A coalition of state attorneys general sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its decision to initiatives and across the country. in federal court in Rhode Island.
Here's the latest:
Trump鈥檚 Joint chiefs nominee downplays concerns of military involvement in domestic law enforcement
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, pressed retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine on whether he would follow orders from the president to use the military in domestic matters like law enforcement.
Duckworth accused Trump of engaging in 鈥渢hreat inflation鈥� of domestic protests to justify military involvement on issues like protests, immigration or free speech.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 strong systems in place, legal systems in place, that prevent any missteps there,鈥� said Caine.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, asked Caine whether he would push back on an order by Trump 鈥渢o use the military in a way that was unconstitutional.鈥� She argued that Trump had made such orders during his first term and promised to do so during his reelection campaign.
鈥淚 will senator. I don鈥檛 expect that to happen, but I will,鈥� Caine said.
Sen. Cory Booker passes the 17-hour mark in his speech to protest Trump鈥檚 actions
Booker, who鈥檚 55, started speaking Monday evening and hasn鈥檛 left the Senate floor since. As it rolled into Tuesday afternoon, Booker鈥檚 performance is currently the sixth longest in Senate history.
The record for the longest individual speech belongs to of South Carolina, who filibustered for against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Only one other sitting senators has spoken for longer than Booker. In 2013, Sen. , a Republican of Texas, held the floor for 21 hours and 19 minutes to contest the Affordable Care Act.
Among hardest-hit in HHS layoffs is the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
The agency is losing more than 1,000 employees.
NIOSH is based in Cincinnati but also has people in Pittsburgh; Spokane and Morgantown, West Virginia.
Micah Niemeier-Walsh, vice president of the union local representing NIOSH employees in Cincinnati, said the union had heard reports that around 850 of the center鈥檚 employees are receiving notices, including the center鈥檚 director.
The cuts are hitting mining safety research, work on developing personal protective technology, a firefighter cancer registry, and a lab that鈥檚 key in the certification of respirators for industry. Niemeier-Walsh called the cuts 鈥渁 very pointed attack on workers in this country.鈥�
Who is Cory Booker, the Democrat from New Jersey holding the Senate floor?
Booker, 55, was born in Washington, D.C., and moved to northern New Jersey when he was a boy. He鈥檚 spoken about growing up in a Black family in a predominantly white neighborhood and how his parents faced opposition when they tried to buy a house.
He played football in college at Stanford University before attending Yale Law School and then worked as an attorney in nonprofits, giving legal aid to poorer families. Elected to the Newark City Council and then as mayor of the state鈥檚 biggest city, he served there until 2013.
His time in office coincided with to the city鈥檚 public schools, a boon that burnished his status as a Democratic rising star at the time.
Booker also ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2020.
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Trump says he spoke with Egypt鈥檚 President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi
In a Tuesday post on his social media platform, Trump said the pair discussed U.S. military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, as well as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and 鈥減ossible solutions鈥� to the conflict, as well as 鈥渕ilitary preparedness.鈥�
US sanctions people and firms in UAE, China and Iran for helping to procure drone parts
The Tuesday sanctions were against a network of six firms and two people based in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and China who are allegedly responsible for procuring drone components on behalf of Iranian drone manufacturers.
They mark the second round of sanctions targeting Iranian weapons proliferators since President Trump signed an executive order in February imposing a 鈥渞estoring maximum pressure鈥� campaign on Iran meant to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Treasury will continue to target Iranian drones 鈥渕issiles, and conventional weapons that often end up in the hands of destabilizing actors, including terrorist proxies.鈥�
Mexican president: 鈥榃hat they鈥檙e going to announce on April 2 isn鈥檛 against Mexico鈥�
After previously saying Mexico would seek 鈥減referential treatment鈥� with Trump and his tariffs, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum shifted her tone Tuesday to note the tariffs set to go into effect on Wednesday weren鈥檛 targeting Mexico.
鈥淲hat they鈥檙e going to announce on April 2 isn鈥檛 against Mexico, it鈥檚 not against Canada. It鈥檚 a policy of the United States to the entire world,鈥� Sheinbaum said in her morning news briefing.
