(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration has rescinded a stop-work order it issued earlier this week that cut off funding to organizations that provide pro bono representation and other legal assistance to unaccompanied migrant children, according to a memo obtained by ABC News.
“This letter cancels the Stop Work Order issued February 18,2025,” according to the memo, which was sent to organizations by the Department of Interior.
Earlier this week, the Acacia Center for Justice and its subcontractors were told to halt “all activities” related to the work they do to support migrant youth facing deportation. The organization serves about 26,000 migrant children.
Groups like Acacia and Kids in Need of Defense had called the stop-worker “devastating.”
“To expect a child, you know, especially a five- or six-year-old, to try and figure out their immigration case and how to navigate that system in a language that they don’t speak, it’s virtually impossible,” Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, told ABC News.
There are still thousands of unaccompanied minors representing themselves at immigration courts across the country.
In 2023, only 56% of unaccompanied minors in immigration courts were represented by counsel, according to data from the Department of Justice.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Friday said he’s had “good talks” with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin but not with Ukraine as the U.S. pushes negotiations to end the three-year conflict that began when Putin’s forces invaded its sovereign neighbor.
The comment, made at a gathering of Republican and Democratic governors at the White House, comes as Trump ramps up criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“I’ve had very good talks with Putin,” Trump said. “And I’ve had not such good talks with Ukraine.”
“They don’t have any cards, but they play it tough,” Trump said of Ukraine. “But we’re not we’re not going to let this continue. This war is terrible. It wouldn’t never happened if I were president. But it did happen.”
At a high-level meeting held in Saudi Arabia this week, U.S. and Russian officials agreed to start working together on peace negotiations — marking a seismic diplomatic shift in U.S. foreign policy.
Notably absent from the talks was Ukraine. Zelenskyy criticized the U.S. and Russia for going over Ukraine’s head, and said his country will not accept any agreement they don’t have a hand in negotiating.
Trump responded by calling Zelenskyy a “dictator” and framed Zelenskyy as an illegitimate leader due to the postponement of the country’s 2024 presidential elections until after the war.
The White House has been repeatedly asked if Trump also considers Putin a dictator, but officials, including national security adviser Michael Waltz, have dodged the question.
Zelenskyy pushed back, pointing to polls that show him above 50% and describing Trump’s assertion as parroting Russian “disinformation.”
Trump continued to lash out at Zelenskyy on Friday.
“I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I’ve had it,” Trump said of Zelenskyy during a interview with Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade.
During the interview, Trump was repeatedly pressed about who was to blame for the war but he sidestepped each time. He at one point seemed to concede that Russia did attack Ukraine, but still blamed Ukraine for not making concessions.
“Every time I say, oh, it’s not Russia’s fault, I always get slammed by the fake news. But I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things,” Trump said. “Zelenskyy said the wrong things.”
Trump seemed particularly upset about a mineral resources deal that Ukraine rejected. A U.S. official with knowledge of the negotiations said a new version of the proposal has been put on the table.
While Trump has been critical of Zelenskyy, Retired Gen. Keith Kellogg — the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine — praised him as “courageous” after meeting with him Thursday.
“A long and intense day with the senior leadership of Ukraine. Extensive and positive discussions with [Zelenskyy] the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war and his talented national security team,” Kellog wrote on his personal X account.
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge has indefinitely adjourned New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ fraud criminal trial after last week’s request from the Department of Justice.
“In light of the Government’s motion and the representations of the parties during the conference, it is clear that trial in this matter will not go forward on April 21,” U.S. District Judge Dale Ho wrote Friday.
Ho also appointed a private attorney – Paul Clement of Clement & Murphy PLLC – to argue as amicus curiae against the government’s motion to dismiss the case.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a jab at President Donald Trump after Canada’s victory over the United States in an international hockey tournament on Thursday.
“You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,” Trudeau wrote on X.
Canada bested the United States 3-2 with an overtime goal to win the 4 Nations Face-Off at TD Garden in Boston. Participating teams included NHL hockey stars from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States.
The highly-anticipated final came after a fiery clash between Canada and the U.S. in an earlier game on Feb. 15 where several fights broke out in the opening seconds of the first period. The U.S. won that game 3-1.
Tensions are boiling over on the diplomatic front between the U.S. and Canada, as Trump frequently says he wants to make Canada the 51st state. He’s repeatedly referred to Trudeau as “governor” instead of prime minister
Trump’s also threatening high tariffs on Canada, the second largest trading partner to the U.S. The implementation of a 25% tariff against Canada and Mexico was paused for a month, pulling the U.S. back from a trade war with its neighbors.
