were Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria, according to the Congressional Research Service.

“You know who’s cheering today?” Bama Athreya, former USAID deputy administrator, asked the crowd. “ISIS is cheering. Al Qaeda is cheering as we recall thousands of people around the world” who give young people and families “options,” she said.

Ukraine aid

Congress allocated roughly $40 billion for USAID in 2023. That year, the agency allocated a large chunk to governance and humanitarian aid for Ukraine as the Eastern European nation faces a continued invasion from Russia.

The agency also carries a reputation for its work containing global health emergencies — perhaps best known for administering funds to fight the global AIDS epidemic under President George W. Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.

Atul Gawande, a surgeon who led USAID’s global health program for three years prior to Trump’s second administration, led the crowd in a “Let them work” chant.

“Until two weeks ago, there was a malaria team with world experts, and they are gone. Until two weeks ago, there was a TB (tuberculosis) team, and they are gone,” Gawande said.

“They have called this ‘shock and awe.’ It is shock and destroy. You cannot dismantle a plane and fire the crew in mid-flight, but that’s what an oligarch with unchecked power is doing to life-saving foreign assistance programs,” Gawande said.

Brian York, 41, of Fairfax County, Virginia, stood in the crowd with a double-sided hand-drawn sign bearing the messages “Let’s Make America Gracious Again” and “Defend USAID.”

“I support my government. I was a Boy Scout. My father was a naval aviator. I actually like this country, and I want it to do better than this,” York said.

List of ‘waste, fraud and abuse’

The White House maintains that USAID “has been completely unaccountable for decades, run by bureaucrats with agendas who believed they answered to nobody.”

In a post on X Wednesday, White House communications personnel listed 28 of what they characterized as problematic USAID projects.

Without specifying details, including the length of funding, the post specifically listed: “$6.3 million for men who have sex with men in South Africa,” “$1.3 million to Arab and Jewish photographers,” “$20 million for a new Sesame Street show in Iraq,” “$1.5 million for ‘art for inclusion of people with disabilities,’” and “$500K to solve sectarian violence in Israel.”

“President Trump is STOPPING the waste, fraud, and abuse,” concluded the post on X, which is owned by Musk, a billionaire Trump campaign donor.

USAID’s X account disappeared over the weekend.

Democratic lawmakers protested outside USAID headquarters Monday as Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he was now acting administrator of the agency.

Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, one of the protesting lawmakers, said he would block Trump’s forthcoming Department of State nominations — a move that will slow down, but not stop, the nominations in the GOP-led chamber. 

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearing for U.S. attorney general in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Tuesday night confirmed Florida prosecutor Pam Bondi as the attorney general of the United States under President Donald Trump.

Senators voted 54-46 to install the former Florida attorney general at the top of the U.S. Justice Department, an agency Trump has in his crosshairs after federal prosecutions targeted his actions following his loss in the 2020 presidential election.

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted in favor of Bondi’s confirmation.

Bondi easily gained the support of the Republican-led Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which put her on a glide path to confirmation. The panel split along party lines Wednesday to advance her to a full floor vote.

Bondi was sworn in to office on Wednesday morning in the Oval Office, by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Trump congratulated Bondi, calling her “unbelievably fair and unbelievably good,” according to a pool report.

Grassley support

“I’m disappointed that none of my Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee voted for Ms. Bondi, and I hope the full Senate takes a different approach,” Committee Chair Chuck Grassley of Iowa said on the floor Monday.

“If my colleagues won’t cross the aisle for this qualified nominee, they’ll show that they’re intent on opposing President Trump’s picks for purely partisan reasons,” Grassley said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday that Americans have “lost faith” in the Justice Department.

“Pam Bondi has promised to get the department back to its core mission: prosecuting crime and protecting Americans from threats to their safety and their freedoms,” the South Dakota Republican said Tuesday afternoon on the floor, accusing the department of political bias under former President Joe Biden.

‘Real concern’ from Whitehouse

Democrats spoke out against Bondi ahead of the confirmation vote, highlighting Bondi’s indirect response to Democratic committee members’ questions over who won the 2020 election.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that Bondi’s responses during her confirmation hearing were cause for “real concern.”

“She said a lot of the right things about independence of the department and rule of law. What I couldn’t get over was how things changed when she got to a topic that would have been sensitive to Donald Trump, something that would have gotten Donald Trump all twitchy,” Whitehouse said on the floor.

“She couldn’t say obvious things, things like,’ Did President Biden win the 2020 election?’ That’s an easy answer, ‘Yes, he did, sir or ma’am.’ Super simple. When she can’t say that, that’s a sign,” Whitehouse continued.

The former president faced charges for scheming to overturn the 2020 election results and for hoarding classified documents in his Florida estate. The Justice Department dropped the cases after Trump won the election, citing a long-term policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents.

Trump’s interim U.S. attorney in Florida’s Southern District last week dropped the classified documents case against Trump’s two co-defendants.

Trump has fired a round of Justice Department officials who were involved in prosecuting him as well as those involved in prosecutions of those charged after the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

On his first night in office, Trump granted clemency to all of the nearly 1,600 defendants charged in the attack.

Elon Musk arrives for the inauguration of President Donald Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Two large unions and an alliance that together represent millions of government and retired workers are suing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for allowing a “massive and unprecedented” intrusion into Americans’ personal data, beginning last week when the newly confirmed secretary handed over the department’s payment system to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

The American Federation of Government Employees, Service Employees International Union and Alliance for Retired Americans filed suit Monday arguing that members of Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency broke federal privacy laws by infiltrating the system that handles trillions in payments — including income taxes, Social Security benefits and veterans pay.

“Millions of people cannot avoid engaging in financial transactions with the federal government and, therefore, cannot avoid having their sensitive personal and financial information maintained in government records,” according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.

The plaintiffs are represented by two legal aid groups, the Public Citizen Litigation Group and the State Democracy Defenders Fund.

“Secretary Bessent’s action granting DOGE-affiliated individuals full, continuous, and ongoing access to that information for an unspecified period of time means that retirees, taxpayers, federal employees, companies, and other individuals from all walks of life have no assurance that their information will receive the protection that federal law affords,” the complaint continued.

A rally was also scheduled for late Tuesday afternoon at the Treasury Department to protest Musk’s moves.

What is DOGE?

DOGE, an acronym for the Department of Government Efficiency, is not a government department. Agencies within the executive branch can only be created by Congress.

Trump convened DOGE, following a campaign promise to major campaign donor Musk, via an executive order signed on his first day in office. The order renamed the U.S. Digital Service — the information technology arm of the federal government — to the U.S. DOGE Service.

The order also established an 18-month “U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization” for the purposes of “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”

Trump and Musk — and former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, who is no longer part of the temporary endeavor — touted on the campaign trail the creation of an entity that would cut $2 trillion in government spending.

Trump has since named Musk a temporary “special government employee,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday, adding that she was “not sure” which security clearances Musk has.

Youthful engineers

The Washington Post first reported Friday that a top Treasury official was placed on administrative leave by the Trump White House for refusing to allow personnel from so-called DOGE to access the federal payment system.

WIRED reported that Musk’s DOGE team is largely made up of engineers ages 19 to 24 who have ties to Musk’s other companies.

WIRED further uncovered that one 25-year-old engineer, Marko Elez, now reportedly has the ability to read and write code for two of Treasury’s most sensitive systems — the Payment Automation Manager and the Secure Payment System, both managed by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.

States Newsroom reached out to the White House, the Department of the Treasury, and to representatives of DOGE for comment but did not receive responses.

DOGE in USAID

Representatives from the U.S. DOGE Service continued accessing sensitive government files over the weekend when personnel demanded entry into computer systems at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.

At least two USAID security officials were put on administrative leave after initially refusing to grant access, according to CNN.

Democratic lawmakers protested outside the agency’s main office on Monday and vowed a legal fight. States Newsroom witnessed the lawmakers being denied entry into the USAID offices.

USAID employees who work in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center were told in emails and text blasts not to report to the office Monday.

The agency’s website, USAID.gov, and its X social media account went dark Saturday. Musk owns X.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, left, D-Md., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., right, speak to a crowd gathered at the shuttered Washington, D.C., headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development on Feb. 3, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — Democratic members of Congress were denied entry Monday to the U.S. Agency for International Development, after billionaire Elon Musk, empowered by President Donald Trump, worked to close the nation’s humanitarian arm.

Senators and House members rallied outside the agency’s shuttered headquarters in Washington, D.C., vowing to fight Musk’s actions over the weekend. That included sending individuals from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to forcefully access USAID’s computer systems and files.

“We are not going to let this injustice happen. Congress created this agency with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and if you want to change it, you got to change that law,” Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia told a large crowd that gathered outside the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, where the agency is housed.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen told a swarm of journalists and USAID employees that the Trump administration’s action against USAID was “illegal” and that he had been speaking to lawyers over the weekend.

“This is a clear violation of our law,” the Maryland Democrat told the crowd, which was dotted with homemade protest signs reading “USAID Must Be Saved” and “USAID Saves Lives.”

Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who also joined the press conference, announced afterward that he would place a blanket hold on all of Trump’s State Department nominees going forward.

Connolly, Van Hollen, Schatz and several other Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Jamie Raskin and Johnny Olszewski of Maryland, Don Beyer of Virginia, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, were denied entry to USAID’s office following the outdoor press conference.

Employees received emails and text blasts telling them not to report to the building Monday.

Agency manages $40B in U.S. spending

The workforce of roughly 10,000 — two-thirds of which work overseas — manages projects and distributes funds that reach approximately 130 countries. The agency was appropriated roughly $40 billion in fiscal year 2023.

The agency, by statute, is an “independent establishment” and “under direct authority and policy guidance of the Secretary of State,” according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

Speaking to reporters in El Salvador Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he is now the acting administrator for USAID.

Rubio told reporters that USAID “is involved in programs that run counter to what we’re trying to do in our national strategy” in any given country.

“It’s been 20 or 30 years where people have tried to reform it, and it refuses to reform, it refuses to cooperate,” Rubio said.

Early Monday, Musk said during a live conversation on X Spaces that Trump “agreed we should shut it down,” The Associated Press reported. Recordings of live X Spaces are not automatically publicly available afterward. Musk was joined by GOP Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Mike Lee of Utah during the live chat.

The agency’s website, USAID.gov, and its X social media account went dark Saturday.

Democrats demand update from Rubio

Individuals identifying themselves as DOGE personnel entered USAID headquarters over the weekend to access the agency’s computers and files, CNN reported. At least two USAID security officials were put on administrative leave after initially refusing to grant access.

Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office establishing DOGE for the purposes of “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”

Democrats on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations have asked Rubio for an “immediate update” on who accessed USAID’s system and files on Saturday and whether they reviewed classified and personally identifiable information.

“While some of the individuals purported to have security clearances, it is unclear whether those who accessed secure classified facilities had proper clearance or what they were seeking to access. We understand that the security guards present at the facility were threatened when they raised questions,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s top Democrat, wrote in a letter co-signed by all Democrats on the panel.

Shaheen said the committee, which has jurisdiction over monitoring international aid, was not notified that Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency was planning to visit USAID’s headquarters.

“Following this incident, the senior management of the Office of Security, which secures USAID personnel and facilities and safeguards national security information, were placed on administrative leave. The potential access of sensitive, even classified, files, which may include the personally identifiable information (PII) of Americans working with USAID, and this incident as a whole, raises deep concerns about the protection and safeguarding of matters related to U.S. national security,” Shaheen wrote.

DOGE representative Katie Miller wrote on X Sunday that “No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances.”

Trump told journalists Sunday that USAID is “run by radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out and we’ll make a decision.”

In a post on his social media platform X Sunday, Musk wrote that the agency is “a criminal organization.”

States Newsroom reached out to the White House and the State Department for comment.

Just hours into his presidency, Trump signed an executive order to halt foreign assistance programs for 90 days.

Work stops at consumer finance watchdog

Newly installed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has ordered the stoppage of numerous activities at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Rulemaking, enforcement actions, litigation and public communication are now halted, according to a memo from Bessent to employees that was obtained by NPR and Politico.

Trump appointed Bessent as the bureau’s acting director after dismissing its former head, Rohit Chopra, a Biden appointee.

The independent bureau within the Federal Reserve system was established by Congress in 2010 as a safeguard for consumers following the Great Recession.

Emergency response units search the crash site of an American Airlines plane on the Potomac River on Jan. 30, 2025, after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators said Thursday they are investigating the deadly midair collision between a commercial jet carrying 64 people and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia, just outside the District of Columbia.

Meanwhile, with no conclusive evidence on the cause of the worst U.S. air disaster in years yet disclosed, President Donald Trump in a White House press event tied the tragedy to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the Department of Transportation.

The president blamed air traffic controller standards and the Biden administration’s “big push to put diversity into the FAA program,” pointing to former DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg in particular. Buttigieg released a statement on social media shortly after the press conference criticizing Trump’s comments as “despicable.”

When reporters asked how he knew that diversity among air traffic controllers was a factor in the crash, Trump responded: “Because I have common sense.”

Officials believe there are no survivors from the regional jet or the Black Hawk, which were sent plunging into the frigid Potomac River late Wednesday. The death toll stands at 67, including the three members of the helicopter crew. Officials said 28 bodies had been recovered as a massive operation in the river continued.

Senators expressed their condolences to the families of crash victims and vowed to get answers. ​​​J. Todd Inman, a board member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said that the independent investigative agency will have a preliminary report within 30 days and then a final report.

“It’s a horrifying accident,” said West Virginia GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who sits on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “Looks like human error.”

The chair of that panel, Sen. Ted Cruz, said that he was briefed by senior leadership from the Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB in his office along with members of the committee.

“Obviously, something happened that should not have happened, but I think it is a mistake to speculate until we see what the evidence demonstrates,” the Texas Republican said.

Maj. Gen. Trevor J. Bredenkamp said in a written statement Thursday that the Army’s “top priority is to assist in the recovery efforts, while fully cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and other investigative agencies to determine the cause of this tragic incident.”

“While the investigation is ongoing, we are committed to transparency and will share accurate updates as soon as they become available,” said Bredenkamp, commander of the Joint Task Force for the National Capital Region.

Air Florida crash

Wednesday’s collision was the deadliest plane crash in the D.C. area since 1982, when an Air Florida flight crashed into the Potomac River and killed 78 people, and it’s the first major disaster of the Trump administration’s second term.

The crash of the PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700, which occurred around 9 p.m. Eastern Wednesday, came two days after the Senate confirmed former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy as Trump’s nominee to be Transportation secretary.

In a Thursday morning briefing, Duffy said that he thought the crash was preventable — in line with early social media posts from the president — but deferred further conclusions to the NTSB, which will lead the investigation.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor that his prayers were with those who lost their lives in the crash and that Congress, in its oversight role, will investigate the incident.

“It’s too early to know why last night’s crash occurred, but we’re going to find out,” the South Dakota Republican said. “And Congress and federal agencies will be closely examining this tragedy to ensure that America’s skies are safe.”

Trump names acting FAA chief

As of Thursday morning there was no acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Trump said during the White House briefing, at approximately 11:20 a.m. Eastern, that he was immediately naming the agency’s deputy administrator, Christopher Rocheleau, to the role of acting FAA administrator.

During the roughly 35-minute press conference, Trump told reporters, “We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas.”

As he stood before the press less than 24 hours after the American Airlines Flight 5342 crash, Trump said former President Joe Biden had allowed the FAA to hire persons with disabilities. Trump then specifically said those with “hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism  — all qualify for the position of a controller of airplanes pouring into our country, pouring into a little spot, a little dot on the map, little runway.”

The American Association of People with Disabilities pushed back on Trump’s comments, writing on social media that “FAA employees with disabilities did not cause last night’s tragic plane crash.”

“The investigation into the crash is still ongoing,” AAPD said in a statement. “It is extremely inappropriate for the President to use this tragedy to push an anti-diversity hiring agenda. Doing so makes all Americans less safe.”

Vice President J.D. Vance, along with Duffy and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, echoed Trump’s comments about DEI at the press briefing.

During Trump’s first administration, in April 2019, the FAA announced an initiative to enroll up to 20 persons with disabilities into an Aviation Development Program.

Trump signed an executive order last week directing the FAA “to immediately stop Biden DEI hiring programs and return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring.”

Trump also told reporters he listened to the air traffic controller audio in the seconds leading up to the crash, and “you had a pilot problem from the standpoint of the helicopter.”

Traffic controllers can be heard on the audio telling the Sikorsky H-60 helicopter “I need you to land immediately.”

Buttigieg said in his statement that Trump was not telling the truth about the FAA under Biden.

“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch,” Buttigieg said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, also criticized the president’s news conference.

“Listen, it’s one thing for internet pundits to spew off conspiracies, it’s another for the president of the United States to throw out idle speculation as bodies are still being recovered and families are still being notified,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “It just turns your stomach.”

Local lawmakers have long worried about DCA

Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Democratic Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner have long criticized the large number of flight slots at DCA and have pushed back on adding new slots to the airport, which is a favorite for lawmakers as it’s close to the U.S. Capitol.

In April, there was a near-miss, when two planes cleared to take off came within 400 feet of crashing.

Last year, Congress in May approved an FAA bill that finalized a five-year, $105 billion plan that added flight slots to an already busy DCA.

Cruz defended the long haul flights he pushed for in the FAA bill, some that included Texas.

“I believe we should wait for the investigation to demonstrate what actually caused the accident, rather than speculating,” he said. “We know it was tragic, and there are families of 67 men and women grieving right now.”

Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union that represents aviation professionals, said in a statement that “it would be premature to speculate on the root cause of this accident.”

“We will wait for the National Transportation Safety Board to complete its work and use that information to help guide decisions and changes to enhance and improve aviation safety,” he said.

Joseph McCartin, a Georgetown University professor who has studied the nation’s air traffic controllers, said Trump’s comments attributing the crash to DEI programs are “absurd.”

