Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to close the Department of Education, shuttering the federal agency responsible for America’s schooling in favor of leaving decisionmaking up to individual states.
The policy, which was recommended in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 manifesto that Trump once distanced himself from, will reportedly see former wrestling boss McMahon instructed to undertake “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure… and return education authority to the states.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s administration has frozen $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) over opposition to a transgender swimmer’s participation in the institution’s training program.
It has also sparked a fresh diplomatic spat with France after it was accused of denying entry to the U.S. to a French research scientist after immigration officers searched his phone at an airport and found messages critical of the president.
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Key Points
- Trump expected to sign order dismantling Department of Education
- Administration freezes $175m in funding to University of Pennsylvania in dispute over trans swimmer
- French scientist blocked from entering U.S. after messages criticizing Trump discovered
- President talks recession and redecorating with Laura Ingraham
- Analysis: Putin’s drone attacks make mockery of Trump peace deal for Ukraine
Judge rebukes DOGE for ‘terrorizing’ U.S. Institute of Peace
11:50
,
Joe Sommerlad
A federal judge has expressed alarm at allegations that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) provoked a dramatic standoff this week with the U.S. Institute of Peace, culminating in what attorneys for the agency called a hostile “takeover” fueled by threats and harassment.
Federal prosecutors have threatened institute officials with criminal prosecution, DOGE members warned that a private security contractor would lose government contracts, and the institute’s president was forcibly removed by several law enforcement agencies – events that attorneys with the Department of Justice have not disputed.
In a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, District Judge Beryl Howell asked Justice Department attorneys whether Trump’s administration could enforce his executive order seeking to shutter the agency “without using the force of guns and threats by DOGE against American citizens.”
“I mean, this conduct of using law enforcement, threatening criminal investigations, using arms of law enforcement… probably terrorizing employees and staff at the institute, when there are so many other lawful ways to accomplish the goals… why?” she said.
“Just because DOGE is in a rush?”
The institute is not a federal agency but an independent nonprofit established by Congress under Ronald Reagan.
Its headquarters in Washington, D.C., is not government property, and its personnel are not federal employees.
The institute employs roughly 600 people in the United States and overseas with a congressional mandate to help resolve international conflicts.
Alex Woodward reports.
Justice Department motion tells deportation judge to be ‘more respectful’
11:30
,
Joe Sommerlad
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and other Trump administration lawyers told the federal judge who ordered a stop to the deportations of Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador to be more “respectful” in an angry court filing on Wednesday.
“The court has no basis to intrude into the conduct of foreign affairs of the government, and a more deliberative and respectful approach is warranted,” the filing scolds.
Judge James Boasberg’s actions “represent grave usurpations of the president’s power,” it adds.
The language was the latest assault by the Trump administration on the power of the courts, which some have labelled a constitutional crisis as the president battles to become the supreme arbiter of everything in the nation.
Mary Papenfuss reports.
Trump now accused of dodging court order to reverse federal firings
11:10
,
Joe Sommerlad
The Trump administration has been accused by another judge of failing to comply with his court order – in this case to reinstate federal employees fired during Elon Musk’s DOGE purges.
Six federal agencies – the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, and Treasury – were ordered by Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for Northern California to rehire all fired probationary employees.
But the Trump administration had responded by putting the fired workers on paid administrative leave.
Here’s the latest from Graig Graziosi.
Trump administration is seeking to deport Indian student at Georgetown as part of State Department crackdown
10:40
,
Joe Sommerlad
The Trump administration is reportedly attempting to deport an Indian post-doctoral fellow from Georgetown University, using the same obscure section of immigration law cited in the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia grad and pro-Palestine protest leader.
The provision the government allegedly cites allows the Secretary of State to determine non-citizens are eligible for fast-track deportations if they threaten U.S. foreign policy interests.
Masked Department of Homeland Security agents arrived outside the Rosslyn, Virginia, home of Badar Khan Suri on Monday and told him his student visa had been revoked.
In a still-sealed habeas corpus petition filed on Tuesday, Suri’s lawyer said the fellow appeared to be in the process of being punished for the Palestinian heritage and political views of his wife Mapheze Saleh, a U.S. citizen.
Josh Marcus has more.
Analysis: Putin’s drone attacks make mockery of Trump peace deal for Ukraine
10:20
,
Joe Sommerlad
The president followed up his call with the Kremlin on Tuesday by dialling up Volodymyr Zelensky, inevitably hailing their exchange as “fantastic” afterwards as he confirmed a partial ceasefire on energy targets.
