President Donald J. Trump will order nearly all federal employees with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on administrative leave this Friday. The move comes as the international aid agency faces increasing scrutiny over its disbursement of taxpayer dollars and allegations it funds nongovernmental organizations and other groups actively undermining American interests abroad.
According to a notice on the USAID website, the measure will affect all “direct hire personnel” from February 7 at 11:59 PM. However, those responsible for essential operations, leadership roles, and select programs will continue their duties. Employees not on leave will be informed by Thursday at 3:00 PM.
Last week, the Trump White House announced a freeze on all USAID disbursements after Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) found concerning irregularities, including U.S. taxpayer dollars being given to organizations associated with foreign terrorist groups. Subsequently, President Trump named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as acting director of the agency—a move believed to be a precursor to the USAID shutdown, with any critical programs being subsumed into the State Department instead.
“They have basically evolved into an agency that believes that they’re not even a U.S. government agency, that… they’re a global charity, that they take the taxpayer money, and they spend it as a global charity irrespective of whether it is in the national interest or not in the national interest,” Sec. Rubio said in an interview earlier this week. He continued, stating while initially it was hoped USAID could be reformed, it appears that is no longer possible: “Now we have basically an active effort—their basic attitude is, ‘We don’t work for anyone, we work for ourselves, no agency of government can tell us what to do.'”
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President Donald J. Trump will order nearly all federal employees with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on administrative leave this Friday. The move comes as the international aid agency faces increasing scrutiny over its disbursement of taxpayer dollars and allegations it funds nongovernmental organizations and other groups actively undermining American interests abroad.
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A major Catholic charity may have to lay off as much as 50 percent of its staff due to being reliant on funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which President Donald J. Trump may shut down. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the top recipient of USAID, with the agency funding about half of the charity’s $1.5 billion annual budget.
In a staff-wide email sent on February 3, CRS president and CEO Sean Callahan stated that layoffs have already begun as the charity looks to cut programs. “We anticipate that we will be a much smaller overall organization by the end of this fiscal year,” Callahan stated.
From 2013 to 2022, CRS received a massive $4.6 billion in funding from USAID for various programs, including disaster assistance. The organization had around 7,800 employees across the globe as of 2018.
CRS also provides money toward migrants and refugees, as does Catholic Charities, another Catholic group. Last year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Catholic NGO Annunciation House, accusing its members of encouraging illegal immigration and hosting illegals.
The cut in staff at CRS comes after tech billionaire Elon Musk, recently appointed to lead President Donald J. Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), announced that President Trump intends to shut down USAID entirely.
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A major Catholic charity may have to lay off as much as 50 percent of its staff due to being reliant on funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which President Donald J. Trump may shut down. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the top recipient of USAID, with the agency funding about half of the charity's $1.5 billion annual budget.
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Two groups of agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) filed separate lawsuits on Tuesday in federal court seeking to bar President Donald J. Trump and the Department of Justice (DOJ) from attaining the names of agents involved in the January 6 Capitol riot prosecutions. The agents allege that they believe President Trump intends to make the identities of FBI employees who were assigned to the January 6 cases public, which they contend could place them and their families in danger.
“Plaintiffs are employees of the FBI who worked on Jan. 6 and/or Mar-a-Lago cases, and who have been informed that they are likely to be terminated in the very near future (the week of Feb. 3-9, 2025) for such activity,” one filing, on behalf of nine anonymous FBI employees as a class action lawsuit reads. It continues, claiming the plaintiffs represent the interests of “…at least 6,000 current and former F.B.I. agents and employees who participated in some manner in the investigation and prosecution of crimes and abuses of power by Donald Trump, or by those acting at his behest.”
The second case is being brought by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association on behalf of seven anonymous agents and seeks a restraining order against the DOJ’s acquisition of the list of agents who investigated the January 6 cases. Anti-Trump attorney Mark Zaid is the lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
Meanwhile, the Trump White House has not indicated that it intends to release the names of the FBI agents, despite the claims made in the lawsuits. So far, the only action taken has been a request by the DOJ for the FBI to hand over a list of agents involved as part of a broader department review of partisan lawfare actions undertaken by the previous Biden government.
