Washington, D.C. – Federal agencies must develop plans to eliminate employee positions, according to a memo distributed by President Donald Trump’s administration that sets in motion what could become a sweeping realignment of American government. 

Meanwhile, Trump held the first meeting with his Cabinet secretaries Wednesday, with Elon Musk in attendance, highlighting his influence over the administration. 

Here’s the latest: 

Supreme Court seems likely to rule for Ohio woman claiming job bias because she’s straight 

The outcome of the case could remove an additional requirement that some courts apply when members of a majority group, including those who are white and heterosexual, sue for discrimination under federal law. 

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh stated a way of resolving the case that seemed to enjoy broad support among his colleagues. “Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, whether you are gay or straight, is prohibited. The rules are the same whichever way it goes,” Kavanaugh said. 

The justices heard arguments in an appeal from Marlean Ames, who’s worked for the Ohio Department of Youth Services for more than 20 years. Ames contends she was passed over for a promotion and then demoted because she is heterosexual. Both the job she sought and the one she had held were given to LGBTQ+ people. 

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars sex discrimination in the workplace. A trial court and an appeals court ruled against Ames. 

Cuts to federal agencies could also mean moving out of the Washington area 

The Trump administration’s memo calling for agencies to prepare for sweeping cuts includes a provision allowing them to consider moving federal offices to cheaper-rent areas. 

That would open the door to a longtime Republican priority of relocating much of the federal bureaucracy from Washington, D.C. to conservative parts of the country. 

Trump tried this in his first term, moving the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management to the mid-sized Colorado city of Grand Junction, about 250 miles west of Denver. About 300 staffers quit or retired rather than make the move, which, of course, may be exactly the outcome the new administration wants. 

Biden moved BLM’s headquarters back to Denver in 2021 and its western headquarters remains in Grand Junction. 

Justice Department nominee doesn’t commit to not firing attorneys over their political views 

Harmeet Dhillon, nominee for the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, said she “cannot commit to any particular personnel decision” when asked if she would vow to not fire or reassign career attorneys in the division over who they voted for or their views on the 2020 election, which Trump has says was stolen from him. 

But she said it is her “general practice to not react to people based solely on their political views.” 

Dhillon, who has represented Trump multiple times in court, also dodged questions asking what she would do if the president asked her to do something she believed was illegal or unconstitutional. 

“In all of those years in multiple cases in multiple jurisdictions, the president has never asked me to do anything I found objectionable, immoral, unlawful or illegal, so I really can’t fathom the circumstances you’re describing,” she told the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary during an initial hearing Wednesday. 

Trump thinks they’ll sell ‘a lot’ of ‘gold cards’ with a path to citizenship 

The president said he plans to start selling the so-called “gold cards” for $5 million, and they’ll include a path to citizenship. 

Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik said that would replace the EB-5 program offered to investors who spent about $1 million on a company that employs at least 10 people. 

“If we sell a million, that’s $5 trillion dollars,” Trump said, adding he wants to use that money to pay off the country’s debt. 

“I think we will sell a lot because I think there’s really a thirst,” Trump said. “No other country can do this because people don’t want to go to other countries. They want to come here. Everybody wants to come here, especially since Nov. 5.” 

Assistant attorney general nominee speaks about DEI, anti-Semitism on college campuses 

Conservative attorney Harmeet Dhillon, Trump’s nominee for the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, slammed diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and anti-Semitism on college campuses during an initial Senate hearing Wednesday morning. 

“The president and Attorney General Bondi have made clear that diversity, equity and inclusion as it’s been applied to use racial quotas to deny people equal access to education, employment, even potentially housing and other aspects of civil life are inappropriate,” she said. “So we’ll certainly be taking a look at all of those and enforcing the law equally for all Americans.” 

When urged to “root out” DEI on college campuses and asked if “reverse racism is still racism,” Dhillon responded by saying, “I don’t even use the term ‘reverse racism.’ It’s just racism.” 

Dhillon also committed to “defending people of faith equally” when asked multiple times about harassment of typically religiously affiliated anti-abortion centers commonly referred to as pregnancy crisis centers. 

Trump says a deal on earth minerals with Ukraine can bring the US ‘great wealth’ 

The president suggested that a deal can help make up for all the military aid the Biden administration sent to Ukraine over the years — while potentially generating a lot more revenue. 

Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is “coming to sign the dealt and it’s a great thing. It’s a great deal for Ukraine too.” 

Trump told members of his Cabinet they should be looking to make deep cuts at their agencies 

In one example, the president said Lee Zeldin, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, should cut 65% of employees at the agency. 

Trump says, so far, he’s ‘impressed’ with all of his Cabinet 

He noted that only a month has passed since he took the White House anew but, “Right now, I’m impressed with everybody” in his Cabinet. 

The president singled out for praise Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But he talked at length about billionaire Elon Musk and his mass federal firings, saying “we’re cutting down government.” 

“We’re cutting down the size of government,” Trump said. “We have to.” 

Trump says Zelenskyy will visit White House to sign critical minerals deal 

Trump made the announcement Wednesday at start of his first Cabinet meeting. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the framework of the economic deal with the United States is ready but it doesn’t yet offer U.S. security guarantees Kyiv views as vital for its war against the Russian invasion. 

Since returning to office last month, Trump let Ukraine know that he wanted something in return for tens of billions of dollars in U.S. help fending off the Russian forces that launched a full-scale invasion just over three years ago on Feb. 24, 2022. 

Assistant attorney general nominee questioned on election integrity 

Harmeet Dhillon, a conservative attorney who’s represented Trump and is now his nominee for the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, was questioned over election integrity during a Wednesday morning Senate hearing. 

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, asked Dhillon about her views on voter roll challenges, which Democrats and voting rights advocates have called unfounded attempts to sow distrust in the voting process and disenfranchise voters as states are already required to maintain their rolls. 

Dhillon responded by applauding Tennessee for “cleaning up your voter rolls” and said she’s “100% in favor of clean voter rolls.” 

She also said requiring proof of citizenship “would be a tremendous boost to voter confidence in the integrity of elections in the states if there is an insurance that only citizens are voting, similarly that they’re only voting once.” 

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