Trump claimed the step is a crucial move along the road to securing a “real end to the war” but Vladimir Putin’s mass drone strikes hours immediately after agreeing to down tools makes a mockery of the whole process, says our international editor Chris Stevenson.
Fox host asks Trump commerce secretary if gold card is ‘recipe for corruption’
10:00
,
Joe Sommerlad
Ingraham asked the president why he was putting a $5m price tag on American citizenship for wealthy foreigners, which yielded this answer:
Ingraham: Why should our citizenship be purchased for any amount of money, especially given the fact that you are America first?
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 19, 2025
Trump: That's why.. because I'm America first. pic.twitter.com/PQV0ReTk8e
The same question was put to Howard Lutnick by Jesse Watters on the same network a little more bluntly.
Watters: You wanted to talk about these gold cards.
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 20, 2025
Lutnick: The Trump card…
Watters: Everybody's saying it's a recipe for corruption. How do you prevent that?
Lutnick: pic.twitter.com/yNk9oD3RBS
Lutnick later pivoted to promoting Tesla’s for Elon Musk, which might be considered somewhat unethical, I would venture to suggest.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tells Fox viewers to buy Tesla stock pic.twitter.com/t0syL32sa3
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 20, 2025
Trump talks recession and redecorating with Laura Ingraham
09:40
,
Joe Sommerlad
The second instalment of the Fox anchor’s White House interview with the president aired last night, with Trump again refusing to rule out an economic downturn while promising sunshine after the storm for (checks notes, squints, lowers glasses) this “fat dumb foolish country.”
Ingraham: Will we see a recession in 2025? Are you ruling it out?
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 19, 2025
Trump: We're going to have the strongest economic country in the history of the world of the planet pic.twitter.com/ZdZOReoyjf
Trump: We’ve been the fat dumb foolish country… pic.twitter.com/u0H94XidmA
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 19, 2025
Ingraham: Are you paving over the grass here?
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 19, 2025
Trump: Every event you ever have, it's soaking wet. It's soaking wet. And people can't -- and the women with the high heels. pic.twitter.com/Rf5ohxulab
Ingraham: Where is the coke button?
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 19, 2025
Trump: It’s right here. Everyone thinks that the nuclear pic.twitter.com/7XCHX2Mny0
Trump: Here is the Declaration of Independence. They asked that this be done. It's never been up -- it's been in the vaults for many, many decades. pic.twitter.com/ciq8HDPhO3
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 19, 2025
Trump: A little secret… people have tried to come up with gold paint that would look like gold. You’ve never been able to match gold with gold paint. That’s why it’s gold pic.twitter.com/xvno8TnSw7
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 19, 2025
Trump expected to sign order dismantling Department of Education today
09:20
,
Joe Sommerlad
The president has long touted the closure of the federal agency responsible for America’s schooling in favor of leaving it up to the states and today looks finally like being the day.
The policy, which was also discussed in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 manifesto that Trump claimed to have nothing to do with, is expected to be realised with the flourish of a fat Sharpie at a White House event this afternoon, with Education Secretary Linda McMahon, the former wrestling boss, looking on.
“The dream is we’re going to move the Department of Education, we’re going to move education into the states, so that the states, instead of bureaucrats working in Washington, so that the states can run education,” the president said last week.
“We think when you move it back to Iowa and Indiana and all of the states that run so well… 30, maybe almost 40, those will be as good as Denmark, those will be as good as Norway.”
According to USA Today, which first reported the development, McMahon will be instructed to undertake “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States.”
French scientist blocked from entering U.S. after messages criticizing Trump discovered on phone
08:49
,
Joe Sommerlad
The administration has sparked a fresh diplomatic spat with France after it was accused of denying entry to the U.S. to a French research scientist after immigration officers searched his phone at an airport and found messages critical of the president.
The individual in question had been en route to an academic conference in Houston, Texas, at the time, according to Philippe Baptiste, France’s minister of higher education and research, who made the allegation in a statement published by Le Monde.
“I learned with concern that a French researcher, who was traveling to a conference near Houston was denied entry to the United States before being expelled”, Baptiste said.
“This measure was apparently taken by the American authorities because the researcher’s phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy.
“Freedom of opinion, free research, and academic freedom are values that we will continue to proudly uphold. I will defend the right of all French researchers to be faithful to them, while respecting the law.”
The AFP has reported that the incident took place on March 9 and the scientist concerned was accused of writing “hateful and conspiratorial messages” relating to Trump.