“The problem is that, if there is a problem at the FAA, it certainly doesn’t stem from DEI. Rather, it stems from consistent and chronic understaffing of air traffic control facilities, which has been happening over years,” said McCartin who published the 2011 book “Collision Course:  Ronald Reagan, the Air Traffic Controllers, and the Strike that Changed America.”

Who was aboard the jet

Among the 60 passengers and four crew members on the plane were U.S. Figure Skating coaches and athletes, along with their families, returning from a national development camp held in concert with the association’s championships in Wichita, the association confirmed Wednesday night.

Six members, including two teen athletes, two parents and two coaches, of the Skating Club of Boston were on board, according to reporting by WBUR and the Rhode Island Current.

Club officials identified the skaters as Jinna Han,13, and Spencer Lane, 16, along with their mothers, Jin Han and Christine Lane. The club’s coaches, among the victims, were Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, according to the organization.

Russian state media confirmed Thursday morning that two Russian figure skaters and other Russian citizens were on the plane.

A U.S. Department of State spokesperson told States Newsroom that officials had reached out to the foreign diplomat community and will provide an update once the department receives confirmation from the NTSB of foreign national casualties.

Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said at a press conference Thursday morning that the city had not yet reviewed the passenger manifest, but said one family showed up at the Wichita airport Wednesday night seeking information about the crash.

The direct flight from Wichita to Washington, D.C., had only just begun in January 2024.

Virginia’s Loudoun County School District Superintendent Aaron Spence issued a letter Thursday confirming that one of its students had been on the flight, according to FOX5 Washington, D.C. The letter did not identify the student.

The United Association wrote on social media Thursday that four of its union members from Steamfitters Local 602 were among the plane’s passengers. The union local is based in Landover, Maryland.

The flight crew was based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, the Charlotte Observer reported.

FOX5 Atlanta reported that one of the plane’s pilots was a 28-year-old named Sam Lilley. The local affiliate cited the pilot’s father Timothy Lilley, who has ties to Georgia.

Emergency response units on Jan. 30, 2025, search the crash site of an American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane collided with a military helicopter the previous night on approach to Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — An American Airlines regional jet carrying 64 people collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter late Wednesday near Reagan National Airport in Virginia just across from the District of Columbia, plunging both aircraft into the Potomac River.

“Unfortunately we were not able to rescue anyone,” Jack Potter, head of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said during a Thursday morning press conference.

American Eagle flight 5342 had originated in Wichita, Kansas. Those aboard included U.S. figure skaters traveling from Kansas as well as from Russia, according to the U.S. Figure Skating association and the Kremlin.

American Airlines confirmed there were 60 passengers on board and four flight crew and that the flight was landing at DCA, the National Airport call letters. The crash occurred around 9 p.m. Eastern Wednesday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

John Donnelly, D.C. fire chief, said about 300 emergency responders were searching the Potomac. Donnelly noted in a Thursday morning press conference at the airport that they were pivoting from rescue operations to recovery.

He said 27 bodies had been recovered from the plane and one from the helicopter.

President Donald Trump said at a Thursday morning press briefing from the White House, “We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions.”

Minutes later he added, “This has been a terrible very short period of time. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and newly installed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spent several minutes during the remarks blaming the crash on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and the administrations of former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

When asked by reporters how he knew that diversity among air traffic controllers was a factor in the crash, Trump responded: “Because I have common sense.”

Hegseth earlier said on social media that an investigation by DOD and the Army has “launched immediately.”

The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation of the crash, officials said.

Hegseth posted an email statement from spokesperson Heather Chairez for the U.S. military’s Joint Task Force-National Capital Region, stating that the helicopter had been on a training flight. The helicopter was operating out of Davison Army Airfield in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, according to the statement.

Many questions

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said during the airport press conference that “at this time we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path” of the passenger aircraft.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said that she had spoken to Trump administration officials, but not directly with Trump.

Trump overnight posted on social media, seemingly criticizing that the crash occurred, and that it’s a “a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented.”

“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,” he said. “The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane.”

Secretary of Transportation Duffy said at the airport press conference that he agreed the crash was preventable, that Wednesday night was “a clear night,” and that both aircraft were in a “standard flight pattern.”

“Prior to the collision, the flight paths that were being flown from the military and from American (Airlines), that was not unusual for what happens in the DC airspace,” Duffy said.

He added that “everything was standard in the lead up to the crash.”

“Something went wrong here,” Duffy said.

A separate White House statement noted that the president had been briefed and was monitoring the situation.

Virginia’s Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, who have raised concerns about crowded flight paths at DCA, said they look forward to the independent investigation from NTSB.

“It’s not a time to speculate,” Kaine said. “It’s a time to investigate and get answers to the questions we need, and I have confidence that will be done.”

Difficult conditions for rescue operations

Bowser said the governors of Maryland and Virginia provided D.C. with personnel to aid in search and rescue operations.

Donnelly noted there were major challenges in the rescue operations, such as water that’s 8 feet deep, freezing temperatures, and the cover of night.

“There is wind, there is pieces of ice out there, so it’s just dangerous and hard to work in, and because there’s not a lot of lights, you’re out there searching every square inch of space to see if you can find anybody,” he said. “The water is dark, it is murky, and that is a very tough condition for them to dive in.”

Kansas Republican Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall were at an earlier press conference at DCA, hours after the crash.

“We’re we will do everything we can to make certain that we’re supportive of the rescue efforts, and we’ll do everything we can to make certain that our subcommittee and Congress is engaged in what needs to take place following the outcome of this evening and this this month’s kind of investigation,” Moran said.

Moran sits on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. He added that he’s talked to the White House, American Airlines and DOD.

At the first press conference hours after the crash, Duffy noted that there would be an investigation.

“So obviously, there’ll be a review of what happened here tonight, and after the FAA studies what happened, we will take appropriate action if necessary to modify flight paths,” Duffy said. 

Marshall expressed his sympathies with those on board the flight.

“We wish there was more that we can do,” he said. “I want the folks back home to know that we care and we love them.”

U.S. Figure Skating confirmed that several of its team members were on the flight.

“These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available,” the organization said in a statement provided to States Newsroom.

Unknown number of Kansans aboard

Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said during a Thursday morning press conference at 8 a.m. Central that they had not received the flight manifest and do not know whether or how many Kansas residents were on board.

“I am in direct contact with American Airlines to find out the confirmed information to provide to all of you,” Wu said.

The Wichita Airport Authority activated its family incident support team Wednesday night, and Wu said one family came to the airport seeking information about the crash.

The direct flight from Wichita to Washington, D.C., began on Jan. 8, 2024, according to Wichita officials.

“We were very honored to have gotten that flight and continue to advocate for those nonstop flights out of our community,” Wu said. “This is a true tragedy, and one that this (city) council and myself want all of our community members to know that our hearts are heavy, they’re also grieving, and we will provide the support that we can to those who have been affected.”

U.S. Rep. Ron Estes said he was in touch with White House officials through Wednesday night.

“When a tragic incident like this happens, obviously, we want to do the investigation, which will take days and weeks to go through that process, and to make sure that we can prevent accidents like this from happening in the future,” Estes, who represents the Wichita area, said at the press briefing.

Kansas legislators react

Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, who represents the Wichita suburb of Andover, released a statement Thursday saying the crash was “unfathomable.”

“Last night, in the skies above our nation’s capital, a military helicopter collided with American Eagle Flight 5342 flying inbound from Wichita to Reagan National Airport. As our leaders seek answers, the Kansas Senate stands united in constant prayer for the passengers and crews, their families and loved ones, and every soul who is impacted by this awful tragedy. Together, we mourn for those who lost their lives and pray for God’s comfort for all,” Masterson said.

American Airlines is publishing updates at news.aa.com, and the company is instructing victims’ family members to call 1-800-679-8215.

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s latest actions included an offer to buy out a large swath of the federal workforce, and an order narrowing medical options for transgender children, and some transgender adults.

Millions of government employees received an email Tuesday evening instructing them to reply with the word “resign” by Feb. 6 for a “dignified, fair departure” that promises full pay and benefits through September 2025, with the option of continuing to work from home.

The offer was not extended to military personnel, U.S. Postal Service workers, or “those in positions related to immigration enforcement and national security,” and other “specifically excluded” jobs.

According to a copy of the email reviewed by States Newsroom, those who choose to remain as part of the “reformed federal workforce” will be expected to return to the office in person five days a week and be “reliable, loyal, trustworthy” employees.

Workers who break the law or engage in “other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination,” according to the email.

The unsigned memo also warns that while some federal agencies and military branches may grow, the administration expects others to shrink.

“At this time we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions,” according to the email, which was sent from hr@opm.gov.

Union warns against ‘hasty decision’

The offer drew criticism, including from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who said on the Senate floor Wednesday that Trump “has no authority to make that offer.”

The American Federation of Government Employees, a union that represents 800,000 federal and D.C. employees, advised its members in a social media post to “NOT to make a hasty decision to resign until you have further details.”

