Trump offers US federal workers buyouts to resign
In another part of its efforts to reshape the US government, the Trump administration has offered federal workers buyouts worth more than seven months’ salary to leave their jobs.
A memo circulated on Tuesday evening set out four mandatory directives, including a full-time return to the office for most employees. It also said that the federal workforce would be subjected to “enhanced standards of suitability and conduct” and warned that most agencies would be downsized.
It said the offer to leave would remain open until 6 February.
The US government is roughly the nation’s 15th-largest workforce, with more than 3 million employees. Project 2025, the conservative manifesto that has guided much of Trump’s policy goals, calls for mass firings of federal workers and suggests replacing many with political appointees.
Denouncing the offer, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees union, Everett Kelley, said it was part of an attempt to pressure workers not considered loyal to the new administration to leave their jobs.
“Purging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government,” a statement read.
Read the full story here:
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The order said medical professionals across the country were “maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions”.
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“Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding,” it said.
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“Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.
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“Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”
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The order also directed the US health secretary to “take all appropriate actions to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children, including regulatory and sub-regulatory actions”.
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In another part of its efforts to reshape the US government, the Trump administration has offered federal workers buyouts worth more than seven months’ salary to leave their jobs.
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A memo circulated on Tuesday evening set out four mandatory directives, including a full-time return to the office for most employees. It also said that the federal workforce would be subjected to “enhanced standards of suitability and conduct” and warned that most agencies would be downsized.
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It said the offer to leave would remain open until 6 February.
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The US government is roughly the nation’s 15th-largest workforce, with more than 3 million employees. Project 2025, the conservative manifesto that has guided much of Trump’s policy goals, calls for mass firings of federal workers and suggests replacing many with political appointees.
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Denouncing the offer, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees union, Everett Kelley, said it was part of an attempt to pressure workers not considered loyal to the new administration to leave their jobs.
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“Purging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government,” a statement read.
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Read the full story here:
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More now on the news that a federal judge has blocked a move by President Trump to pause trillions of dollars in federal loans, grants, and other financial assistance.
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Federal grants and loans reach into virtually every corner of Americans’ lives, with hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into education, healthcare and anti-poverty programmes, housing assistance, disaster relief, infrastructure, and a host of other initiatives.
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A two-page internal memo which had been due to take effect at 5pm eastern time on Tuesday told all federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all federal financial assistance”.
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PHOTO: U.S. President Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office, at the White House”,”caption”:”President Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office, at the White House
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The memo was met with widespread confusion in Washington, where civil servants struggled to understand its full extent scope and application.
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The US constitution gives Congress control over spending matters, but Trump has said he believes the president has the power to withhold money for programmes he dislikes.
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A letter from senior Democrats on the House Committee on Appropriations expressed “extreme alarm about the Administration’s efforts to undermine Congress’s power of the purse”, adding that this and other directives had “sown immense confusion across the country, with some reports indicating that they could immediately halt all federal funding for any grant or loan”.
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US district judge Loren AliKhan granted the temporary halt after several advocacy groups argued the freeze would devastate programmes ranging from healthcare to road construction. The court will revisit the issue on Monday.
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Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of all the latest developments from US politics.
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We start with the news that a federal judge has temporarily blocked a move by President Donald Trump to pause trillions of dollars in federal loans, grants, and other financial assistance.
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A two-page internal memo had told all federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all federal financial assistance” and that “the use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars”.
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The directive was seen as part of Trump’s desire to end programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The court order came moments before it was due to take effect and will prevent it from being implemented until at least next Monday, 3 February.
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The administrative stay came in response to a lawsuit filed by four groups representing non-profits, public health professionals and small businesses in which they said the directive was illegal and would have a “devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of grant recipients who depend on the inflow of grant money”.
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Stay with us for more on that and all the latest updates throughout the day.
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Key events
Executive order restricts gender transition for under-19s
President Trump has issued an executive order restricting gender transition treatment for people under 19.
The order said medical professionals across the country were “maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions”.
“Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding,” it said.
“Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.
“Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”
The order also directed the US health secretary to “take all appropriate actions to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children, including regulatory and sub-regulatory actions”.