That said, if tariffs go into effect, Mexico would be dealt a particularly hard blow, as much of its economy is intertwined with the U.S., especially the auto sector.
While other leaders have butted heads with Trump, Sheinbaum has assumed a less confrontational approach, following through on U.S. demands in the hope that doing so will offset the bulk of American populist鈥檚 threats.
Speaker Johnson says tariffs may be 鈥榬ocky鈥� at first
鈥淵ou have to trust the president鈥檚 instincts on the economy,鈥� Johnson said.
He said he expects the tariffs to go forward as Trump promised.
鈥淲e鈥檒l see how it all develops,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t may be rocky in the beginning. But I think that this will make sense for Americans and help all Americans.鈥�
House Speaker Mike Johnson says he and Trump have talked about a third term
鈥淭here鈥檚 a constitutional path. You have to amend the constitution to do this, and that鈥檚 a high bar,鈥� said Johnson, a lawyer who specialized in constitutional issues.
鈥淚 think he recognizes the constitutional limitations,鈥� he said.
The Republican speaker says Trump has joked with him about the idea. He said he takes the president 鈥渁t his word.鈥�
Florida Republicans face off against well-funded Democrats in US House special elections
Tuesday鈥檚 special elections for two Florida congressional seats in heavily pro-Trump districts have become an unexpected source of concern for national Republicans as Democrats have poured into the races.
Both seats opened when Trump chose their representatives for jobs in his second administration. Matt Gaetz was briefly nominated to be Trump鈥檚 attorney general before withdrawing, while Mike Waltz became national security adviser.
Florida state Sen. Randy Fine, running for Waltz鈥檚 seat, and state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, running to replace Gaetz, are widely expected to hold the seats in their reliably conservative districts, which would give Republicans a 220 to 213 advantage over Democrats in the U.S. House.
But both have been outraised by their Democratic counterparts, and Republicans in Florida and Washington have begun trying to distance themselves from any potential underperformance.
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Hundreds of HHS employees wait in line wrapping around building to find out if their job is gone
As a biting spring wind whipped around them, staffers waited for as long as an hour outside the health department鈥檚 Washington offices to get scanned into the building.
As many as 10,000 workers are expected to lose their jobs Tuesday and some are finding out as they try to enter the building that they no longer have jobs. Laid off staffers are being asked to immediately turn in their badges and cellphones at the door.
One staffer waiting in line loudly joked: 鈥淚s this an April Fool鈥檚 joke?鈥�
Caine says uniformed guard shouldn鈥檛 have been in Houthi attack Signal chat
During retired Lt. Gen. John Caine鈥檚 confirmation hearing for joint chiefs chairman, Sen. Jack Reed asked him whether top uniformed military leaders should have participated in a controversial Signal chat in which U.S. officials discussed battle plans.
鈥淔rom what I understand of that chat, it was a partisan political chat and so the joint force should not have been represented in there,鈥� Caine said.
Caine declined to comment on whether senior U.S. officials, including the vice president, defense secretary, secretary of state and national security advisor, should have discussed battle plans on an unclassified, commercial application.
鈥淲hat I will say is we should always preserve the element of surprise,鈥� Caine said. He noted that the Senate Armed Services Committee had requested an inquiry into the matter.
Joint chiefs chairman nominee for the first time publicly denies he had ever worn a MAGA hat
President Trump has told a story about retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine saying he wore one of the hats when the two met some years ago.
When asked about the story during the Senate Armed Services hearing on his confirmation, Caine said, 鈥淔or 34 years, I鈥檝e upheld my oath of office and my commitment to my commission. And I have never worn any political merchandise.鈥�
He added that he thinks Trump must have been 鈥渢alking about somebody else.鈥�
Trump administration sued over decision to rescind billions in health funding
A coalition of state attorneys general sued the administration Tuesday over its decision to initiatives and across the country.
Officials from 23 states filed the suit in federal court in Rhode Island. They include New York Attorney General Letitia James, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as well as attorneys general California, Minnesota, North Carolina, Wisconsin and New York , as well as the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit argues the 鈥渟udden and reckless cuts violate federal law, jeopardize public health, and will have devastating consequences for communities nationwide.鈥�
The lawsuit asks the court to immediately stop the Trump administration from rescinding the money, which was allocated by Congress during the pandemic and mostly used for COVID-related efforts such as testing and vaccination. The money also went to .