A statement from the union’s national president, Everett Kelley, said the “purging” of government workers will have “vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government.”

“This offer should not be viewed as voluntary. Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to,” Kelley said.

The federal government employs around 3 million people, making it the 15th-largest employer in the country, according to USAFacts.org.

Blocking funds for trans care for kids

Adding to a cascade of executive orders signed during his first nine days in office, Trump issued a directive late Tuesday that aims to limit treatment options for transgender children and adults under the age of 19.

The dictate is the latest in a string of orders by Trump to govern gender from the Oval Office.

On Monday, Trump banned openly transgender people from serving in the armed forces. On the night of his inauguration, the president declared the federal government will only recognize two sexes, male and female, ending “gender ideology extremism.”

According to Trump’s latest gender-related order, the government will “not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

The order defines a “child” as being under age 19, although most states recognize 18 as the legal age of adulthood.

Under the directive, heads of federal health agencies must pull research and educational grants from any medical schools or hospitals that continue to offer hormone treatments, often called puberty blockers, or gender transition surgery to patients under 19 years old.

Additionally, the order directs the U.S. attorney general — who will likely be former Florida AG Pam Bondi — to work with Congress on legislation that would “enact a private right of action for children and the parents of children whose healthy body parts have been damaged by medical professionals” who prescribed hormone treatments or transition surgery. The legislation should “include a lengthy statute of limitations,” the order states.

DOJ instructions

The decree also instructs the Department of Justice to “prioritize” investigating cases of female genital mutilation, prosecutable under a federal law meant to protect girls in the United States from the religious or cultural custom of removing portions or all of the genitalia.

Trump’s order ensures that neither Medicare nor Medicaid can cover hormone therapy and certain surgical procedures for recipients under 19, and that insurance benefits offered to federal employees also do not offer coverage for those under 19 receiving the specified treatments.

The directive also mentions a ban on such health coverage for the trans children of U.S. service members, but that prohibition was already made explicit in Congress’ most recent annual defense authorization package.

The executive order titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” gives the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services three months to publish a review of “best practices for promoting the health of children who assert gender dysphoria, rapid-onset gender dysphoria, or other identity-based confusion” — but specifically labels any guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health as “junk science.”

Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as the nation’s next health secretary.

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearing for U.S. attorney general in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Former Florida Attorney General Pamela Jo Bondi is one step closer to leading the U.S. Department of Justice after senators on Wednesday advanced her nomination.

Lawmakers on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary voted along party lines, 12-10, to send Bondi’s nomination to the full Senate. A final vote for President Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney general has not yet been scheduled.

Committee Chair Chuck Grassley of Iowa spoke ahead of the vote to address “some of the attacks against Ms. Bondi,” including her responses to Democratic committee member questions asking her to affirmatively state that Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.

“Several members of this committee characterized Ms. Bondi as an election denier. This is inconsistent with her own statements because on multiple occasions during her hearing Ms. Bondi stated that Biden was the president, and that she, quote unquote, ‘accepted the results,’” Grassley said.

Grassley also slammed Democrats’ criticism that Bondi’s loyalty to Trump is “somehow disqualifying.”

“The president has the right to choose an attorney general who is loyal and will faithfully carry out the vision for America that this president ran on,” Grassley said.

The committee’s top Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said Trump’s recent Justice Department firings only amplify concerns.

“As I said during Ms. Bondi’s hearing, it is absolutely critical that any nominee for the position be committed, first and foremost, to the Constitution and the American people, not the president and his political agenda. Unfortunately, I’m unconvinced that Ms. Bondi shares my belief,” Durbin said.

Jan. 6 pardons

Senators questioned Bondi for nearly five hours on Jan. 15, ahead of Trump’s inauguration and his whirlwind of executive orders that included granting clemency to all Jan. 6 defendants.

The career prosecutor faced questions about how she would advise Trump on pardoning violent offenders who attacked law enforcement while breaking into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“I’m not going to speak for the president, but the president does not like people that abuse police officers either,” Bondi told Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina when he questioned her about the expected pardons.

Graham later spoke out against Trump’s clemency for violent Capitol rioters.

Trump retribution

Democrats also pressed Bondi during her hearing on whether she would refuse a request from Trump to dole out political retribution against his political enemies.

In early December the president-elect told NBC News’ “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” that Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson and former top-ranking Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming “should go to jail.” Thompson chaired and Cheney co-chaired the U.S. House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack.

Biden granted all members of the Jan. 6 committee a preemptive pardon hours before he left the White House.

Grassley said Wednesday before voting on Bondi that “there’s no reason to think that she would not follow the law.”

Bondi was a vocal supporter of Trump’s false claims that he had won the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania. She also advised Trump during his first impeachment trial in 2019.

Bondi served as the top law enforcement officer in Florida from 2011 to 2019 and as a prosecutor in Hillsborough County for 18 years.

Bondi, an experienced law practitioner, was not Trump’s first choice to lead the Justice Department. Rather, the president initially chose Matt Gaetz, the former Florida congressman accused of sex with a minor. Gaetz resigned from the U.S. House hours after Trump selected him and withdrew his name from the AG running a week later.

U.S. Senate Republicans on Jan. 28, 2025, blocked a resolution condemning pardons for supporters of President Donald Trump who violently attacked and injured police officers when they broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  Shown are some Trump supporters that day. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans Tuesday blocked a resolution condemning pardons for supporters of President Donald Trump who violently attacked and injured police officers when they broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray requested unanimous consent for the resolution on the floor but was met with opposition from Majority Whip John Barrasso.

Unanimous consent is a common route senators take for simple resolutions, military nominations and other actions, but adoption can be blocked by just one senator.

Hours after his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump commuted the prison sentences for 14 of the most serious offenders on Jan. 6, including leaders of the paramilitary groups the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. Simultaneously he granted a “full, complete and unconditional pardon” to the rest of the approximately 1,560 defendants.

Murray, who represents Washington state, said Trump’s decision to pardon the violent defendants is “truly an unthinkable attempt to erase the facts of that day.”

“It is a betrayal of the law enforcement that protected all of us that day and a dangerous endorsement of political violence, telling criminals that you can beat cops within an inch of their lives as long as it’s in service to Donald Trump,” Murray said.

All 47 Democratic and independent senators co-sponsored the 19-word resolution that “disapproves of any pardons for individuals who were found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police officers.”

Biden also issued pardons

Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, blocked the measure. He argued that “Democrats do not want a serious debate here about the use of presidential pardon power” because former President Joe Biden had granted thousands of pardons and commutations before leaving office.

“If they did want a serious conversation, they would talk about Joe Biden’s pardons, over 8,000 of them,” Barrasso said. “The previous president used his final days in office to grant clemency to 37 of 40 of the worst killers on death row.”

Biden set the record for the most pardons and commutations, granting clemency to thousands of nonviolent drug offenders. The former president, whose opposition to capital punishment is well documented, commuted the death sentences for 37 federal inmates, who will now serve life sentences instead. He left three inmates on death row.

Just before leaving the White House, Biden granted preemptive pardons to all members who sat on the congressional committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack, as well as the four police officers who testified before the panel.

He also preemptively pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci and retired Gen. Mark Milley, both of whom have been the target of Trump’s threats for retribution and threats from the general public.

Biden drew criticism in early December for pardoning his son, Hunter, who was convicted on federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to tax violations. In his final moments in office, Biden granted preemptive pardons to five members of his family.

Assaults on police

Over 140 U.S. Capitol Police and Washington Metropolitan Police officers were injured that day, according to the Department of Justice.

Several other Democratic senators spoke on the floor about specific assaults on law enforcement on Jan. 6, and the four officers who died by suicide in the days following the attack.

“How does this line up with backing the blue? I don’t get it,” said Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.

States Newsroom approached nearly two dozen Republican senators the day after Trump issued the pardons for comment about clemency for the violent offenders.

With just a few exceptions, nearly all either refused to talk, deflected to criticize Biden’s pardons or said they hadn’t read Trump’s 334-word order to free the defendants from their punishments.

Of all the defendants, 608 were charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement, including 174 charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer. Nearly a third pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement, and 69 pleaded guilty to doing so with a blatant or improvised weapon, including pieces of furniture the rioters destroyed inside the Capitol and police officers’ own riot shields.

An aerial view of the the Pentagon, May 12, 2021. (Photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brittany A. Chase/Department of Defense)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed orders late Monday banning openly transgender service members from the U.S. military and suppressing any diversity initiatives, including prohibiting “un-American” concepts from military educational institutions.

An executive order published just before 11 p.m. Eastern under the title “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” expressly forbids from the armed services individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria, widely recognized by medical professionals as the incongruence between a person’s sex at birth and experienced gender.

The new policy, which revokes a 2021 Biden administration order allowing transgender people to serve, cites “medical, surgical, and mental health constraints,” as well as character, as reasons to prohibit the specific population’s service.

According to the order: “Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.  A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”

Former President Joe Biden’s 2021 policy reversed Trump’s 2018 order banning openly trans military service members. A 2019 U.S. Supreme Court decision temporarily upheld Trump’s ban.