An overwhelming majority of people in Greenland do not want the island to become part of the US, according to a poll.
President Trump has repeatedly said he wants the US to control Greenland, which is strategically located and believed to have significant untapped resources. Trump has refused to rule out using tariffs or force to acquire the territory from Denmark.
In a poll published by Denmark’s Berlingske and Greenland’s Sermitsiaq newspapers, 85% of residents of the island said they would not back the move, while 6% were in favour and 9% were undecided.
Some 45% saw Trump’s interest as a “threat”, 43% saw it as an “opportunity”, and 13% were undecided.
A day after Trump’s inauguration this month, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede insisted that Greenlanders “don’t want to be American”.
UN agencies have begun cutting their global aid operations following the 90-day suspension of all foreign assistance ordered by President Trump.
Filippo Grandi, the head of the organisation’s refugee agency, UNHCR, sent out an overnight email to employees ordering an immediate clampdown on expenditure, including a 90-day delay in ordering new supplies except for emergencies, a hiring and contract freeze, and a halt to all international air travel.
UNHCR is responsible for providing life-saving assistance to the 122 million people currently displaced from their homes across 136 countries.
The new US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, previously claimed the freeze would not affect life-saving aid, which he defined as “core lifesaving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such assistance”.
He said its targets were aid programmes involving abortion, family planning, and “gender ideology”.
The US provided £2bn ($2.49bn) in funding to the UNHCR, according to the latest figures for 2024 – a fifth of the agency’s total budget.
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Trump offers US federal workers buyouts to resign
In another part of its efforts to reshape the US government, the Trump administration has offered federal workers buyouts worth more than seven months’ salary to leave their jobs.
A memo circulated on Tuesday evening set out four mandatory directives, including a full-time return to the office for most employees. It also said that the federal workforce would be subjected to “enhanced standards of suitability and conduct” and warned that most agencies would be downsized.
It said the offer to leave would remain open until 6 February.
The US government is roughly the nation’s 15th-largest workforce, with more than 3 million employees. Project 2025, the conservative manifesto that has guided much of Trump’s policy goals, calls for mass firings of federal workers and suggests replacing many with political appointees.
Denouncing the offer, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees union, Everett Kelley, said it was part of an attempt to pressure workers not considered loyal to the new administration to leave their jobs.
“Purging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government,” a statement read.
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What we know about the block on Trump’s funding freeze
More now on the news that a federal judge has blocked a move by President Trump to pause trillions of dollars in federal loans, grants, and other financial assistance.
Federal grants and loans reach into virtually every corner of Americans’ lives, with hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into education, healthcare and anti-poverty programmes, housing assistance, disaster relief, infrastructure, and a host of other initiatives.
A two-page internal memo which had been due to take effect at 5pm eastern time on Tuesday told all federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all federal financial assistance”.
Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
The memo was met with widespread confusion in Washington, where civil servants struggled to understand its full extent scope and application.
The US constitution gives Congress control over spending matters, but Trump has said he believes the president has the power to withhold money for programmes he dislikes.
A letter from senior Democrats on the House Committee on Appropriations expressed “extreme alarm about the Administration’s efforts to undermine Congress’s power of the purse”, adding that this and other directives had “sown immense confusion across the country, with some reports indicating that they could immediately halt all federal funding for any grant or loan”.
US district judge Loren AliKhan granted the temporary halt after several advocacy groups argued the freeze would devastate programmes ranging from healthcare to road construction. The court will revisit the issue on Monday.
Opening summary
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of all the latest developments from US politics.
We start with the news that a federal judge has temporarily blocked a move by President Donald Trump to pause trillions of dollars in federal loans, grants, and other financial assistance.
A two-page internal memo had told all federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all federal financial assistance” and that “the use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars”.
The directive was seen as part of Trump’s desire to end programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The court order came moments before it was due to take effect and will prevent it from being implemented until at least next Monday, 3 February.
The administrative stay came in response to a lawsuit filed by four groups representing non-profits, public health professionals and small businesses in which they said the directive was illegal and would have a “devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of grant recipients who depend on the inflow of grant money”.
Stay with us for more on that and all the latest updates throughout the day.