Two groups of agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) filed separate lawsuits on Tuesday in federal court seeking to bar President Donald J. Trump and the Department of Justice (DOJ) from attaining the names of agents involved in the January 6 Capitol riot prosecutions. The agents allege that they believe President Trump intends to make the identities of FBI employees who were assigned to the January 6 cases public, which they contend could place them and their families in danger.
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President Donald J. Trump is signing a new executive order that will ban biological males from competing in women’s sports, press secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed Wednesday, February 5. Leavitt spoke at a White House press conference, stating the order was to defend the safety of female athletes and to uphold Title IX.
“This common-sense action from President Trump ends the disgusting betrayal of women and girls by the previous administration, who, for years, catered to radical activists who wanted biological males to be treated as women in workplace showers, competitive sports, prisons, and even rape shelters,” Leavitt said. “Gender ideology insanity is over,” she added.
The move came after President Trump signed an executive order shortly after his inauguration recognizing only two sexes, male and female.
The order has already been challenged by a transgender inmate currently residing in a women’s prison despite the inmate being biologically male. The lawsuit was initiated by inmate Maria Moe, who alleged the order intentionally discriminates against transgenders as it looks to both transfer biological males to men’s prisons and to halt federally subsidized sex changes. Some estimates suggest up to 15 percent of inmates in U.S. women’s federal prisons are biological males.
President Trump has also ordered a halt to the transitioning of minors, which includes both reassignment surgeries and hormone therapies. Despite this, leftist New York Attorney General Letitia James has ordered hospitals in her state to ignore the order and follow state law instead.
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President Donald J. Trump is signing a new executive order that will ban biological males from competing in women's sports, press secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed Wednesday, February 5. Leavitt spoke at a White House press conference, stating the order was to defend the safety of female athletes and to uphold Title IX.
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Representative Al Green (D-TX), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus known for making bloviating speeches while simply casting a vote, is filing articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump. The actual charges are unclear, though in a meandering floor speech, Rep. Green appeared to justify the move by falsely claiming President Trump is committing ethnic cleansing in Gaza while alluding vaguely to “dastardly deeds proposed and dastardly deeds done.”
Notably, this will be at least the third attempt by Congressional Democrats to impeach Trump. During his first term in the White House, Democrats held two impeachment votes against the America First leader. In each instant, the Senate found the impeachment charges adopted by the House Democrats unconvincing and voted against conviction and removal.
“And I rise today, Mr. Speaker, here with a ‘To Whom it May Concern’ message. To whom it may concern, ethnic cleansing in Gaza is not a joke. Especially when it emanates from the President of the United States—the most powerful person in the world,” Green declared on the House floor on Wednesday, seeming to be serious in believing that Trump intends to commit crimes against humanity. “I rise to announce that the movement to impeach the President has begun,” he continued.
“I rise to announce that I will bring articles of impeachment against the President for dastardly deeds proposed and dastardly deeds done,” the Texas Democrat said, claiming that his impeachment move is a “grassroots” action. Green concluded with a bizarre claim that “nobody knows more about [impeachment] than I.”
WATCH:
🤡 Democrat Al Green just brought Articles of Impeachment against President Trump over the threat of “ethnic cleansing in Gaza.” pic.twitter.com/OagNOFsjrZ
Representative Al Green (D-TX), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus known for making bloviating speeches while simply casting a vote, is filing articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump. The actual charges are unclear, though in a meandering floor speech, Rep. Green appeared to justify the move by falsely claiming President Trump is committing ethnic cleansing in Gaza while alluding vaguely to "dastardly deeds proposed and dastardly deeds done."
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President Donald J. Trump continues to ride a wave of public popularity following his landslide 2024 election victory in November. Recent polls show Trump’s public approval rating hitting a historic high, with data from Real Clear Politics indicating 48.8 percent of voters have a favorable impression of the America First leader, above the 47.9 percent who view him unfavorably.
The wave of support for Trump is largely driven by his aggressive implementation of the America First agenda he campaigned on. President Trump has signed a bevy of executive orders during his first two weeks in the White House, launching a mass deportation operation to address the country’s illegal immigration crisis, a partial shutdown of the U.S. border with Mexico, and the imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods.
Additionally, tariff threats against Canada and Mexico brought the two American neighbors into alignment with President Trump’s efforts to crack down on illegal border crossings and the illicit drug trade—especially the trafficking of fentanyl.