Hegseth issuing directives

Trump on Monday night directed newly installed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “promptly issue directives for DoD to end invented and identification-based pronoun usage” and update department medical standards within 60 days.

The Pentagon referred all inquiries to the Defense Health Agency. The agency said Tuesday it needed more time to provide information on current statistics of transgender members of the military and health care costs.  

According to a 2018 report from the Palm Center, 8,980 transgender active duty troops and 5,727 reservists served in the U.S. armed forces at the time. The California-based think tank that studied LGBTQ+ bans in the military operated from 1998 to 2022.

A Military.com report in 2021 found that from Jan. 1, 2016 to May 14, 2021, the Defense Department spent $11.58 million on psychotherapy for service members with gender dysphoria. During that time, 637 service members received hormone therapy that totaled $340,000, and 243 received surgery at the cost of $3.1 million, according to the report.

Overall discretionary defense spending in 2021 totaled $742 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Criticism of order

Numerous advocacy groups denounced Trump’s order.

SPARTA Pride, a group of transgender current and former service members, issued a statement Tuesday defending thousands of transgender troops who  “currently fill critical roles in combat arms, aviation, nuclear engineering, law enforcement, and military intelligence, many requiring years of specialized training and expertise. Transgender troops have deployed to combat zones, served in high-stakes missions, and demonstrated their ability to strengthen unit cohesion and morale.”

The statement continues, “While some transgender troops do have surgery, the recovery time and cost is minimal, and is scheduled so as not to impact deployments or mission readiness (all of which is similar to a non-emergent minor knee surgery). The readiness and physical capabilities of transgender service members is not different from that of other service members.”

Members of the Congressional Equality Caucus described Trump’s order as “beyond shameful.”

“Our military has invested millions of dollars into training these brave Americans who signed up to serve their nation. Now, despite their sacrifices, President Trump is unlawfully and unconstitutionally calling for them to be kicked to the curb simply because he doesn’t like who they are,” caucus chair Rep. Mark Takano, a California Democrat, said in a statement Tuesday.

Abolishing DEI offices

Under an additional directive Monday night, the president ordered Hegseth and new Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “abolish every DEI office” within their departments and any “vestiges of DEI offices, such as sub-offices, programs, elements, or initiatives established to promote a race-based preferences system that subverts meritocracy, perpetuates unconstitutional discrimination, and promotes divisive concepts or gender ideology.”

DEI is shorthand for diversity, equity and inclusion. The Trump administration titled the executive order “Restoring America’s Fighting Force.”

Hegseth and Noem have 30 days to issue guidance on closing the offices and halting prohibited activities. They must report back to the White House on their progress in 180 days.

Among the initiatives that must cease, according to the order, are the teaching or promoting of any “divisive concepts” of race or sex at armed forces educational institutions, among other topics the order describes as “un-American.”

Donald Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as rioters try to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Democratic and independent U.S. senators introduced a resolution Monday to condemn President Donald Trump’s clemency for the rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, injuring numerous law enforcement officers and sending lawmakers into hiding as they tried to certify the 2020 presidential election results.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York along with Sens. Patty Murray of Washington, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Andy Kim of New Jersey are leading all Democrat and independent senators who signed the resolution that “disapproves of any pardons for individuals who were found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police officers.” 

An initial press release did not include Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as a co-sponsor, but reports on social media indicated he signed on. Fetterman’s office did not immediately confirm.

Murray will seek unanimous consent on the floor to pass the resolution. Only one senator needs to object to stop it from being adopted.

Murray said in a statement Monday that she refuses to “allow President Trump to rewrite what happened on January 6th— armed insurrectionists, incited by Trump himself, broke into the U.S. Capitol and violently assaulted Capitol Police officers in their attempt to overthrow a free and fair election.”

Condemning the pardons and commutations for those who caused cracked ribs, crushed spinal disks and other injuries, “should be the easiest thing in the world,” Murray said.

“I hope and expect my Republican colleagues will allow this very simple resolution to pass as a show of support for the officers who put their lives on the line to keep senators safe,” Murray said.

Republicans quiet about Jan. 6 pardons

States Newsroom asked 22 Republican senators how they felt about the pardons and commutations the day after Trump signed the order. Barring a few exceptions, most either refused to answer, said they hadn’t seen Trump’s high-profile order, or spoke only on pardons issued by former President Joe Biden in the hours before he left office.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, told NBC News’ “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” on Sunday that the president’s pardons of violent Jan. 6 defendants were “a mistake because it seems to suggest that’s an OK thing to do.”

Trump commuted the prison sentences of 14 of the attack’s ringleaders and members of the paramilitary groups the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. The president granted a “full, complete and unconditional pardon” to all others charged with crimes after the attack.

Among the approximately 1,572 defendants, 608 were charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement, including 174 charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer. Of those charged, 172 pleaded guilty to assaulting police — 69 of them pleading guilty to assaulting the officers with some sort of weapon.

Investigators found that the rioters brought and improvised numerous types of weapons, including firearms, chemical sprays, tasers, knives, flagpoles and broken furniture.

Violent offenders

Murray, Schumer, Murphy and Kim highlighted several specific cases of violent offenders pardoned by Trump. Here are a few:

• Christopher Quaglin, of North Brunswick, New Jersey, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for spraying bear spray directly in the faces of officers, stealing riot shields and striking the officers, grabbing an officer’s neck and tackling him to the ground, and numerous other assaults on law enforcement that day.

• Tyler Bradley Dykes, of Bluffton, South Carolina, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for stealing a police riot shield and using it to obstruct and assault officers at multiple locations in the Capitol.

• Robert Sanford Jr., of Chester, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to just over four years in prison for hitting three officers in the head with a fire extinguisher, among other actions.

• Robert Scott Palmer, of Largo, Florida, was sentenced to just over five years in prison for throwing a wooden plank at officers and spraying the entire contents of a fire extinguisher at them before throwing it in an attempt to strike them.

Prior to leaving office Jan. 20, Biden preemptively pardoned all members of the congressional committee that investigated the attack as well as four police officers who testified before the panel. Trump is on record as recently as December saying the committee members “should go to jail.”

President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — New allegations of alcohol abuse and misconduct by defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth drew fresh scrutiny Wednesday about the veteran, former Fox News host and author who President Donald Trump wants to install at the top of the U.S. military.

New revelations in a sworn affidavit from Hegseth’s ex-sister-in-law accuse Hegseth of causing his second wife to fear for her life, and of being so drunk in uniform during a Minnesota National Guard drill weekend that his brother had to carry him out of a Minneapolis strip club.

The nominee has been accused of numerous occasions of public drunkenness and sexual misconduct, and was grilled by Senate Democrats during his confirmation hearing. Hegseth has blamed allegations on a smear campaign. “I’m not a perfect person, as has been acknowledged, saved by the grace of God, by Jesus and Jenny,” he said, referring to his third wife, television producer Jennifer Hegseth, who was seated behind him, during his hearing. The couple lives in Tennessee.

Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, expressed concern Wednesday over Hegseth’s fitness to lead the Pentagon and the importance of “serious oversight of the U.S. military and its leaders.”

Reed said the late December testimony provided to the FBI by Hegseth’s former sister-in-law was not included in the FBI background check provided to the committee. The Rhode Island Democrat directly requested the  former family member recount the testimony to the committee.

“As I have said for months, the reports of Mr. Hegseth’s history of alleged sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and public misconduct necessitate an exhaustive background investigation. I have been concerned that the background check process has been inadequate, and this affidavit confirms that fact,” Reed said in a statement.

“The sworn affidavit from this courageous woman, provided at enormous personal risk and with nothing to gain, documents a disturbing pattern of abuse and misconduct by Mr. Hegseth,” Reed said. “This behavior would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the Secretary of Defense.”

The FBI told States Newsroom Wednesday that it does not comment on specific background investigations.

Republican committee leadership did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senators reviewing allegations

The affidavit was obtained and reported by several major news outlets. NBC News, which broke the story, reported that at least 15 senators, including Republicans, had reviewed the document by Tuesday afternoon.

Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, reportedly told the committee that the nominee’s second wife, Samantha, feared Hegseth’s volatile behavior and created a plan with family members for a safe word, used once, that could be texted in the event she needed immediate help, according to Reed’s office. The statement detailed that on one occasion, sometime between 2014 and 2016, Samantha hid in a closet for safety.

Danielle also reported being verbally attacked by an inebriated Hegseth at a family event, to the point of needing intervention, and multiple drunken incidents and racist and misogynistic statements. 

Hegseth’s lawyer, Tim Parlatore, did not respond to an email Wednesday requesting comment.

A man who answered the phone number listed for Parlatore on his law firm’s website said, “I rely upon the public statements I’ve already made.”

In a statement provided to NBC News Tuesday, Parlatore said: “Sam has never alleged that there was any abuse, she signed court documents acknowledging that there was no abuse and recently reaffirmed the same during her FBI interview. Belated claims by Danielle Dietrich, an anti-Trump far left Democrat who is divorced from Mr. Hegseth’s brother and never got along with the Hegseth family, do nothing to change that.”

