Confusion and legal issues surround the Trump administration's directive to stop federal financing. A Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Additionally, the Year of the Snake officially begins today. What to know today is as follows. Trump s efforts to withhold federal funding sets up a constitutional showdown A buyout offer for some 2 million federal employees and an order to stop federal funding this week brought President Donald Trump's goal of reducing government spending into greater focus. With a few exceptions, all full-time federal employees are eligible for benefits and salary through the end of September under the Trump administration's offer. According to a senior administration official, they anticipate that between 5 and 10% of the workforc...

HONOLULU About a year after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century destroyed Lahaina in 2023, Hawaii Governor Josh Green announced a $4 billion settlement, highlighting the deal's haste to avoid drawn-out and agonizing legal proceedings. But five months later, as a court determines how to split the payout, a unique trial that begins Wednesday will explore challenging issues regarding survivors' losses. While some victims will testify in person, others have provided pre-recorded statements detailing their agony, which has been heightened by the recent devastation in Los Angeles. Fault will not be established by the trial. Large landowners, the state, and Hawaiian Electric, one of the defendants held responsible for the fire, have already consented to the settlement sum. The amount of mo...

As tens of millions gathered to take a sacred dip on the most auspicious day of the six-week Hindu festival, a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India on Wednesday resulted in at least seven fatalities and approximately ten injuries, according to an official. According to Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state, which is home to the festival city of Prayagraj, the rush happened between 1 and 2 a.m. (2:30 and 3:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday) close to the ascetics' arena, where barricades had been erected to control people during their holy plunge. In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sympathies to followers who have lost loved ones, but he did not say how many people had died. According to him, the local government is working to assist the victims ...

When Fed policymakers conclude their first policy meeting of the second Trump administration on Tuesday, they are likely to leave interest rates unchanged. President Donald Trump, who has pushed the central bank to decrease interest rates, would probably be irritated by that. Trump made broad statements during a videoconference last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying, "I'll demand that interest rates drop immediately." Similarly, they ought to be dropping everywhere. Interest rates ought to track us everywhere. The comments continued Trump's practice of making his monetary policy opinions public, which American presidents have typically shied away from in order to preserve the Fed's independence from politics. In follow-up remarks following his Davos speech, he...

Immigration enforcement actions have begun to spread throughout major U.S. cities since President Donald Trump returned to office. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 956 persons were taken into custody on Sunday. However, according to an NBC News report, immigration officials made around 1,200 arrests that day, but only 613 of them—or roughly 52%—were classified as criminal arrests. The remaining individuals seemed to be either nonviolent criminals or those who had only crossed the border illegally. Being undocumented is not a criminal; rather, it is a civil offense. The following day, the number of arrests increased once further, according to the agency, which reported that 1,179 arrests and 853 detainers were made on Monday. There has been worry that law-abiding...

Editor's note: The following is taken from Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes' upcoming book FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House (copyright2025), which William Morrow is scheduled to publish on April 1. HarperCollins Publishers is responsible for the reprinting. As her sugar high wore off in September and early October, Vice President Kamala Harris was struggling in softball interviews. However, she would have to subject herself to difficult interrogation if she needed to increase her support. When it came to guys, especially young men who weren't purchasing her goods, that was especially crucial. Joe Rogan is the obvious choice. With almost 15 million Spotify subscribers, Rogan, a late 1990s sitcom star who is now a bro-with-a-brain podcaster, had a following that dwarfed the...

People who lived near the wildfires that raged through Southern California this month had to make the difficult choice of what possessions to keep safe from the flames and what to abandon. They had little time to think about their options because of how quickly the fires were spreading. Some fled for their life, taking nothing at all, while embers soared into the air and the sky above them became orange. Others hurriedly packed a variety of necessities and personal pleasures, such as their children's favorite stuffed animals and passports. According to officials, the wildfires have destroyed hundreds of homes and other structures and claimed the lives of at least 29 people. Psychologists agree that losing almost everything one owns causes a special kind of anguish for people whose homes we...

Police in Florida have charged an elementary school principal and a teacher with child abuse after an inebriated adolescent house party that featured antics fit for a high school film. According to Cocoa Beach police, a party hosted by a Cocoa Beach High School student on January 19 at the residence of Roosevelt Elementary School Principal Elizabeth Hill-Brodigan drew over 100 guests, including minors and underage drinkers. Police said that Hill-Brodigan and teacher Karly Anderson neglected to provide appropriate care for children during the celebrations. According to Florida law, Hill-Brodigan is accused of child negligence, contributing to a minor's delinquency, and throwing a "open house party" that included alcohol that was available to minors. Anderson is accused of contributing to a ...

President Donald Trump's nominee for the next secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is scheduled to appear before the Senate on Wednesday for his first confirmation hearing. He is anticipated to be questioned about his opinions on abortion and vaccines, as well as any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in the position. Although a number of Trump's Cabinet choices have caused controversy, few have sparked as much outside opposition from the left and right as former third-party presidential candidate John F. Kennedy has. Kennedy has been the target of derogatory paid advertising efforts, with conservatives denouncing his views on abortion and liberals condemning his anti-vaccine views. Nobel laureates and doctors have publicly warned about him and charged...

Just when the federal government was beginning to make progress on addressing racial inequities related to pulse oximeters, the Trump administration's attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives pose a threat to halt these efforts. Dr. Michael Lipnick, an anesthesiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who focuses on figuring out how pulse oximeters work on different skin tones, expressed his concern. We have been attempting to determine the next source of funding. Historically, federal health agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Food and Drug Administration have provided 80% of Lipnick's research funding. That money's future is now in doubt. Last week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting DEI init...