Earlier in the tournament, fans in Montreal booed the U.S. national anthem before Team USA’s first game against Finland.
Trump called Team USA before Thursday night’s championship game.
He said he wanted to “spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State.”
Trump said because of a prior commitment — a gathering of Republican governors in Washington — he couldn’t attend the game in Boston.
“But we will all be watching, and if Governor Trudeau would like to join us, he would be most welcome. Good luck to everybody, and have a GREAT game tonight. So exciting!” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump also shared a video on Truth Social from ESPN showing part of his call to the players.
“Just go out and have a good time tonight. I just want to wish you a lot of luck. You really are a skilled group of people. It’s an honor to talk to you and get out there, and there’s no pressure whatsoever,” Trump told them, prompting some laughs from the players.
(WASHINGTON) — With Hamas saying it will release more hostages this weekend, President Donald Trump has yet to weigh in, as he did last week ahead of the planned Saturday hostage release threatening “all hell is going to break out” if all hostages weren’t freed by his deadline.
Last week, Trump demanded that if Hamas didn’t release “all of the hostages” by noon last Saturday, Feb. 15, Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas might end, although he wasn’t clear whether he was suggesting the U.S. or Israel would act in response.
His deadline came and went, and Hamas released the three hostages that were scheduled to be released on Feb. 15, including one American, according to the original ceasefire agreement, in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Experts told ABC News that Trump’s comments made little or no difference in Saturday’s outcome.
“Trump’s threat wasn’t much of an ultimatum, since Hamas was not about to release all of the hostages on Saturday under any scenario,” said Guy Ziv, associate professor at American University’s School of International Service.
On the heels of this exchange, Hamas released the bodies of four Israeli hostages early Thursday morning, though the Israel Defense Forces later said one of bodies does not belong to a hostage.
What was the context
“As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock, I think it’s an appropriate time. I would say, cancel it and all bets are off, and let hell break out,” Trump said last week. “I’m speaking for myself. Israel can override it. But from myself, Saturday at 12 o’clock, and if they’re not, they’re not here, all hell is going to break out.”
The president’s threats came after Hamas unexpectedly announced last week that it was delaying the next hostage release, accusing Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that violated the ceasefire deal. He later demanded all nine living Israeli hostages, who were supposed to be released during Phase 1 of the ceasefire deal, be released in the next few days, an Israeli official told ABC News last week.
When asked last week about Trump’s deadline and what he meant with his threat, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff did not go into detail but told “CBS Mornings,” “I would take President Trump at his word. He generally means what he says … so, I don’t think it’s a tactic.”
These exchanges also came a week after the announcement of Trump’s Gaza plan, in which the president expressed his desire to “take over” the Gaza Strip, relocate Palestinians, and redevelop the land. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres had responded to this plan, saying “it is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.”
The deadline passes
Following the release of the hostages last Saturday, Trump turned to his social media platform to say it was up to Israel on how to move forward.
“Israel will now have to decide what they will do about the 12:00 O’CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES,” he wrote on Saturday. “The United States will back the decision they make!”
Early Sunday morning, after a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Netanyahu emphasized his “cooperation and coordination” with Trump.
“We have a common strategy,” he said, “including when the gates of hell will be open, as they surely will, if all our hostages are not released until the last one of them.”
On Sunday, Trump told reporters, “I told Bibi, you do whatever you want because, you know my statement was they got to come back. Now, the reason I made that statement was because they said they weren’t gonna deliver — they were not going to deliver the people that they said they were going to deliver, that they agreed to deliver.”
“When I made the statement, they delivered everybody, plus an American,” Trump touted, appearing to take credit. In reality, the three hostages released Saturday were part of the ongoing ceasefire deal, including the release of American Sagui Dekel Chen on Feb. 15.
National security adviser Mike Waltz repeated the president’s sentiment during a press briefing Thursday.
“And when President Trump sent a very clear message across the Middle East, but particularly to Hamas, that there would be all hell to pay, we suddenly saw a breakthrough,” Waltz said.
But Trump’s claims should not be considered the final word, says one expert.
“World leaders have learned to heavily discount the words of Donald Trump,” Brian Katulis, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told ABC News. Katulis noted additional examples of the president’s past comments that he says are filled with “hot air,” including Trump’s assertion that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day.