President Trump’s fast-paced enactment of his agenda is garnering broad support among the American electorate. A recent survey found that 39 percent of registered voters now say they view Trump more favorably as he’s taken unprecedented action to reverse American decline under former President Joe Biden.
The National Pulse previously reported that survey data suggests nearly two-thirds of Americans support the actions taken by President Trump during his first week in office. Additionally, a majority of Americans say they approve of Trump’s cabinet picks.
President Donald J. Trump continues to ride a wave of public popularity following his landslide 2024 election victory in November. Recent polls show Trump's public approval rating hitting a historic high, with data from Real Clear Politics indicating 48.8 percent of voters have a favorable impression of the America First leader, above the 47.9 percent who view him unfavorably.
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The International Republican Institute (IRI)—a nonprofit founded in 1983 and chaired for 25 years by the late Senator John McCain (R-AZ)—receives over $130 million in federal grants, either directly from government programs like those run by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or funneled to it via far-left, open-borders organizations like the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM). Earlier this week, the Trump White House moved to freeze USAID funding, with the agency being absorbed into the State Department.
According to IRI’s internal audits and filings with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the globalist-aligned and anti-Trump nonprofit spent $130.7 million in taxpayer dollars “to strengthen political parties, civil society, marginalized communities, and in other areas essential to democratic governance” in over 100 foreign countries.
Importantly, a 2023 IRI audit document reveals the nonprofit group, which boasts numerous prominent Republican lawmakers as members of its board, is backed through grants directly issued by USAID and the State Department. Foreign governments have accused both federal government agencies of acting as fronts for the U.S. intelligence community and using nonprofits and NGOs like IRI to foment color revolutions to install pro-Western governments in foreign nations.
Additionally, the audit document shows that IRI received additional taxpayer dollars through grants issued by globalist NGOs, which are themselves recipients of federal grants or direct congressional funding. Acting as so-called pass-through entities, the IOM, the Pan American Development Foundation, the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) all funded IRI programs promoting foreign interventionism and regime change. Notably, both the IOM and the Pan American Development Foundation are prominent advocates of globalist open borders policies.
IRI AND THE RUSSIA HOAX.
Even more troubling, at least one former IRI employee was actively involved in the Democratic Party’s Russia hoax and cooperated with the Mueller investigation, which was largely reliant on the discredited Steele Dossier. Sam Patten, a former IRI staffer, pled guilty in 2018 to federal charges that he failed to register as a foreign agent and subsequently provided materials to federal investigators that allegedly tied the Trump campaign to Ukrainian oligarch Konstantin Kilimnik. The latter was accused of being involved in Russian efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
While the Mueller investigation paints Kilimnik as Russian intelligence asset, the truth appears murkier. Kilimnik also worked for IRI for nearly a decade, received a visa to travel to the U.S. from the State Department in 2016, and was revealed to be a source for the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, suggesting the Ukrainian oligarch may have been a U.S. intelligence asset.
NOTABLE GOP BOARD MEMBERS.
The late U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ)—a rabid critic of President Donald J. Trump—served as the chairman of IRI’s board of directors for 25 years, leading the group for most of its existence. Today, the chairman of IRI’s board is U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK).
Additionally, Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) serve on the group’s board. They’re joined by former Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Mark Kirk (R-IL), and Mitt Romney (R-UT). Matt Pottinger, a former Trump deputy national security advisor who oversaw U.S. policy on China, is also listed as a board member. As is former Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), a close ally of the defense industry and staunch supporter of foreign interventionism.
Meanwhile, the IRI board also counts among its members former U.S. National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, another key figure in fueling the Democratic Party’s Russia hoax against Trump. In a book, McMaster smeared his former boss, President Trump, as being “very offensive” and “brash.” While promoting the book in 2024, McMaster stated he would never consider working for Trump again.
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The International Republican Institute (IRI)—a nonprofit founded in 1983 and chaired for 25 years by the late Senator John McCain (R-AZ)—receives over $130 million in federal grants, either directly from government programs like those run by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or funneled to it via far-left, open-borders organizations like the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM). Earlier this week, the Trump White House moved to freeze USAID funding, with the agency being absorbed into the State Department.
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President Donald J. Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday reinstating the “maximum pressure” policy against Iran undertaken during his first term in office. The executive order will impose crippling economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic and any company that engages in business with the Iranian oil industry.