Baptiste himself has been critical of the administration and has personally invited American scientists to relocate to France if they feel their work could be placed in jeopardy in the U.S.
He recently warned on French television that Elon Musk and his DOGE officials had “chainsawed” health, climate, energy and AI research since Trump returned to the White, an extract of which you can see below.
Santé, climat, énergie, IA... : la recherche est passée à la tronçonneuse aux États-Unis!
— Philippe Baptiste (@PhBaptiste) March 12, 2025
C'est grave pour la recherche américaine mais c'est aussi grave pour la recherche à l'échelle mondiale, dont les États-Unis étaient jusqu'ici un véritable pivot.@franceinfo pic.twitter.com/shPW1L0YJ5
Donald Trump freezes $175m in federal funding to University of Pennsylvania in dispute over trans swimmer
08:40
,
Joe Sommerlad
The Trump administration has frozen $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) over a transgender swimmer's participation in its training program, the White House said on Wednesday.
Ivy League UPenn is currently under investigation by the Department of Education after the president signed an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports.
A similar threat has also been made against the state of Maine.
“UPenn infamously permitted a male to compete on its women’s swimming team, overturning multiple records hard-earned by women, and granting the fully intact male access to the locker room,” an unnamed Trump official said in a statement yesterday, apparently referring to a trans woman who won the highest U.S. national college swimming title in 2022 while competing for the Philadelphia-based university.
But UPenn itself said it was “aware of media reports suggesting” that the funds have been suspended but that, as yet, it has “not yet received any official notification or any details” from Washington.
Zelensky has his opportunity to beckon Trump back into Ukraine’s corner
08:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
The Independent’s Sam Kiley reports from Odesa, Ukraine:
Seizing the opportunity to drive a wedge between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s president has moved swiftly to usher the American president back towards his corner.
By respecting, vocally, Trump’s efforts to get a ceasefire with Russia, Ukraine has exposed Putin’s deep reluctance to agree to any lowering of hostilities until he can be sure of permanently mangling Ukraine’s sovereignty.
According to a briefing on a call between Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump, the US president has calmed down, stopped calling him a “dictator,” and come up with an agreement to supply some badly needed air defences for Ukraine.
Continue reading...
Sen. Murkowski hits out at Trump and Musk in scathing speech
08:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she did not fear Elon Musk spending money against her as she criticized the indiscriminate firing led by his Department of Government Efficiency.
Murkowski delivered her annual joint address to Alaska’s legislature on Tuesday and during her address, she criticized the indiscriminate firing of federal workers by DOGE.
Eric Garcia reports.
Trump whines about ‘absolutely terrible’ Fox News White House correspondent
07:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
A couple of hours after journalist Jacqui Heinrich pointed out that one of Donald Trump’s favorite Fox News legal experts believed the law wasn’t entirely on his side regarding deportation flights, the president railed against the Fox News White House correspondent on social media.
Justin Baragona has the story.
Putin’s drone attacks make mockery of Trump peace deal for Ukraine
07:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
Russia launched a mass drone attack on Ukraine's energy grid mere hours after Vladimir Putin agreed with Donald Trump to halt such strikes – although the US president has claimed efforts to get a ceasefire are "very much on track".
Chris Stevenson, The Independent’s international editor, reports.
Chuck Schumer tries to put out a five-alarm fire after Democrats ‘caved’ on shutdown vote
06:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
John Bowden writes:
The aftereffects of Senate Democrats’ decision to help Republicans pass legislation to avert a government shutdown without securing any concessions are still being felt. Having won nothing — including assurances that congressionally approved legislation would not be touched by DOGE cuts — voters are furious with the Senate minority leader.
His allies are doing absolutely nothing to throw him a lifeline.
Read on...
Alleged head of DOGE has been working at another agency for weeks
05:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
Amy Gleason, the government worker the Trump administration has said is actually in charge of Elon Musk’s signature Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) program, has a second role at a separate agency, according to court documents.
Since February, Gleason has been detailed to the Department of Health and Human Services, and on March 4 she signed a document formally accepting a role as “expert / consultant” at the agency, which oversees marquee government efforts like Medicare and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Josh Marcus reports.
Right-wing podcaster eyes run for Senate or governor in Michigan
04:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
Right-wing commentator Tudor Dixon has said she is considering running for office in Michigan in 2026 but has yet to decide whether to opt for the battleground state’s open Senate seat or governor’s office.
Dixon, 47, was previously the Republican nominee for governor of the Great Lakes State in 2022 but lost to Democratic incumbent Gretchen Whitmer.