Hegseth’s second wife denied the allegations to NBC News, telling the network that “There was no physical abuse in my marriage” and that she would not be commenting further.

The Senate approved a motion to proceed on Hegseth’s nomination Tuesday evening in a 53-45 vote. Hegseth could be confirmed as soon as Thursday.

States Newsroom reached out to the White House for comment.

Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers founder, speaks with the press in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2025, after being released after spending the past three years in Cumberland, Maryland, at the Federal Correctional Institution  On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump pardoned around 1,500 criminal defendants who were charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Barring a few exceptions, Senate Republicans on Tuesday largely deflected or altogether avoided questions about President Donald Trump’s broad clemency for over 1,500 defendants who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — including many who beat police officers, smashed windows and trashed offices as lawmakers hid in designated safe areas.

Just hours into his second term Monday, Trump commuted the sentences of 14 felons, including leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

The president granted a “full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.” He also dismissed any pending indictments.

The pardons did not come as a surprise. As Senate Republicans were cheering for Trump on his march to electoral victory, the former and now current president exalted the “hostages” and “patriots” who injured more than 140 law enforcement officers and caused north of $2.8 million in damage to the Capitol, according to the Department of Justice.

Oath Keepers founder and Jan. 6 ringleader Stewart Rhodes told reporters Tuesday that it was “a good day for America.” Rhodes, who was released from federal prison in Cumberland, Maryland, faced an 18-year sentence for seditious conspiracy, among other crimes.

But Trump allies had earlier raised questions about releasing some defendants, including Vice President J.D. Vance, who told Fox News on Jan. 12 that “If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.”

As of early January the government had charged just over 1,580 people for crimes related to the riot, 608 of whom were charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement. Nearly a third of those charged with assaulting officers used a dangerous or deadly weapon, according to the Justice Department.

Investigations uncovered that weapons brought onto Capitol grounds included firearms, tasers, chemical sprays; edged weapons, including a sword, axes, hatchets, and knives; and makeshift weapons, including broken office furniture, fencing, bike racks, stolen riot shields, baseball bats, hockey sticks, flagpoles, PVC piping and reinforced knuckle gloves.

States Newsroom asked over 20 Republican senators if they are comfortable with Trump’s clemency orders, and followed up with some of the lawmakers who were willing to speak.

Trump ‘keeps his campaign promises’

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he wasn’t comfortable with “any that involved an assault on a police officer.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski told a group of journalists that she was “disappointed.”

“I do fear the message that is sent to these great men and women that stood by us,” the Alaska Republican said as she gestured toward the Capitol Police officers posted outside the Senate Republicans’ weekly luncheon.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said there’s a “distinction to be made between providing clemency for individuals who may have been caught up in the crowd that day and did not commit any violent act, versus those who assaulted police officers with their fists, with flag poles, with pepper spray, and destroyed property, broke into the Capitol by breaking windows.”

“I do not believe those individuals warrant clemency,” she said. Collins also released a written statement.

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who was photographed raising his fist in solidarity with Trump supporters as he exited the Capitol on Jan. 6, said “If you’re asking me if it’s what I would have done, what I’ve said is, is that for folks who committed violence, I wouldn’t commute their sentence or pardon.”

Hawley, who can be seen on security video running for safety during the attack, said the pardons send a signal that Trump “keeps his campaign promises.”

Biden pardons

When States Newsroom asked Sen. Deb Fischer if she was comfortable with the broad pardons, the Nebraska Republican responded, “I’m looking forward to getting some great opportunities and getting good things done.”

In response to a follow-up question on whether she condoned political violence, Fischer, who was on her way into Majority Whip John Barrasso’s office, said, “Ma’am, no one would ever condone political violence.”

As Sen. Markwayne Mullin walked by an entrance to the Senate chamber he greeted and shook the hands of Capitol Police officers posted at the doors.

The Oklahoma Republican refused to talk specifically about the Jan. 6 pardons, saying he didn’t get “near this many questions” about pardons issued by former President Joe Biden in his final hours in office.

“Here’s my thing on pardons, I’m not any more comfortable with Biden releasing and pardoning his whole family too,” Mullin said. “When you all want to cover both, come talk to me.”

States Newsroom reported Monday Biden preemptively pardoned lawmakers who served on the congressional committee to investigate the Capitol attack, as well as police officers who testified before the panel.

He also preemptively pardoned former administration officials who’ve been the target of death threats, as well as five of his family members — roughly a month-and-a-half after he pardoned his son, Hunter. Major news outlets published numerous articles covering Biden’s pardons.

Mullin walked away from a follow-up question highlighting violent acts committed by those who received Trump’s clemency.

Collins similarly said the press “ought to be paying attention” to Biden’s pardons as well, especially the commutation of indigenous activist Leonard Peltier.

Iowa’s Sen. Chuck Grassley, the most senior member of the Senate and the body’s president pro tempore, said, “Hey, everybody’s asked me about J6. None of you guys are asking about the Biden pardons.”

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said “Congress doesn’t have a role to play in pardons” and walked away from further questions on the topic.

No response at all

Many GOP senators did not respond to clearly shouted, and many times repeated, questions from journalists Tuesday afternoon about the pardons.

They included Mike Crapo of Idaho, Barrasso of Wyoming, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, John Curtis of Utah, Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott of South Carolina, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Joni Ernst of Iowa.

Blackburn and Curtis specifically said they don’t speak to reporters in the hallways of Congress.

Some GOP senators said they hadn’t yet seen Trump’s Monday night order.

“I haven’t looked at it yet,” said Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.

When States Newsroom summarized the 334-word proclamation and underscored that it was highly publicized by major news outlets, Scott replied “I haven’t looked at the executive order yet.”

Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said: “I don’t have anything for you.”

“You don’t have anything about people who came here with weapons and beat police officers?” States Newsroom pressed as Kennedy walked away.

Murkowski’s fellow Alaska senator, Dan Sullivan, stopped to speak to reporters about the “grand slam home run” executive order from Trump that expands energy development in his state, but he would not comment on the president’s clemency for Jan. 6 defendants.

“I need to read the order first,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office did not respond to requests for comment. The South Dakota Republican briefly told reporters outside of a committee room, “We’re not looking backwards, we’re looking forward.”

States Newsroom reached out to all members of Senate and House Republican leadership for comment, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, but did not receive any response.

Donald Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday night issued sweeping pardons for nearly all Jan. 6 defendants, erasing accountability for those who violently tried to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results on that date in 2021. 

Behind the desk of the Oval Office, Trump told reporters he signed a pardon for nearly 1,500 defendants who participated in the attack and commuted the sentences for several others whose punishments require “further research,” he said.

“We hope they come out tonight. They’re expecting it,” Trump said about the defendants.

Journalists outside the D.C. Central Detention Facility, where many Jan. 6 defendants are being held, reported families began gathering there Monday in anticipation of the pardons. 

The White House released the names of 14 defendants whose sentences Trump commuted. They include numerous right-wing militia leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Among them are Stewart Rhodes of Texas and Kelly Meggs of Florida, the founder and current leader of the Oath Keepers, as well as members of the Proud Boys, including Joseph Biggs of Florida, Ethan Nordean of Washington, Zachary Rehl of Pennsylvania, and Dominic Pezzola of New York.  

All remaining Jan. 6 defendants convicted of crimes related to the Capitol attack received a “full, complete and unconditional pardon,” according to the order. 

Trump praised the defendants on the campaign trail as “hostages,” “patriots” and “warriors,” and pardoning them became a major theme of Trump’s rallies.

Former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn said the pardons marked a “dark day in American history.”

“This decision is a betrayal to the officers who were severely injured — and died — as a result of the insurrection. This decision puts Americans at risk as these violent criminals return to their communities. These pardons are a reflection of what abuse of power looks like and what we the people are bound to witness over the next four years,” Dunn said in statement released by the anti-Trump group Courage for America.

The U.S. Department of Justice launched its largest-ever investigation following the attack that left over 140 police officers injured and upwards of $2.8 million in damage to the Capitol.

As of early January the department had charged just over 1,580 people for crimes related to the riot, 608 of whom were charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement, including nearly a third who used a dangerous or deadly weapon, according to the department’s latest figures.

Weapons, and objects used as weapons, brought on the Capitol grounds ranged from firearms and tasers to chemical sprays and sharp-edged weapons, including knives, axes and even a sword, according to the department.

Approximately 1,000 have pleaded guilty — 682 to misdemeanors and 327 to felonies. Just over 200 defendants were found guilty at contested trials, including 10 who were convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Earlier Monday, Trump promised an overflow inauguration crowd in the Capitol Visitors Center that would deliver “action” for the Jan. 6 “hostages.”

He slammed Biden’s preemptive pardoning of the “unselect committee of political thugs,” referring to the former president’s Monday morning action for members and staff who served on the House select committee that probed the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Biden also preemptively pardoned police officers who testified before the committee. The officers have lambasted Trump’s promise to pardon the rioters.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, one of the officers to receive the pardon, said in a statement Monday that he “was just doing my job and fulfilling my oath” when “American citizens attacked the U.S. Capitol, injuring me and my colleagues.”

