The world is reacting to new, sweeping tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday — a date his administration called “Liberation Day.”
Mass layoffs began on Tuesday at the Department of Health and Human Services, where up to 10,000 employees are expected to lose their jobs.
Meanwhile, the director of the U.S. National Security Agency was fired on Thursday.
While President Trump is claiming Laura Loomer was not involved in the NSC firings, overnight Loomer appeared to confirm that she played a role, including the latest at the NSA involving General Timothy Haugh.
“NSA Director Tim Haugh and his deputy Wendy Noble have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired,” Loomer posted on X.
She went on to thank the president for “being receptive” to vetting materials she gave him.
“Thank you President Trump for being receptive to the vetting materials provided to you and thank you for firing these Biden holdovers.”
In a separate post last night, Loomer said she reported names to Trump of “disloyal people” in the NSC.
A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from terminating billions of dollars in public health funding.
U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy — a Trump appointee — issued a temporary restraining order that bars the Department of Health and Human Services from cutting off $11 billion in COVID-19 related funds.
The order came after a coalition of 23 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to challenge the cuts, which they alleged would upend public health public programs that tracked infectious diseases, provided substance abuse services, and supported access to immunizations.
“The result of these massive, unexpected funding terminations is serious harm to public health, leaving Plaintiff States at greater risk for future pandemics and the spread of otherwise preventable disease and cutting off vital public health services,” they alleged.
Judge McElroy’s order blocking the funding cuts applies for two weeks and she will consider issuing a longer-term injunction later this month. The Democratic officials who brought the lawsuit celebrated the ruling on social media, saying it would temporarily allow funding to continue to their states.
“We’re going to continue our lawsuit and fight to ensure states can provide the medical services Americans need,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said.
The ruling marks the latest legal setback for the Trump administration, which has fended off more than a hundred lawsuits challenging the president’s policies.
Gen. Timothy Haugh, who is the director of the National Security Agency and also heads United States Cyber Command, and his civilian Deputy Director Wendy Noble, were both removed from their positions, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News.
Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, requested an explanation as to why Haugh has been removed. “I am deeply disturbed by the decision to remove General Haugh as Director of the National Security Agency. I have known General Haugh to be an honest and forthright leader who followed the law and put national security first—I fear those are precisely the qualities that could lead to his firing in this Administration,”he said.
“The Intelligence Committee and the American people need an immediate explanation for this decision, which makes all of us less safe,” Himes said Thursday evening.
The Washington Post was the first to report the removals of both Haugh and Noble.
