4 h. ago Trump reportedly wants to shrink size and focus of state department; climate agency braces for more cuts – live

President wants radical overhaul of state department, including fewer diplomats and embassies, Politico reports; Noaa expects more cuts after hundreds firedUS aid cuts have forced the UN children’s agency Unicef to suspend or scale back many programmes in Lebanon, with more than half of children under the age of two experiencing severe food poverty in the country’s east, a Unicef official said on Friday.“We have been forced to suspend or cut back or drastically reduce many of our programmes and that includes nutrition programmes,” Unicef’s deputy representative in Lebanon, Ettie Higgins, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Beirut, Reuters reports. Continue reading...

Politics

5 h. ago Ruling blocks Trump’s mass firings at agencies; RFK Jr fails to address measles outbreak – US politics live

Ruling called victory for Americans ‘illegally fired from their jobs’, while anonymous official tells NBC Kennedy has done nothing about outbreakUS aid cuts have forced the UN children’s agency Unicef to suspend or scale back many programmes in Lebanon, with more than half of children under the age of two experiencing severe food poverty in the country’s east, a Unicef official said on Friday.“We have been forced to suspend or cut back or drastically reduce many of our programmes and that includes nutrition programmes,” Unicef’s deputy representative in Lebanon, Ettie Higgins, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Beirut, Reuters reports. Continue reading...

Politics

7 h. ago Labor unions cheer court ruling that blocked Trump’s mass firings – US politics live

Lawyers for the unions hail ruling as ‘important initial victory’The Russian foreign ministry praised the latest round of talks with the United States in a statement on Friday, calling them “substantive and businesslike.”Russian and US teams held six hours of talks in Turkey on Thursday to try to restore the normal functioning of their embassies, and President Vladimir Putin said initial contacts with Donald Trump’s administration had inspired hope. Continue reading...

Politics

9 h. ago Trump live updates: Judge blocks mass firing of federal workers in blow to Musk and DOGE

California justice rules Office of Personnel Management ‘does not have any authority whatsoever’ to remove probationary staff from any agency other than its own

Politics

15 h. ago Trump administration briefing: hundreds fired from US climate agency as Americans feel economy getting worse

Democrats warn that cutting jobs at Noaa ‘will cost American lives’ – key US politics stories from Wednesday at a glanceThe Trump administration has fired hundreds of workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the US’s pre-eminent climate research agency housed within the Department of Commerce, the Guardian learned on Thursday.“This will cost American lives,” said Democratic congresswoman and ranking member of the House science, space and technology committee, Zoe Lofgren, in a written statement. Her comments were issued alongside congressman Gabe Amo’s, the ranking member of the subcommittee on environment, after news of the firings broke. Continue reading...

Politics

18 h. ago Judge temporarily blocks Trump’s mass firings at federal agencies

Judge says office of personnel management lacks power to order firings, including those of probationary employeesA federal judge in California has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ordering the US defense department and other agencies to carry out the mass firings of some employees.The US district judge William Alsup said in San Francisco on Thursday that the US office of personnel management (OPM) lacked the power to order federal agencies to fire any workers, including probationary employees who typically have less than a year of experience. Continue reading...

Politics

19 h. ago ‘Cruel and thoughtless’: Trump fires hundreds at US climate agency Noaa

Employees informed by email that their jobs would be cut off at end of day in move a worker called ‘wrong all around’Don’t let a billionaire’s algorithm control what you read. Download our free app to get trusted reporting.The Trump administration has fired hundreds of workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the US’s pre-eminent climate research agency housed within the Department of Commerce, the Guardian has learned.On Thursday afternoon, the commerce department sent emails to employees saying their jobs would be cut off at the end of the day, in a move that one worker called “wrong all around”. Other government agencies have also seen massive staffing cuts in recent days. Continue reading...

Politics

21 h. ago Millions of immigrants to be surveilled under Trump, largest US immigration contractor says

Geo Group, an Ice partner, is moving at ‘unprecedented speed’ to build out its monitoring, executive chair saysThe Geo Group, the largest single private contractor to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), said it is building out its surveillance business to be able to monitor hundreds of thousands or millions more immigrants than it already does.The Geo Group, a private prison corporation and parent company of BI Inc, has contracted with Ice for nearly 20 years to manage the agency’s electronic monitoring program. It currently tracks approximately 186,000 immigrants using devices such as ankle monitors, smart watches and a facial recognition app, according to public Ice data. Due to increasing demand from Donald Trump’s administration, which has promised mass deportations, company executives said that they expect that number to grow past its previous peak of 370,000 to 450,000 immigrants within the next year. The remarks were made during the company’s fourth quarter earnings...

Events

21 h. ago Ice contractor plans for surveillance boom under Trump migrant crackdown

Geo Group, an Ice partner, is moving at ‘unprecedented speed’ to build out its monitoring, executive chair saysThe Geo Group, the largest single private contractor to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), said it was building out its surveillance business to be able to monitor hundreds of thousands or millions more immigrants than it already does.The Geo Group, a private prison corporation and parent company of BI Inc, has contracted with Ice for nearly 20 years to manage the agency’s electronic monitoring program. It currently tracks approximately 186,000 immigrants using devices such as ankle monitors, smart watches and a facial recognition app, according to public Ice data. Due to increasing demand from Donald Trump’s administration, which has promised mass deportations, company executives said that they expect that number to grow past its previous peak of 370,000 to 450,000 immigrants within the next year. The remarks were made during the company’s fourth-quarter earning...