“Thank you President Biden for upholding our nation’s democracy, for your years of service to this country, and — in your final moments as Commander-in-Chief — issuing preemptive pardons for me and other loyal Americans. I did not seek a pardon, and I did nothing wrong. My family and I are grateful for your empathy and leadership.”

President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it during an indoor inauguration parade at the Capital One Arena on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Just hours into his second term, President Donald Trump signed some of his first executive orders as an arena crowd of thousands cheered a U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and a mandate for federal workers to return to the office full-time.

Trump scrawled his signature on nearly 10 portfolio-bound documents at a desk on the floor of the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C., following an indoor inauguration parade at the 20,000-seat venue. Monday’s ceremonies were moved indoors because of cold temperatures.

The orders included rescinding 78 Biden administration actions, freezing federal hiring and new regulations, and “restoring freedom of speech,” among others that the White House press office dubbed “America First Priorities.”

“Could you imagine Biden doing this? I don’t think so,” Trump said to the crowd.

Trump threw his ceremonial pens into the seats after signing the orders.

In an Oval Office ceremony shortly afterward, Trump signed a slew of other orders ranging from declaring a national emergency at the southern border to throwing TikTok a 75-day lifeline to find a new owner.

Earlier Monday, surrounded by lawmakers from both parties who bantered with him in the President’s Room at the U.S. Capitol, Trump signed an order mandating all U.S. flags fly at full height during future presidential inaugurations. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, ordered flags at full staff for Trump’s inauguration despite the recent death of the late President Jimmy Carter.

The first blitz

During his first blitz, Trump erased Biden executive orders on “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation” and “Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals.”

Trump’s team signaled hours before inauguration that the incoming president planned to sign an order mandating the use of the word “sex” instead of “gender” in federal policy language and documents, including passports and visas.

White House administration officials said on a call with reporters early Monday, speaking on background, that one of their first executive orders will focus on “defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government.”

Roughly 2 million transgender people live in the United States, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, which condemned Trump’s order Monday.

Kelley Robinson, the organization’s president, criticized Trump in a statement for “taking aim at the LGBTQ+ community instead of uniting our country and prioritizing the pressing issues the American people are facing.”

Among the dozens of previous Biden administration orders, Trump reversed Biden actions titled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis” and “Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All.”

Environmental advocates denounced Trump’s executive orders. The Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement that Trump’s order for withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement “shows how threatened Trump is by the recent global compact to transition away from fossil fuels.”

“While Trump buries his head in the sand, it’s going to be up to state leaders to lock eyes on the climate crisis and lead us toward a livable future,” the statement said.

Incoming White House officials also teased orders taking down Biden-era environmental initiatives, including declaring an energy emergency, opening the Alaska wilderness for energy development and nixing energy standards for household appliances. They had not yet been released Monday night.

TikTok

Later Monday evening in the Oval Office, Trump signed an order giving TikTok an extra 75 days to find a new owner. The order instructs the Department of Justice to ignore enforcing a federal law that required TikTok to separate from its China ties by Jan. 19.

“The unfortunate timing of (the law) — one day before I took office as the 47th President of the United States — interferes with my ability to assess the national security and foreign policy implications of the Act’s prohibitions before they take effect,” Trump’s order stated.

The popular video sharing app used by approximately 170 million Americans briefly went dark overnight Saturday into Sunday. A message to users read, “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

A federal law mandated that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance divest from the video sharing platform by the deadline when it became illegal for U.S. companies to distribute or maintain the app. Companies that don’t comply face fines up $5,000 per user.

Trump’s position is a reversal of his support for a ban in 2020. 

“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I guess I didn’t have originally,” he told reporters in the Oval Office Monday night.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was among the attendees at Trump’s inauguration, and the company sponsored an inauguration eve party in downtown D.C., Reuters reported.

Some lawmakers want to see the law enforced now. In a statement Sunday, Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska warned that companies who ignore the deadline could “face ruinous bankruptcy.” 

“Now that the law has taken effect there’s no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension,’ of its effective date” they wrote.

A long campaign of promises

Trump told a packed arena in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the inauguration that they were “going to see executive orders that are going to make you extremely happy, lots of them.”

Trump said he would “act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country.”

As a candidate and Republican presidential nominee, Trump promised his supporters that on day one he would launch a mass deportation of immigrants, end Russia’s war on Ukraine, and pardon those convicted and who pleaded guilty to crimes committed during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

In one of his last actions in office, Biden issued preemptive pardons for lawmakers and staff who served on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, as well as the police officers who testified before the panel.

Donald Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Hours before his four-year term ended, President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons early Monday to several officials and lawmakers who have been the target of incoming President-elect Donald Trump’s threats of retaliation as well as several members of his family.

Biden pardoned retired Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, and Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan Police officers who testified before the committee.

“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families,” Biden said in a statement Monday morning.

“Even when individuals have done nothing wrong — and in fact have done the right thing — and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances,” Biden said.

Just last month during an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” Trump said that Rep. Bennie Thompson and former Rep. Liz Cheney “lied” and “should go to jail.” The Mississippi Democrat and Wyoming Republican led the panel that investigated the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

On that day a violent mob of Trump supporters marched to the Capitol — at Trump’s urging — and assaulted over 140 police officers and caused upwards of $2.8 million in damage to the Capitol, according to the Department of Justice.

Trump has promised to pardon those who were convicted on or pleaded guilty to charges related to the attack, describing them as “hostages,” “patriots” and “warriors.” Approximately 1,580 have been charged, according to the latest Department of Justice figures.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who was among law enforcement officers to testify before the Jan. 6 committee, wrote on X Sunday that “The law and order dude is about to pardon those who assaulted the police. Collectively more than 40 rioters attacked me that day.”

Milley was chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump’s first administration and continued into Biden’s time in the Oval Office. The retired general is on record describing Trump as a “fascist” and a “wannabe dictator.”

Milley has been the target of Trump’s ire after he refused orders from Trump — among them a directive to send the military to quash protesters in D.C. during a wave of nationwide demonstrations after the murder by police of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Trump has called for political retribution against Milley. The retired general has been receiving “a nonstop barrage of death threats” since his retirement, according to journalist Bob Woodward.

Fauci, who led the U.S. as the chief medical expert during the COVID-19 pandemic, has for years also been the target of threats and investigations from congressional Republicans.

Trump launched partisan attacks on Fauci and began name-calling the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases as early as 2020, describing him as “a total disaster.”

Pardons for the Biden family

Minutes before Trump swore his oath of office, the White House announced Biden’s preemptive pardons of his siblings and their spouses.

They include James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden.

“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me—the worst kind of partisan politics.  Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,” Biden said in a statement.

Biden said the pardons “should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”

Rep. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said in a statement that the “preemptive pardons for the Biden Crime Family serve as a confession of their corruption as they sold out the American people to enrich themselves.”

Comer’s committee limped along for years on an investigation of Biden that the GOP-led panel said would lead to Biden’s impeachment, which did not occur.

Comer said his committee’s investigation “will be remembered as one of the most successful ever conducted by Congress.” 

President-Elect Donald Trump walks to the stage at his victory rally at the Capital One Arena on Jan. 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Trump will be sworn in as the 47th U.S. president on January 20. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump rallied a packed arena Sunday in the nation’s capital ahead of his inauguration Monday, heralding an era of “the Trump effect” and vowing to “act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country.”

Shortly after his swearing-in, Trump is expected to issue pardons for rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, who he said are “J6 hostages.” Trump also plans a barrage of executive orders curtailing immigration and undoing President Joe Biden’s energy policies.

The victory rally, streamed live on C-SPAN from the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C., featured live music from Kid Rock, Lee Greenwood and, at the conclusion, a surreal performance of the 1978 disco hit “YMCA” by the Village People, as Trump danced along with them. Trump often played the song at his campaign rallies.

Assorted incoming administration officials and celebrities delivered speeches that railed against transgender people, DEI initiatives and immigration at the U.S. southern border. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance was not among the speakers.

Trump spoke for just over an hour, repeating his campaign trail themes about fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter, SpaceX rockets, an “invasion” of migrants and “transgender insanity.”

He also promised to declassify records related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, and claimed that Apple CEO Tim Cook told him Sunday about “a massive investment in the United States because of our big election win.”

“I’m thrilled to be back with so many friends, supporters and true American patriots on the eve of taking back our country,” Trump told a cheering crowd in the arena, which has a capacity of about 20,000.

On Monday it will also host Trump supporters who held tickets to sit in the audience at the Capitol before the ceremony was moved inside due to forecasts of low temperatures, as well as an inauguration parade on Monday afternoon.

Trump touted the return Sunday of the popular app TikTok and the “epic ceasefire agreement” between Israel and Hamas.

The incoming president said war in the Middle East would not have happened had the 2020 election not been “rigged” — a false claim he’s repeated over the last four years.

