Closing summary
As another frenetic day of the second Trump administration draws to a close, we will be wrapping up for the night. We will resume our live coverage on Wednesday morning. In the meantime, here is an overview of the day’s developments.
Executive order to pause federal grants causes ‘chaos’ and ‘uncertainty’ critics say. Democrats and advocacy groups blasted the order to pause federal grants, warning its effects would sow chaos.
Trump fires Democratic National Labor Relations Board member. Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve on the labor board, calls move illegal.
Reports of widespread DoJ firings spark outrage. The top Democrats on the House judiciary and oversight committees are demanding answers.
Medicare portals down across the country. Numerous lawmakers report access to Medicaid funds had been frozen in states across the country, despite White House officials’ claims that the program would not be affected by the federal grant pause.
A federal judge ordered a temporary halt to the Trump administration’s sweeping directive to pause federal loans, grants and other financial assistance.
Trump signs an executive order prohibiting gender transitions for people under the age of 19.
Hegseth plans to investigate and punish Milley. Mark Milley, the retired army general who served as chair of the joint chiefs of staff under Donald Trump and Joe Biden, is to be stripped of his security detail and possibly demoted, senior administration officials tell Fox.
White House email demands all federal employees return to in-person work or resign. Employees have until 6 February to accept conditions or take buyout worth about 7 months pay.
Elon Musk appears to take credit for ‘fork in the road’ email to federal employees. Email sent to 2 million federal workers on Tuesday had same subject line as email Musk sent to Twitter employees in 2022, demanding “hard core” work or resignation.
Fact or fiction? White House claims US spent $50m on condoms for Gaza. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt cited no evidence for claim of wasteful foreign aid; USAid accounting suggests it is probably false.
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Elon Musk appears to take credit for 'fork in the road' email to federal employees
The mass email sent to about two million federal workers on Tuesday, with the subject line, Fork in the Road, has now been posted in full on the website of the US office of personnel management.
That subject line seems to offer a clue as to who came up with the idea of demanding that anyone who wants to keep their job sign up to harsher new conditions. As Kate Conger and Ryan Mac reported in their book Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, the mass email Musk sent to Twitter employees in 2022, demanding that they agree to be “hardcore” and work “long hours at high intensity” came with the very same subject line.
The email sent on Tuesday used more refined language to make the same points, saying that “enhanced standards of conduct” would be applied to ensure that workers were “reliable, loyal, trustworthy” and that those who “engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination”.
Apparently eager to take credit for the latest mass email, Musk pinned a post to his profile on the platform formerly known as Twitter on Tuesday with a photograph of a giant fork, which he said was an art piece he commissioned two years ago, titled, A Fork in the Road.
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