Threatening ‘hell’ for months
In fact, Trump has been threatening Hamas with “hell” for months.
In early December, Trump wrote on his social media platform that “there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East” if hostages were not released prior to his Inauguration day, and that “those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America.”
“If they’re not back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East,” Trump repeated in January when asked about the status of the hostage deal.
“All hell will break out,” he continued. “I don’t have to say any more, but that’s what it is.”
Trump’s language has been echoed by aides and supporters.
Appearing on Fox News in December, Trump senior adviser Jason Miller warned, “I would take him literally at his word. They will have hell to pay.”
Though he declined to go into specifics, Miller was confident that the president was “very serious on this one.”
One day before Trump’s inauguration, House Speaker Mike Johnson said “there will be hell to pay for Hamas if they violate these terms.”
Experts remain skeptical of Trump’s threats, despite their repetition throughout the past few months.
“The real hell that’s broken loose is the hell of confusion that comes from Trump’s erratic public statements here. It serves really no purpose,” Katulis said, arguing that “the real threat doesn’t come from Trump’s mouth, it comes from the weapons and bombs that Israel has.”
“Some have likened Trump’s coercive diplomacy to what [President Richard] Nixon called his ‘Madman Theory,'” Ziv said. “Trump wants other leaders to believe that he’s willing to do anything, that nothing can restrain him from achieving his objectives.”
(WASHINGTON) — As the IRS fired thousands of workers across the country on Thursday, many laid-off employees walked out of the headquarters in Washington, D.C., for the last time.
One fired IRS worker, who exited the building with a heavy suitcase and stuffed duffle bag, told ABC News he was originally hired to make the IRS more efficient.
“I was brought in to do data analytics and automation,” he said, adding that his colleagues were “surprised and hurt” since the “understanding was that I was brought in to make things more efficient” and the government would retain people with his technical skill set.
He said his job “modernized” IRS data infrastructure and streamlined compliance work, noting the irony in that the stated mission of the federal workforce cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is precisely to make the government more efficient.
Sources told ABC News the IRS is expected to lay off more than 6,000 probationary employees across the country starting Thursday — about 6% of the total IRS workforce. One source familiar with the matter told ABC News more than 100 people are being fired across the Washington offices, including more than 60 terminated from IRS headquarters.
However, the layoffs are expected nationwide, with hundreds expected in Texas, New York, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
When asked whether he thought the firings would affect this tax filing season, the fired worker said: “You can only imagine with so many people being let go and so much information and potential being lost that people probably can expect disturbances.”
“I wish there was more thought put into the long-term impact that some of these decisions will have on not just the American taxpayers but the American people,” he added.
He said he’s worked in a variety of industries, including doing nanotechnology research, biotechnology research and engineering, but that he felt the most motivation and mission while working for the federal government.
Another IRS employee who was wiping away tears described the impact she believed this will have on the future of the IRS. While she still has a job, she said these layoffs are “gutting” the IRS and will mean less enforcement and fewer people to respond to concerns from taxpayers.
She also noted that much of the IRS workforce is older and near retirement age. The probationary workers who were recently hired included the “best and the brightest” who represented the future of the IRS, she said, adding that all of that is now being taken away.
Another fired IRS worker told ABC News he was just three weeks shy of no longer being a probationary employee. He disputed Musk’s and Trump’s claims that the firings are improving efficiency.
“I know that the people that I have worked with … work really hard, and so … if you’re measuring efficiency by productivity, certainly not. If you’re measuring efficiency by morale, absolutely not,” he said. “I accepted this role in order to help our country fight bad guys.”
(WASHINGTON) — Several LGBTQ rights organizations sued the Trump administration on Thursday, alleging that the president’s executive orders aimed at dismantling diversity and equity programs are unconstitutional and will cripple critical programs used by Americans.
The lawsuit, filed by civil rights groups the Legal Defense Fund and Lambda Legal on behalf of several nonprofits, is one of dozens filed against the new administration one month into office. All of the plaintiffs receive federal funding to support their work.
They challenge three executive orders signed by President Donald Trump that call for an end to government funding tied to diversity, equity and inclusion programs and what the administration calls “gender ideology.”
“The government is attempting to erase a very specific group of people. Transgender and non-binary folks in our country are being singled out as individuals who are being told that they don’t exist,” Tyler TerMeer, one of the plaintiffs and CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, told ABC News in an interview Thursday. “So this moment is us going to the courts and saying, ‘We won’t be silenced.'”