Trump and Vance will be sworn in Monday indoors in the Capitol rotunda. The four-year term for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris ends at noon, as stipulated in the Constitution’s 20th Amendment.

Emergency declaration

Among the executive orders Trump plans will be an emergency declaration on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

“You’re going to see executive orders that are going to make you extremely happy, lots of them,” he told rallygoers. “By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt.”

Trump later told the crowd: “Somebody said yesterday, ‘Sir, don’t sign so many in one day. Let’s do it over a period of weeks.’ I said, ‘Like hell we’re going to do it over weeks.’”

Also on his list of day-one executive orders is extending the deadline for TikTok to find a new owner, a mandate set forth in a bipartisan law last year. Without an extension, companies that distribute or maintain TikTok will face fines up to $5,000 per user on the popular video platform app.

The order will “confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform hours ahead of the rally.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was expected to sit on the dais Monday during Trump’s inauguration, but seating arrangements for the indoor ceremony remained unclear.

Trump invited tech billionaire Elon Musk to the stage with him Sunday. The mogul he’s tasked with making recommendations to cut trillions in federal spending told the crowd “we’re looking forward to making a lot of changes.”

Speakers vilify ‘radical left,’ Harris

A parade of speakers introduced the president-elect. Trump’s son Eric, standing alongside his wife Lara and their two children, declared “The bullsh-t ends right now.”

Stephen Miller, incoming White House deputy chief of staff for policy, touted “ending the border invasion, sending the illegals home and taking America back,” and ridding children’s playgrounds of “piles of needles.”

Miller denied the very existence of transgender people.

“We’re not going to let the radical left indoctrinate our children into believing there’s 435 genders because President Trump knows there are men and there are women, and it is not up to you whether you’re a man or a woman. That’s a decision that’s made by God, and it can’t be changed,” Miller said.

There are an estimated 2 million transgender people in the U.S., according to the Human Rights Campaign. Gender dysphoria — defined as psychological distress resulting from incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and current gender identity — is widely recognized by the medical community. Transgender youth experience disparate health outcomes and increased stigmatization and suicidal behavior, according to a 2024 report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Right-wing media personality Megyn Kelly delivered remarks during which for several minutes she slammed singer and actress Jennifer Lopez and media magnate Oprah Winfrey for their support of Harris during the 2024 election.

“But of course the fakest person involved on that side of the aisle was the woman at the top, Kamala Harris herself,” Kelly said.

The former Fox News host said the vice president used a “fake Jamaican accent, her fake Eastern European accent, her fake Spanish accent. It was like spending the day at Joe Biden’s southern border nonstop, right?”

Similar criticisms were made repeatedly by Republicans during the campaign and a Fox News reporter in September pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Harris’ accent. “The question is just insane,” said Jean-Pierre, saying Americans cared more about the economy, health care and lowering costs, HuffPost reported.

Jab at media

The rally kicked off with a prayer from a duo dubbed “Girls Gone Bible” followed moments later by a musical set from Kid Rock.

In a video message to his “rock ‘n roll patriots,” Trump told the crowd “Let’s make America rock again” as Kid Rock launched into his new song “We the People” that featured the chorus line “Let’s Go Brandon.” “Brandon” was the name used by Trump supporters to insult Biden.

While performing his 1999 hit “Bawitdaba,” Kid Rock ad-libbed “The mainstream media can suck my” — without finishing the sentence.

Prior to the rally, Trump and Vance participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. They also visited three graves of servicemembers who were killed in the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Several of Trump’s Cabinet nominees attended the ceremony, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who’s been tapped as secretary of state; Fox News TV host Pete Hegseth, the nominee for secretary of defense; and current and former U.S. representatives Elise Stefanik and Tulsi Gabbard, nominees for ambassador to the United Nations and director of national intelligence.

In this 2020 photo illustration, the TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone. (Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday he will sign an executive order as soon as he takes office that would delay a law that banned the popular social media app TikTok unless its parent company sells it.

“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!” Trump said on his TruthSocial account. “ I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday had left the law in place, and on Saturday night, TikTok went dark for U.S. users. The Associated Press reported that Google and Apple removed the app from their digital stores to comply with the law. But by midday Sunday, TikTok was again functioning.

Trump said in his post he wants to explore how to keep TikTok viable in the United States.

“I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture.  By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up.  Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok.  With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions,” he wrote.

“Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose.”

The bipartisan law enacted last year required ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell the platform by Sunday or face exclusion from U.S.-based app stores.

TikTok fought the law all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing First Amendment rights, but did not prevail. 

“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the court wrote in its ruling. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights.”

Action left to Trump

The 27-page court ruling created a bit of a dilemma for Trump, who now supports TikTok staying on Americans’ cell phones despite wanting to ban it during his first administration.

Trump wrote Friday in a post on his social media site, Truth Social, that he would address the issue once he takes office.

“I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A,” Trump wrote. “It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!”

Trump issued an executive order in 2020 to ban the video platform unless it broke from ByteDance, but reversed his position last year.

Trump’s attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, cited “pending litigation” and declined to directly answer a question about whether she would direct the Justice Department to enforce the TikTok ban during her confirmation hearing Wednesday.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration Monday, according to a source familiar with the planning.

Chew will not be the only tech executive sitting nearby as Trump takes the oath of office. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, are expected to be in attendance. Both donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural.

Chew posted a video on social media Friday after the Supreme Court ruling was released thanking Trump “for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States.”

“This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship,” he said. “As we’ve said, TikTok is a place where people can create communities, discover new interests and express themselves, including over 7 million American businesses.”

The director of national intelligence released a report in February 2024 stating that “TikTok accounts run by a (People’s Republic of China) propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the U.S. midterm election cycle in 2022.”

Bipartisan backing for law

The law requiring TikTok’s parent company to sell the app or lose access to the American social media market received bipartisan support in the House last year, following a 352-65 vote in March. The measure cleared Congress as part of a larger supplemental package a month later.

President Joe Biden signed it into law. However, he said he will not enforce it, leaving the incoming Trump administration to decide what to do.

“President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the President’s desk: TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wrote in a statement.

“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday.”

Congress and the Biden administration pointed to warnings from national security officials about ByteDance’s ties to China’s government as the top reason to force its parent company to sell the app.

TikTok maintains that it is majority owned by global investors, including the Susquehanna International Group and Blackrock, though roughly 20% remains in the hands of its Chinese founders.

Democratic senators made an eleventh-hour pitch on Wednesday to extend ByteDance’s deadline to divest from TikTok, but Republicans blocked the effort. 

TikTok creators, left to right, Steven King, Paul Tran, Chloe Joy Sexton and Topher Townsend speak out against a law that could ban the platform at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., following U.S. Supreme Court arguments on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed Republicans Thursday for blocking a last-ditch effort to extend TikTok’s lifespan in the U.S. — even as the video platform’s CEO is expected to be among the tech moguls at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes, Sunday marks the deadline set by bipartisan lawmakers and President Joe Biden for the social media app’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell it or have TikTok banned from U.S. app stores.

Schumer said on the Senate floor that “more time is needed to find an American buyer and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, of so many influencers who have built up a good network of followers.”

TikTok estimates 170 million Americans use the platform.

“That’s why, last night, Senate Democrats tried to pass a bill that would extend the deadline to give everyone more time to come up with a workable solution. But Senate Republicans blocked our bill, which is stunning because time is running short,” Schumer continued.

Late Wednesday, GOP Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska objected to the deadline extension bill brought forward by Democratic Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Cory Booker of New Jersey.

Cotton said ByteDance and TikTok “had plenty of additional warning for years about the possibility of such action, long before Congress set this firm Sunday deadline. The Trump administration, in 2020, attempted to shut down TikTok.”

“We didn’t pull the rug out from under TikTok, and we didn’t ban it. Instead, Congress simply demanded that the app could no longer be owned and controlled by our nation’s worst enemy, communist China,” Cotton said.

Citing warnings from intelligence officials that the app poses national security risks, lawmakers crossed the aisle last April to pass the legislation and Biden signed it into law. An initial vote in the U.S. House in March garnered overwhelming bipartisan support at 352-65.

However, according to NBC News, Biden does not plan to enforce the law during his last day in office, leaving it to the incoming Trump administration to levy fines against app stores or internet hosting companies that make the platform available in the U.S. beyond the law’s deadline.

Trump, who signed an executive order in 2020 banning TikTok unless it broke from ByteDance, reversed his position last year.

A source familiar with Trump’s inauguration plans confirmed to States Newsroom Thursday that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will be seated on the dais as Trump takes the oath of office Monday.

TikTok sued to block the law, eventually appealing to the Supreme Court.

Justices heard arguments Friday but have yet to issue their decision on whether to block the law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok.

The company maintains it is not owned by China. TikTok’s lawyer Noel Francisco said in a press conference following Supreme Court arguments that ByteDance is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, though 21% is owned by a Chinese national who lives in Singapore. Francisco also said TikTok’s source code for the algorithm is stored on servers in Virginia.