Joe Sommerlad reports.
Trump-Zelensky call: White House says intelligence sharing with Ukraine will continue
03:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
The White House on Wednesday said America’s intelligence community would continue to share information with the Ukrainian government to bolster Kyiv’s defensive efforts and provide Ukraine with more Patriot missile defense systems from European stocks.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a daily press briefing that Trump had “fully briefed” Zelensky on his 90-minute conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin and relayed the “key issues” discussed during the Tuesday morning conversation, the second call between the two leaders since Trump returned to the presidency in January.
Andrew Feinberg reports from the White House.
Minnesota Republican accused of soliciting a minor same day he introduced ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ bill
02:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
On Monday, a Minnesota State Senator made headlines as he introduced a bill to label “Trump Derangement Syndrome” as a mental illness.
Hours later, he was arrested.
Katie Hawkinson has the story.
Trump's 'anti-war' facade slips in face of Gaza ceasefire collapse and threats against Iran
02:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
The image of Donald Trump as an anti-war president is crumbling in real time.
Whether winning votes or merely demotivating support for his opponent, Kamala Harris, Trump fed on American frustrations in both parties to — once again — win election victory with a promise of ending or withdrawing American support for bloody and costly conflicts around the world.
John Bowden looks at how that is panning out.
Watch: Russia and Ukraine ‘never been closer to peace’ after Trump Zelensky call, White House says
01:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
Trump administration weighs deep cuts to CDC’s HIV prevention program
00:42
,
Graig Graziosi
Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly mulling cuts to a public health program that accounts for nearly all federal spending on HIV prevention efforts, reaching thousands of people a year.
With no other programs to replace them, cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s HIV Prevention Division could jeopardize progress in addressing the nation’s HIV epidemic and potentially cost lives, according to public health experts and LGBT+ advocacy groups.
More than $1 billion was appropriated for HIV prevention efforts this year, and the agency spent roughly $1.3 billion on the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections within the previous fiscal year. About three-quarters of that spending supports state and local health departments and nonprofit groups working to prevent HIV in their communities.
READ MORE:
Ukraine, Russia reach tentative, limited ceasefire deal, though details and dates are still in the works
00:33
,
Graig Graziosi
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin have reportedly agreed to a tentative, limited ceasefire following a discussion with President Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press. There have been no final decisions made by either leader as to specific dates or details.
The limited deal comes on the heels of Putin refusing Trump's efforts to secure a 30-day ceasefire.
Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that further talks will take place in Saudi Arabia this weekend to determine what targets will be protected under the potential ceasefire.
The White House described the ceasefire as protecting "energy and infrastructure," which different from information released by the Kremlin saying that "energy infrastructure" would be the subject of the ceasefire. The Kremlin's version is significantly more narrow than the White House's, and will no doubt be a subject of discussion at the upcoming talks.
The mystery of the object Trump removed from the Oval Office that has been there for 50 years
00:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
For over half a century, one thing was a constant in the Oval Office: the Swedish ivy plant above the fireplace - until now, that is.
As the second Trump administration moved in, the plant was replaced by a range of golden objects.
Gustaf Kilander looks at its possible origins.
Tim Walz calls Elon Musk a ‘South African nepo baby’
00:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
Minnesota Governor and former Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz referred to the world’s richest man and DOGE head Elon Musk as “dip****” during an event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night as he rallied his party ahead of a State Supreme Court race.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
If New York's MTA withholds crime data, Trump to pull funding from subway
Wednesday 19 March 2025 23:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
The Trump administration has threatened the New York City transportation agency with removing federal funding if the agency withholds its data on crime in the city’s subway at the end of the month.
President Donald Trump also wants the city to end its congestion pricing policies, which would mean that New York would require additional federal funds to make up the shortfall, WABC noted. Funds from the controversial congestion prices are designated to go to improvements for the city’s vast subway, bus and ferry system.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Judge rails against DOGE for ‘terrorizing’ U.S. Institute of Peace to shut it down
Wednesday 19 March 2025 23:20
,
Oliver O'Connell
A federal judge was alarmed by allegations that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency provoked a dramatic standoff this week with the U.S. Institute of Peace, culminating in what attorneys for the agency called a hostile “takeover” fueled by threats and harassment.
Federal prosecutors have threatened institute officials with criminal prosecution, DOGE members warned that a private security contractor would lose government contracts, and the institute’s president was forcibly removed by several law enforcement agencies – events that attorneys with the Department of Justice have not disputed.
Alex Woodward reports on the proceedings.
