Highlights from Friday, May 2, 2025
- President Donald Trump released a 40-page budget proposal including a mix of cuts to domestic programs involving public health, education and clean energy. Overall, the proposal calls for a 23% cut to discretionary funding and a 13% increase in military spending.
- Trump said in a Truth Social post this morning that he would seek to revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status. The administration froze billions in funds to the Ivy League school after claiming it wasn't addressing antisemitism on campus, resulting in the university filing suit.
- A federal judge tonight struck down Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie in a blistering opinion calling the president's efforts "an unprecedented attack” on the U.S. judicial system.
- Trump downplayed concerns about potential economic trouble, saying in an interview with NBC News that everything would be “OK” in the long term, even if the U.S experienced a recession in the short term.
Former aide who refuted Trump’s false 2020 election claims is under federal investigation
A former senior cybersecurity official who refuted Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was “rigged” is under federal investigation, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.
Chris Krebs is facing an unspecified government investigation, the DHS spokesperson said. As a result, Krebs was expelled from a U.S. customs program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved American travelers at airports, known as Global Entry.
“Chris Krebs is under active investigation by law enforcement agencies,” the DHS spokesperson told NBC News. “That is a fact disqualifying him for global entry.”
Officials declined to say why Krebs was under investigation or which federal agencies were leading the probe.
Judge allows Trump administration to fire Veterans Affairs employees in DEI roles
A federal judge today denied a temporary restraining order filed in a case where lawyers representing Department of Veterans Affairs employees argued that some workers were wrongly deemed to be diversity, equity and inclusion — or DEI — and terminated under Trump's reduction in force orders.
The staff members are currently on administrative leave, ending May 10.
At a hearing this morning at the District Court in Washington, DC, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, David Branch, argued that the employees were promised to be reassigned and then abandoned. He also argued that they were unfairly deemed as DEI staff when they didn’t have jobs pertaining to the subject and that they faced “shameful discrimination.”
Pushed by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras to point to where employees have a right to be automatically reassigned after being terminated, Branch stumbled to answer.
“It’s not in your papers there. We’re not talking about unfairness here,” Contreras said. “Without property rights, your constitutional claim fails.”
Defense counsel Jared Littman added that, despite Branch’s claims, the Department of Veterans Affairs did not say they’d refuse to re-employ these individuals. They changed their mind on automatically reassigning them, Littman said, because taking those fired and sliding them over to another part of the department is not required and contrary to Trump's goal of reduction.
The government, Littman said, did what was appropriate by sending currently vacant jobs to the employees on leave, and encouraging them to apply and suggesting they might have priority.
Contreras took multiple jabs at Branch throughout the 50-minute proceedings over his lack of preparedness and failure to submit documentation that addressed many key arguments.
Contreras said his decision didn’t mean he was making any “hard conclusions” but that he had to go off a “limited” record to assess that he did not believe the case would succeed on its merits or that it was adequately proven that the plaintiffs would suffer irreparable harm.
He said he knows Branch is a “very busy man” but that he should “give himself enough time” to be more thorough in what he submits going further, as this case continues with a hearing to be scheduled after Memorial Day.
Trump may get a new national security adviser — or he might just keep Marco Rubio
Secretary of state is a big job. But try piling on top of that acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, acting head of the National Archives and Records Administration and acting national security adviser.
That’s Marco Rubio’s resume right now, and it might be that way for a while.
Rubio gained his latest title after Trump announced that Michael Waltz — who has been under scrutiny since his central role in the Signal chat leak — would be stepping down and instead be nominated for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
The White House raised the possibility of Rubio taking over Waltz’s job more than a month ago, according to a senior administration official. But it was tabled until recently, when Trump decided he’d had enough of Waltz.
Judge issues scathing rebuke of Trump's effort to target prominent law firm
Judge Beryl Howell issued an order today rebuking Trump's effort to target law firm Perkins Coie.
“No American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue in this lawsuit targeting a prominent law firm with adverse actions to be executed by all Executive branch agencies but, in purpose and effect, this action draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: 'The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,'" Howell wrote in her order.
In a 102-page opinion, Howell said an executive order from Trump barring federal agencies from working with the Perkins Coie and suspending security clearances held by its employees is “null and void,” arguing the effort was unconstitutional.
"The U.S. Constitution affords critical protections against Executive action like that ordered in EO 14230. Government officials, including the President, may not 'subject individuals to "retaliatory actions" after the fact for having engaged in protected speech,'" Howell wrote in her opinion.
The judge added that "the importance of independent lawyers" has been recognized "in this country since its founding era."
Howell's summary judgment in the case, in favor of Perkins Coie, is immediately appealable by the administration, as an accompanying order she wrote expressly states.