In the complaint, the nonprofits claim that the executive orders are a violation of their Fifth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution that “[n]o person shall … be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
Among the plaintiffs is the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which helps communities affected by HIV. The group expected to receive more than $641,000 in federal funds this budget year, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit lists as defendants the Departments of Justice, Labor, Housing and Health, along with several administration officials.
“The executive orders, in essence, require our organizations or non-governmental entities to certify that they don’t engage in DEI work or engage in what they call radical gender ideology in any of their work,” Jose Abrigo, senior attorney at Lambda Legal, told ABC News in an interview Thursday.
“So, this case particularly is really important … it prevents the government from forcing their viewpoint on essentially private nonprofits who are serving the community for good.”
The GLBT Historical Society, another plaintiff in the suit, operates a museum of LGBTQ+ history and culture in San Francisco — the first of its kind in the U.S. The organization receives at least $130,000 in federal funding and would not be able to advance public knowledge without it, it alleged in the suit.
The Legal Defense Fund and Lambda Legal also filed a lawsuit on Wednesday on behalf of the National Urban League, the National Fair Housing Alliance and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, alleging that the administration is violating the organizations’ rights to free speech and due process and is engaging in intentional discrimination by issuing and enforcing the orders, according to Lambda Legal.
The White House did not immediately return ABC News’ request for a statement and the DOJ declined to comment on either suit.
ABC News Contributors Sabina Ghebremedhin, Anne Flaherty, Molly Nagle and Alex Mallin contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Republicans are plowing ahead with their efforts to advance the first stage of its two-part budget package to pay for President Donald Trump’s agenda despite Trump throwing his weight behind the House’s more comprehensive one-bill plan.
In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump endorsed the House’s budget bill, which bolsters funding for the border and national security while simultaneously extending the tax cuts implemented during Trump’s first term and slashing trillions in funding for a variety of programs.
“The House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!” Trump posted.
He reiterated his belief that there ought to be “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL” that comprehensively handles many of his campaign promises in one fell swoop.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has backed this strategy from the start. He believes the House bill, which also includes a hike to the federal debt limit that many of his members typically oppose, is robust enough to cull support from the members of his widely divided conference. This is essential because Johnson’s razor-thin majority allows for almost no GOP defections.
Senate Republicans say they favor that plan, but they’re skeptical that it can get done in the timely fashion necessary to deliver Trump early-term wins on border security.
“I prefer what you’re doing to what we are doing, but we’ve got to get it done soon,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Budget Committee chairman. “Nothing would please me more than Speaker Johnson being able to put together the bill that President Trump wants. I want that to happen. But I cannot sit on the sidelines and not have a Plan B.”
Graham’s move to advance the Senate bill escalates an ongoing battle between Republicans in the two chambers of Congress who are vying for Trump’s approval in the early stages of his administration. Johnson has already called the Senate package a “non-starter” and has signaled that even if the Senate passes its budget plan, the House will hold off on bringing it up in favor of its own bill.
The Senate plan aims to deliver Trump wins on the border by allocating more funds for his immigration policy. It also beefs up defense spending and makes modifications to energy policy. But unlike the House bill, the Senate plan would take up the debate about extending the Trump tax cuts later and hiking the debt limit to a separate bill to be taken up later this year.
Senators believe this strategy allows them to strike quickly to address “immediate needs” while buying time for a more complex debate about tax policy.
Majority Leader John Thune, in remarks on the Senate floor Thursday morning, said Senate Republicans are committed to making Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, but said there is still “substantial work left to do to arrive at a bicameral agreement” on the issue.
“When the President’s ‘Border Czar’ was here last week, he emphasized that the administration cannot sustain its effort to deport criminals here illegally without additional funding and the last thing we want is to delay other parts of the president’s agenda like border security as we do the work needed to arrive at a tax agreement that can pass both houses of Congress,” Thune said. “That’s what the Senate is moving forward on a two-part legislative plan to accomplish our and the president’s top priorities.”
The need to deliver border funding urgently requires swifter action than debate on a tax bill will allow, Republican Whip John Barrasso said.
“President Trump’s actions are working. They are working so well that the Trump administration says it is running out of money for deportations. ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan told us that. [Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem told us that. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told us that. Attorney General Pam Bondi told us that. Senate Republicans will act quickly to get the administration the resources they requested and need,” Barrasso said.
Despite Trump’s endorsement of the House plan on Wednesday, senators left a closed-door lunch with Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday committed to advancing their proposal.