U.S. officials say the renewed sanctions are “aimed at driving Iran’s oil exports to zero” and ending “all paths to a nuclear weapon” for the Islamist regime. Additionally, by crippling Iran’s oil industry, the Trump White House believes it can effectively grind the country’s economy to a halt and prevent it from continuing to fund its numerous terrorist proxies across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen.
In 2018, following President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA or Iran nuclear deal), the America First leader instituted what was dubbed the “maximum pressure” policy, which saw aggressive sanctions enacted against Iran to cripple the country’s oil industry and economy. The National Pulse previously reported that Trump’s comprehensive sanctions cut Iran’s annual GDP in half by 2020 and reduced the country’s crude oil exports to a historic low of just under 500,000 barrels per day.
Consequently, the “maximum pressure” policy effectively ended Iran’s ability to fund its terror proxies. However, the terrorist groups saw a surge of resources after then-President Joe Biden rescinded Trump’s sanctions in February 2021. In just two years, Iran’s oil exports recovered to 1.5 million barrels per day, and its GDP bounced back to $413 billion per year from a low of $240 billion in 2020. The rescinding of Trump’s Iran sanctions likely played a key role in Hamas’s ability to carry out the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks against Israel.
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President Donald J. Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday reinstating the "maximum pressure" policy against Iran undertaken during his first term in office. The executive order will impose crippling economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic and any company that engages in business with the Iranian oil industry.
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Germany’s populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been denied an invitation to a major global security conference after organizers claimed the party does not believe in peace through dialogue. Christoph Heusgen, the Munich Security Conference chairman, cited the AfD’s departure from Germany’s Bundestag (federal parliament) during a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and their stance on aid to Zelensky as factors.
Starting February 14, the conference will gather global leaders, lawmakers, and senior defense officials to discuss security matters. Historically, regardless of orientation, German political parties are typically invited to this annual security dialogue. The exclusion of the AfD is seen as a move to further isolate populists in Germany as they rise in the polls.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk recently appeared via video link at an AfD campaign event in Halle, Germany, voicing support for the party. Earlier, Musk had taken to social platform X, expressing that the AfD was key to Germany’s future in a conversation with party co-chairwoman Alice Weidel.
While the AfD is polling at over 20 percent ahead of this month’s German federal election, putting it in second place, Musk’s intervention in German politics is not popular among the public. A poll found only 19 percent of Germans viewed Musk favorably in the country.
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Germany's populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been denied an invitation to a major global security conference after organizers claimed the party does not believe in peace through dialogue. Christoph Heusgen, the Munich Security Conference chairman, cited the AfD's departure from Germany's Bundestag (federal parliament) during a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and their stance on aid to Zelensky as factors.
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Fox News announced on Monday that Bret Baier, the network’s chief political anchor, will interview President Donald J. Trump during the Super Bowl LIX pregame coverage. The interview is scheduled to air on Sunday, February 9, at 3 PM ET and will be broadcast from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
This marks Baier’s first one-on-one interview with Trump since June 2023. According to Fox News, the discussion will cover the administration’s initial policies and the political environment.
The interview comes after a whirlwind of executive orders signed in the first weeks of President Trump’s second term, including scrapping DEI departments and ordering U.S. Marines to help secure the southern border.
Interviews with the sitting president on Super Bowl Sunday became a tradition under former President Barack Obama. President Trump continued the tradition but skipped the interview in 2018 during his first term. Last year’s Super Bowl drew the largest television audience since the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, with over 123 million viewers. Nielsen data claimed that over 202 million people watched at least part of the game. This year’s game will see the Kansas City Chiefs—looking for their third straight Lombardi Trophy—square off against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Former President Joe Biden skipped the Super Bowl interview last year, and Bloomberg’s senior Washington correspondent Salena Mohsin questioned whether Biden simply could not handle a live interview at the time. Later that year, when Biden debated President Trump, it became more apparent than ever that the now-former president had suffered a mental decline, and Vice President Kamala Harris soon supplanted him as the Democratic presidential candidate.
Fox News announced on Monday that Bret Baier, the network's chief political anchor, will interview President Donald J. Trump during the Super Bowl LIX pregame coverage. The interview is scheduled to air on Sunday, February 9, at 3 PM ET and will be broadcast from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
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