Trump Admin Layoffs and International Tensions Rise – 4/1/2025

The Trump administration has initiated significant layoffs across federal agencies like the CDC, FDA, and HHS, targeting 10,000 jobs, while Attorney General Pam Bondi pushes aggressive legal actions, including death penalty pursuits. Internationally, tensions escalate as Russia rejects a U.S. peace plan for Ukraine, Putin orders a massive draft, and Trump approves the UK’s transfer of Chagos sovereignty to Mauritius.

United States

  • IRS budget cuts may halt major audits, potentially costing the government billions, per FORTUNE
  • Democrats sue Trump over executive order mandating citizenship proof for voting, per Fox
  • DOGE chief Elon Musk to probe how Congress members amass wealth in office
  • Elon Musk reveals chart of millions of noncitizens issued Social Security numbers, per NYP
  • Sen. Cory Booker speaks for 14+ hours on Senate floor, targeting Trump, Musk, and DOGE, per NBC News
  • Trump admin starts mass layoffs at CDC and FDA, aiming to cut 10,000 jobs, per Reuters
  • Border Czar Tom Homan says criminal aliens will be deported despite legal blocks
  • Trump admin threatens ABC’s license over Disney’s DEI hiring practices, per The Independent
  • Sen. Grassley’s new bill curbs judges from blocking Trump’s agenda with broad injunctions
  • Idaho and Missouri purge hundreds of thousands from voter rolls this month
  • Elon Musk reclaims world’s richest title with a record $342 billion fortune, per Forbes
  • SpaceX to launch first human orbital mission over Earth’s poles, per Space
  • AG Pamela Bondi directs prosecutors to seek death penalty for Luigi Mangione
  • Trump admin admits to mistakenly deporting Maryland immigrant to El Salvador mega-prison, per The Washington Post
  • Fox News’ Watters shrugs off wrongful deportation to El Salvador mega-prison, saying false arrests are common, per Media Matters
  • Trump signs order to curb ticket-price gouging by brokers and middlemen, per The Wall Street Journal
  • Hooters files for bankruptcy in Texas, aims to sell restaurants to founders’ franchise group, per Reuters
  • HHS begins laying off employees, with up to 10,000 jobs cut in major overhaul, per PBS News
  • Local governments eye ex-federal workers as Trump and DOGE slash workforce, per Bloomberg News
  • Florida and Wisconsin elections to test Trump’s GOP support against rising Democratic push, per The New York Times
  • Gunmen rob Richard Sherman’s home with family inside, linked to Bucks player burglary, per NBC News
  • Federal judge rules Alabama can’t prosecute doctors aiding out-of-state abortions, per Axios
  • AG Pam Bondi to pursue death penalty for Luigi Mangione in UnitedHealthcare exec’s murder, per The New York Times
  • Alabama shrimpers urge Trump admin for tariffs on cheap foreign shrimp to level the playing field, per NBC News
  • Elon claims DOGE recovered 1TB of deleted U.S. Institute of Peace data tied to Taliban funding
  • AG Pam Bondi vows to prosecute all fraud uncovered by DOGE

Western States

  • San Francisco’s new speeding ticket program adjusts fines by income, offering discounts

International

  • Trump approves UK transferring Chagos sovereignty to Mauritius with a 99-year lease
  • Putin orders Russia’s largest draft since 2011, calling up 160,000 men, per BBC
  • Argentina rushes to secure U.S. trade deal before Trump’s tariffs hit, per Reuters
  • More Albertans push for secession to join the U.S. as the 51st state
  • British-Gambian Cornell student leaves US after deportation threat over pro-Palestinian protests, per The New York Times
  • Channel 4 boss warns AI firms threaten UK’s £125bn creative sector by exploiting copyright, per The Guardian
  • Volcano erupts south of Iceland’s capital, prompting evacuations but not halting flights, per NBC News
  • Brett Gardner’s 14-year-old son may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning in Costa Rica, per NBC News
  • Myanmar earthquake death toll hits 2,700, with junta expecting over 3,000 fatalities, per NBC News
  • US sanctions Iran, UAE, and China entities tied to Tehran’s weapons network as Trump ramps up pressure, per Reuters
  • Russia rejects US peace plan for Ukraine, demanding Kyiv cede annexed regions and abandon NATO ambitions, per The Guardian
  • Argentina’s President Milei once hosted paid dinners for execs as a congressman, sources say, per Bloomberg News