So Thursday evening, senators will participate in a blitz of 10-minute amendment votes called a “Vote-a-rama.” This process, which is expected to last through the night, is just the first step in unlocking a fast track budget tool called reconciliation, which allows the Senate to bypass the normal 60-vote threshold to advance tax and budget related provisions.
Senate Democrats are committed to opposing the reconciliation bill.
“I think most of us here get that no matter who the president is, our constituents expect us to work for them,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., during a floor speech. “They expect us to fight for them, and they expect us to do the hard work of passing laws to make their lives better. People don’t send us here to make their lives worse, but that’s exactly what Trump and [Elon] Musk are doing — They are looking at our most pressing problems and making them worse, and this budget proposal will only add fuel to that fire right now.”
But Democrats can only stall the bill. If all Republicans hang together, there’s nothing Democrats can do to block it.
But until House and Senate Republicans get on the same page, tonight’s vote-a-rama could prove largely fruitless.
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate on Thursday confirmed Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be FBI director.
The final vote was 51-49.
Two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, voted against Patel. Democrats were unanimous in their opposition.
Despite his controversial nomination, Republicans rallied around Patel, arguing he is the right person to bring reform to the nation’s top law enforcement agency they allege has been corrupted.
“Mr. Patel should be our next FBI director because the FBI has been infected by political bias and weaponized against the American people. Mr. Patel knows it, Mr. Patel exposed it, and Mr. Patel has been targeted for it,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said last week as the committee met to consider and advance his nomination.
Though not all GOP members backed him. Collins, explaining her decision to vote against his confirmation, said there is a need for an FBI director who is “decidedly apolitical” and Patel’s “time over the past four years has been characterized by high profile and aggressive political activity.”
Murkowski voiced similar concerns.
“My reservations with Mr. Patel stem from his own prior political activities and how they may influence his leadership,” the senator said in a post on X. “The FBI must be trusted as the federal agency that roots out crime and corruption, not focused on settling political scores. I have been disappointed that when he had the opportunity to push back on the administration’s decision to force the FBI to provide a list of agents involved in the January 6 investigations and prosecutions, he failed to do so.”
Democrats, meanwhile, objected to Patel up until the last minute. Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, held a press conference outside FBI headquarters on Thursday morning railing against Patel’s “bizarre political statements” on Jan. 6 to retribution.
He accused Republicans of “willfully ignoring red flags on Mr. Patel,” who he argued has “neither the experience, the judgment or the temperament” to be FBI chief for the next 10 years.
“Mr. Patel will be a political and national security disaster,” Durbin said.
Patel, 44, is a loyalist to the president and worked in a number of roles during Trump’s first administration, including acting deputy director of national intelligence.
Shortly after the November election, Trump indicated he would fire then-FBI Director Christopher Wray and tap Patel to take his place. Wray, first appointed by Trump in 2017, stepped down at the end of the Biden administration.
Patel has been a vocal critic of the FBI for years, and previously said he wanted to clean out the bureau’s headquarters in Washington as part of a mission to dismantle the so-called “deep state.”
He faced pointed questions from Democrats on those comments and more — including support for Jan. 6 rioters and quotes that appeared favorable to the “QAnon” conspiracy movement — during his confirmation hearings last month.
Patel sought to distance from some of his past rhetoric, and told lawmakers he would take “no retributive actions” despite his history of comments about targeting journalists and government employees.
Patel will take over an agency facing uncertainty and turmoil amid firings and other key changes.
The Justice Department’s sought a list of potentially thousands of FBI employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases, ABC News previously reported, prompting agents to file a lawsuit to block the effort.
(WASHINGTON) — Longtime Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell announced on Thursday he will not seek reelection next year.
McConnell, who turned 83 today, was largely expected to end his Senate tenure at the conclusion of his term in January 2027 but made it official in a floor speech in which he reflected on his decades-long political career.
“Seven times my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate. Every day in between I have humbled by the trust they place in me to do their business, right here,” he said. “Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime.”
“I will not seek this honor for an eighth time,” he continued. “My current term in the Senate will be my last.”
The Kentucky lawmaker stepped down from his role as party leader last year after a record-breaking 18 years atop the GOP conference.
McConnell said Thursday that serving in the role was “a rare and, yes, rather specific childhood dream” come true.
Since ending his tenure as leader, McConnell has distinguished himself as one of few Republican senators willing to challenge President Donald Trump. He has voted against three of Trump’s Cabinet nominees so far, more than any other GOP lawmaker in the body.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