The ruling comes as other top law firms targeted by Trump, including Paul Weiss, have opted to settle with the president rather than fight him in court.
Trump downplays recession fears, saying the U.S. would be ‘OK’ in the long term
Trump downplayed concerns today about potential economic trouble, saying everything would be “OK” in the long term, even if the U.S. economy experienced a recession in the short term.
Asked twice by “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker whether it would be OK in the long run if there were a recession in the short term, the president said, “Look, yeah, it’s — everything’s OK. What we are — I said, this is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically.”
Following up, Welker asked Trump if he was worried about a recession, to which he responded, “No.” Asked whether he thinks one could happen, Trump replied, “Anything can happen, but I think we’re going to have the greatest economy in the history of our country.”
PBS president and CEO does not rule out possibility of litigation against the Trump administration
President and CEO of PBS Paula Kerger would not rule out possible litigation against the Trump administration over its executive order aiming to block funding for PBS and NPR.
“I would not rule out the possibility that we would pursue litigation,” Kerger said on NBC’s “Meet the Press Now.”
Kerger said the order would have an “enormous” impact on PBS’ 330 stations. PBS is not a network, Kerger said, and was created by its member stations "to do for them at scale what individual stations couldn't do by themselves."
The stations that would be most at risk, Kerger said, are those in smaller communities that are not able to raise sufficient resources.
“People rely on us for children’s programming. And if for no other reason, that’s a powerful argument for funding,” Keger said, adding that local stations are also the backup infrastructure for the country’s early alert system.
“It’s an investment that the federal government has made because we are broadcasters. We reach every part of this country for free. And we also have a digital infrastructure that allows first alerts to go out,” Kerger said.
“There’s plenty of arguments of why, even if you don’t watch every night, why public broadcasting is a good investment for everyone,” she added.
Trump looms over New Jersey campaign as GOP looks to build on 2024 gains
The New Jersey governor’s race could be Trump’s first chance, since returning to the White House, to sway a major GOP primary — and allegiance to Trump has become a top issue in the race.
The top two contenders, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli and radio host Bill Spadea, met with Trump at the president’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club in late March, and both want his endorsement. But it’s not clear if Trump will pick a favorite before the June 10 primary.
“It’s will he or won’t he? And as everyone knows, President Trump can be unpredictable at times,” said Jeanette Hoffman, a New Jersey GOP strategist who is not involved in the governor’s race.
“By and large, the issue in the primary is who’s the most Trump-loyal candidate in the race,” Hoffman added.
U.S. Army is planning a parade for its anniversary — and Trump’s birthday
Trump might finally get his parade.
The U.S. Army is planning a big celebration to recognize not only the 250th anniversary of its founding, but also Trump’s 79th birthday, both of which fall on June 14. That celebration will potentially bring tanks and hundreds of other military vehicles and aircraft onto and over the streets of the nation’s capital in June, according to three defense officials familiar with the planning.
During Trump’s first term, the president sought to have a big military parade, but the plans were shelved over cost and concerns that some of the military vehicles, particularly tracked vehicles like tanks, could significantly damage the streets of Washington, D.C., and incur a huge price tag for repairs. The estimate for the parade being planned now is “tens of millions of dollars,” according to two of the defense officials.
Trump didn’t forget and now is considering a military parade to honor both birthdays. Current plans call for more than 150 military vehicles and 50 aircraft to rumble through a parade route through Washington on June 10, the three defense officials said. That could include Army wheeled vehicles, like Humvees and trucks, and so-called tracked vehicles, like tanks, two of the officials said.
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow DOGE access to Social Security data
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to access Social Security Administration data.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the court to lift an injunction issued by a federal judge in Maryland so that DOGE can carry out its stated function of modernizing systems and detecting waste and fraud.
"These teams have a business need to access the data at their assigned agency and subject the government's records to much-needed scrutiny," he wrote.
The lower court had ruled DOGE had no need to access the specific data at issue. The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block the decision, leading to the Trump administration filing its request at the Supreme Court.
NPR vows to challenge Trump executive order 'using all means available'
In a statement, Katherine Maher, NPR's president and CEO, vowed to challenge Trump's executive order gutting public funding for the station "using all means available."
"We will vigorously defend our right to provide essential news, information and life-saving services to the American public. We will challenge this Executive Order using all means available," Maher said.
Maher also said that the order "seeks to deprive tens of millions of Americans of their regular, trusted sources of information, and cut off resources to award-winning reporting and cultural programming."
She added, "NPR stands by the excellence and commitment of our journalists, staff, and Member organizations to seek out stories that matter to the American public."