Federal health officials announced the decision to claw back the money a week ago.
Sen. Cory Booker鈥檚 floor speech stretches into its 15th hour
The New Jersey senator has been speaking through the night to protest President Trump鈥檚 agenda.
Booker鈥檚 speech is now among the longest marathon-speaking performances in Senate history. Only eight others have held the Senate floor for longer.
Booker is visibly exhausted as he continues his speech.
National Institutes of Health layoffs arrive on the new director鈥檚 first day on the job
The Tuesday layoffs, coming on new director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya鈥檚 first day, are part of a larger effort by the Trump administration and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reduce the size of the Health and Human Services department by about 25%.
At the NIH, the cuts included at least four directors of the NIH鈥檚 27 institutes and centers who were put on administrative leave, and nearly entire communications staffs were terminated, according to an agency senior leader, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution.
An email viewed by The Associated Press shows some senior-level employees of the Bethesda, Maryland, campus who were placed on leave were offered a possible transfer to the Indian Health Service in locations including Alaska and given until end of Wednesday to respond.
鈥� Lauran Neegaard
Trump鈥檚 pick for Joint Chiefs chairman strikes humble, apolitical tone in Senate hearing
President Trump鈥檚 nominee to become the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Air Force told senators Tuesday he understands he鈥檚 an unknown and unconventional nominee 鈥� but the nation is facing unconventional and unprecedented threats, and he鈥檚 ready to serve in its defense.
鈥淚 realize for many Americans I am an unknown leader,鈥� Caine said in his opening remarks. He spoke of serving under presidents of both parties and of his wide span of experience, which also included service in the National Guard, the private sector and the CIA.
Advocacy organizations file lawsuit to block Trump executive order to overhaul US elections
The complaint filed Tuesday in federal district court in Washington is the to the order in two days after national Democrats and a pair of nonprofits filed two other lawsuits Monday.
The suit brought by the Brennan Center for Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union and others argues Trump鈥檚 call for a proof-of-citizenship requirement to register to vote violates the U.S. Constitution.
Other legal experts have raised similar concerns, since the Constitution鈥檚 so-called 鈥淓lections Clause鈥� gives states and Congress the power to regulate federal elections.
Republicans have argued a proof-of-citizenship requirement will help secure elections against illegal noncitizen voting, which . The White House didn鈥檛 immediately respond to a request for comment.
US-Canada-Mexico joint World Cup goes from unity to acrimony thanks to tariffs and 鈥�51st state鈥� talk
Seven years ago, when a joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico was awarded the , rifts created by tariffs 鈥� yes, back then, too! 鈥� and a proposed border wall were glossed over because of the neighbors鈥� longstanding political and economic alliances.
was the overriding theme articulated by Carlos Cordeiro, then-president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. 鈥淎 powerful message,鈥� he called it.
Well, here we are now, with the soccer showcase arriving in North America in about 15 months, and Trump back in office 鈥� inciting trade wars between the neighbors, not to mention across the globe, by levying that come, then go, then return, , including what the Republican calls 鈥� 鈥� starting .
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The 鈥榖ig six鈥� GOP leaders from Treasury and Congress to meet on tax cuts
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to meet with congressional Republicans again Tuesday afternoon as they edge closer to agreement on a budget framework for Trump鈥檚 tax breaks.
Senate GOP Leader John Thune is hoping to launch votes on the package this week. But differences remain, particularly over GOP spending cuts.
Wall Street falls early with Trump鈥檚 鈥楲iberation Day鈥� tariffs on trade partners now a day away
Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.5% before the bell Tuesday morning, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%. Nasdaq futures also headed 0.5% lower.
rose to over $3,170.00 per ounce early Tuesday before falling back slightly. Gold is hitting all-time highs as with markets destabilized by Trump鈥檚 tariff threats.
On Wednesday, the United States is set to begin what Trump calls 鈥� 鈥� tariffs. Yet little is known about exactly who will be targeted and what the tariff scheme will be.