Politics

37 h. ago USAID workers will be given 15 minutes to clear their workspaces as the agency gets dismantled

Thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development workers who have been fired or placed on leave as part of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the agency are being given a brief window Thursday and Friday to clear out their workspaces

Politics

62 h. ago Strangeways inmate caught orchestrating £1m cocaine operation from prison cell

Nico Logan, 31, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in December 2016 for firearms and drug offences and was unmasked after law enforcement agencies hacked the servers of EncroChat

Events

3 d. ago Trump defends Musk as backlash to federal workers ultimatum grows

President intervenes amid first signs of internal dissension as government departments push backDonald Trump has stepped in to defend Elon Musk from a mounting backlash in his own administration after some cabinet members told US federal workers to ignore the billionaire entrepreneur’s demand that they write an email justifying their work.The US president was driven to intervene amid the first signs of internal dissension over the disruptive impact of Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), which Trump has authorised to seek mass firings in the federal workforce and reduce supposed waste and corruption. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago ‘We’re being treated as grifters or terrorists’: US federal workers on the fear and chaos of their firings

An educator, archaeologist and scientist were among the thousands of government workers culled by Musk’s agencyThe Trump administration has fired at least 20,000 government employees in its first month, as Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) dramatically overhauls work at federal agencies. Some economists have speculated that these terminations, which could affect nearly 300,000 workers, will be the biggest job cuts in US history.Most of the workers cut were in probationary periods and lacked job protections that come with longer terms of employment. In social media spaces, especially the r/fednews subreddit, these workers described scenes of confusion and feelings of anger directed at Musk, an unelected billionaire dubbed a “special government employee” by the White House. Last week, unions for federal workers sued the Trump administration for unlawfully using probationary periods to cut staff. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago The Latest: Musk renews threat to fire federal workers despite pushback from various agencies

Elon Musk is vowing yet again to fire any federal workers who don’t respond to an email asking them to list five things they accomplished last week

Events

4 d. ago Trump administration fires 1,600 USAID workers, moves to wind up agency

Nearly all of the agency’s global staff have been placed on leave

Politics

5 d. ago US politics live: Donald Trump addresses Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland

US president’s appearance comes after chaotic week with mass layoffs and ire directed at Ukraine leaderDonald Trump launched into his speech by assailing “the fraudsters, liars globalists and deep-state bureaucrats” that he said “are being sent back”.“We’re draining the swamp and restoring government by the people for the people,” he said before going on to his oft-repeated claims of Washington DC being controlled by a “sinister group of radical-left Marxist warmongers”. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Top immigration enforcement official reassigned amid frustrations over mass deportation effort

The top official in charge of carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportations agenda has been reassigned amid concerns that the deportation effort isn’t moving quickly enough

Politics

7 d. ago US Senate passes budget resolution to fund Trump’s deportation plan

Bill approving $175bn for border security and extra $150bn for Pentagon faces tough challenge in HouseUS politics live – latest updatesThe US Senate has passed a budget resolution that paves the way for funding Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan after his “border czar” said there were insufficient funds for the operation.A 10-hour marathon session – dubbed a “vote-a-rama” – concluded in the early hours of Friday morning with a 52-48 vote almost entirely on party lines in favor of a spending structure that would see $175bn reserved for border security, including Trump’s prized border wall with Mexico, and a $150bn boost to the Pentagon budget. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Senate passes budget funding Trump’s mass deportations; Pentagon reportedly delays firing civilians – US politics live

Republicans approve spending plan that will pay for hardline immigration policies; sackings on hold amid concerns they could hit military readinessMass firings could cause ‘monumental’ bill, say expertsNational security adviser Mike Waltz told a crowd of Donald Trump loyalists that he believes the president will receive the Nobel peace prize.“This is the presidency of peace. He’s going to end the war in Europe. He is going to end the wars in the Middle East. He is going to reinvest the United States and our leadership in our own hemisphere, from the Arctic to the border to Panama all the way down to our good friends in Argentina,” Waltz told the Conservative Political Action Conference.The pause comes after CNN reported on Wednesday that the mass terminations, which could affect over 50,000 civilian employees across the Pentagon, could run afoul of Title 10 section 129a of the US code. Following that report, Pentagon lawyers began reviewing the legality of the planned terminations m...

Politics

7 d. ago Senate passes budget funding Trump’s mass deportations; federal workers brace for more firings – US politics live

Senate Republicans approve spending plan that will pay for hardline immigration policies; mass layoffs get all-clear after judge lifts blockMass firings could cause ‘monumental’ bill, say expertsThe defense department will delay a plan to fire civilian employees on probation as it assess whether the move complies with the law and if it affects military readiness, CNN reports.The cuts were to be made as part of Donald Trump’s effort to dramatically downsize the federal government, which is being led by Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency”. Here’s more, from CNN:The pause comes after CNN reported on Wednesday that the mass terminations, which could affect over 50,000 civilian employees across the Pentagon, could run afoul of Title 10 section 129a of the US code. Following that report, Pentagon lawyers began reviewing the legality of the planned terminations more closely, the officials said.That law says that the secretary of defense “may not reduce the civilian workforce ...

Politics