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Europe says it holds a lot of trade cards on the eve of Trump鈥檚 tariff 鈥楲iberation Day鈥�
A top European Union official warned the U.S. on Tuesday that the world鈥檚 biggest trade bloc 鈥渉olds a lot of cards鈥� when it comes to dealing with the Trump administration鈥檚 new tariffs and has a good plan to retaliate if forced to.
Trump has promised to roll out from other countries Wednesday. He says they will free the U.S. from reliance on foreign goods.
He鈥檚 vowed to impose to match the duties that other countries charge on U.S. products, dubbing April 2
鈥淓urope has not started this confrontation. We do not necessarily want to retaliate, but if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it,鈥� European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers.
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Control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court at stake in race that鈥檚 drawn powerful political interests
The race, which will be decided Tuesday, broke records for spending and has become a proxy battle for the nation鈥檚 political fights, pitting a candidate against a Democratic-aligned challenger.
Republicans including Trump and the world鈥檚 wealthiest person, , lined up behind , a former state attorney general. Democrats like former President Barack Obama and billionaire megadonor George Soros backed , a Dane County judge who led legal fights to protect union power and and to oppose voter ID.
The first major election in the country since November is seen as a litmus test of how voters feel about Trump鈥檚 first months back in office and the role played by Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency has torn through federal agencies and laid off thousands of workers. on Sunday to make a pitch for Schimel and personally hand out $1 million checks to two voters.
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New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker carries an all-night speech to protest Trump鈥檚 agenda
Booker took to the Senate floor Monday evening saying he would remain there as long as he was 鈥減hysically able.鈥� He was still on the floor Tuesday morning more than 12 hours later.
鈥淭hese are not normal times in our nation,鈥� Booker said at the start of his speech. 鈥淎nd they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.鈥�
Booker railed against cuts to and spoke to concerns that broader cuts to the social safety net could be coming, though Republican lawmakers say .
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Trump鈥檚 schedule for Tuesday
At 12:30 p.m., President Trump and Vice President JD Vance will have lunch at the White House. At 3 p.m., Trump will sign executive orders. There will also be a press briefing held at noon today, according to the White House.
FDA鈥檚 top tobacco official is removed from post in latest blow to health agency鈥檚 leadership
The Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 chief tobacco regulator has been removed from his post amid sweeping cuts at the agency and across the federal health workforce handed down Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.
In an email to staff, FDA tobacco director Brian King said: 鈥淚t is with a heavy heart and profound disappointment that I share I have been placed on administrative leave.鈥�
King was removed from his position and offered reassignment to the Indian Health Service, according to a person familiar with the matter who did not have permission to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Dozens of staffers in FDA鈥檚 tobacco center also received notices of dismissal Tuesday morning, including the entire office responsible for enforcing tobacco regulations.
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鈥� Matthew Perrone
Trump has dubbed April 2 鈥楲iberation Day鈥� for his tariffs. Here鈥檚 what to expect
Trump has repeatedly called April 2 with promises to roll out a set of tariffs, or from other countries, that he says will free the U.S. from a reliance on foreign goods. To do this, Trump has said he鈥檒l impose to match the duties that other countries charge on U.S. products.
But a lot remains unknown about how these levies will actually be implemented. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Trump would unveil his plans on Wednesday, but maintained that the details are up to the president to announce.
Since taking office just months ago, Trump has proven to be with tariff threats, all while creating a sense of whiplash through . And it鈥檚 possible that we鈥檒l see more delays or confusion this week.
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Layoffs begin at US health agencies
Employees across the massive U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began receiving notices of dismissal on Tuesday in expected to ultimately lay off up to 10,000 people.
The notices come just days after Trump moved to strip workers of their at HHS and other agencies throughout the government.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.鈥檚 announced a plan last week to remake HHS, which, through its agencies, is responsible for tracking health trends and disease outbreaks, conducting and funding medical research, monitoring the safety of food and medicine, and administering health insurance programs for nearly half of the country.
The plan would consolidate agencies that oversee billions of dollars for and community health centers across the country under a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America.
The layoffs are expected to shrink HHS to 62,000 positions, lopping off nearly a quarter of its staff 鈥� 10,000 jobs through layoffs and another 10,000 workers who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers.
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The Associated Press
