The big picture: While Republican lawmakers have contended voters wanted drastic change, new polling suggests the Trump administration may be taking their chainsaw-wielding executive reach too far for some.
President Trump's approval ratings also took a slight hit in recently released polling, after his initial numbers were some of the highest of his political career, though weaker than other modern presidents at the start of their terms — other than himself in 2017.
Driving the news: Trump's approval ratings dropped into more "normal territory" for him, as described in a Washington Post analysis of recent polling, which could spell trouble for the administration as their billionaire budget buster also slips underwater.
In a Feb. 13-18 Washington Post-Ipsos poll, a net 34% of respondents said they approved of how Musk was handling his job, compared to 49% disapproving and 14% not sure.
The poll displayed a stark divide based on party ID, with just 6% of Democrats approving of how Musk has handled his job compared to 70% of Republicans.
But when asked if they approved of Musk shutting down federal government programs he deemed unnecessary, a smaller slice of Republicans (56%) gave their blessing, while 25% said they weren't sure and 18% disapproved.
By the numbers: In severalrecentnational polls, more respondents disapproved of Musk or the job he's doing than approved of him.
Over half of respondents (55%) in a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Feb. 13 to 17 said Musk has too much power in making decisions affecting the U.S., while 36% think he has about the right amount of power.
A Pew survey of U.S. adults taken Jan. 27 to Feb. 2 showed that Americans had more negative (54%) than positive (42%) views of Musk (DOGE's dissection of the federal government has dramatically escalated since the poll was conducted).
And a Feb. 15 to Feb. 17 Emerson College Poll showed 45% of respondents disapproved of the job Musk was doing, while 41% approved and 14% were neutral.
Some of those polls also show that Trump's disapproval ratings are surpassing his approval ratings.
Per the Washington Post-Ipsos poll, 27% strongly approve of how Trump is handling his job — 39% strongly disapprove.
Sixty-two percent said they don't consider the words honest and trustworthy to apply to the president.
But even as Trump's approval ratings dip, multiple surveys showed Musk's ratings are even lower.
What we're watching: Disapproval of DOGE doesn't seem to be fazing the president, who on Saturday called for Musk to be "MORE AGGRESSIVE."
The broad purge of the federal workforce — stretching from the Internal Revenue Service to the National Parks Service — could have far-reaching impacts — and it seems Americans aren't so sure they like that.
President Trump's firings of Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown, Jr. and other top military leaders sends a "dangerous message" to service members about how the administration regards political loyalty, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Sunday.
Why it matters: The controversial dismissals, which also hit Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife, come as the U.S. stares down instability abroad and amid tensions with some international allies.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had in the past questioned whether Brown — a four-star fighter pilot who served as the first Black chief of staff of the Air Force and the second Black general to serve as chairman — was named to the post because of his race.
Hegseth said in a Sunday interview with "Fox News Sunday" that while he has "a lot of respect" for Brown, he's "not the right man for the moment."
Franchetti, whom CNN reports Hegseth once described as a "DEI hire," was the first woman to serve as the chief of naval operations.
Driving the news: Democrats and some former military officials decried Trump's move to boot respected leaders, characterizing the decision as a signal from the administration that partisan loyalties outweighed expertise and experience.
The Joint Chiefs chair "should be independent of politics," Booker said on NBC's "Meet the Press Sunday," noting Brown was "supported overwhelmingly" on both sides of the political aisle.
But Trump, Booker said, "has thrown that out the window and is sending a dangerous message to the military: 'It's not about your independent expertise. It's not about your years of service. It's about your personal political loyalty to me.'"
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on ABC's "This Week" that the firings were "completely unjustified" and mark "the beginning of a very, very serious degradation of the military and politicization of the military."
Reed highlighted Hegseth's decision to fire the top Army, Navy and Air Force lawyers — judge advocates general, commonly known as JAGs — saying, "If you're going to break the law, the first thing you do is you get rid of the lawyers."
The other side: Hegseth slammed Reed's criticism as "a total mischaracterization."
He continued, "This is a reflection of the president wanting the right people around him to execute the national security approach we want to take."
Zoom in: Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told ABC's Martha Raddatz in a Sunday interview that he doesn't know whether the firings were "about DEI," contending, "bottom line here to me is the Department of Defense needed a complete overhaul."
Trump has for years railed against "woke" generals and "wokeness" he says weakened the military, such as through diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) denied Rep. James Clyburn's (D-S.C.) contention that Trump may have fired Brown because he is Black, arguing to NBC's Kristen Welker Sunday that Clyburn "constantly pulls the race card out."
"This had zero, absolutely zero to do with race," Mullin said.
President Trump has repeatedly vowed to bring America into its "golden age," in part by ensuring that the gold kept in Fort Knox is still there.
The big picture: Ford Knox's tightly sealed U.S. Bullion Depository currently stores 147.3 million troy ounces in gold — or more than half of the Treasury's total supply, according to the U.S. Mint.
The gold is held at a government-set book value of $42.22 per ounce. As Forbes notes, gold trades for a far higher value on the open market.
Zoom out: The fortified vaults have been the subject of swirling skepticism and shrouded by secrecy for decades. No visitors are permitted in the facility, and its doors have only opened to unauthorized personnel a handful of times.
This week, Trump and Elon Musk, who oversees the administration's unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, seemed to lean into long-held conspiracy theories about whether the government was being truthful about the amount of gold in the vault.
"All the gold is present and accounted for," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told talk show host Dan O'Donnell in an exclusive interview Wednesday, emphasizing that an audit is conducted every year (though it's often said a full audit has not been done in decades).
Yes, but: Musk and others in the GOP seem to want another one — and the tech billionaire wants to do a video walkthrough of Fort Knox.
Why was Fort Knox's Depository established?
Fort Knox's Bullion Depository was built in the 1930s amid concerns that existing reserves along the East Coast were susceptible to an attack.
It originally was constructed as a centralized location for the U.S.' growing reserve of gold after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a controversial executive order that effectively banned private gold ownership.
But since it was erected, it's also housed other American treasures: The U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights all spent a stint at the vaults during World War II.
Who has been inside?
Non-authorized personnel have entered the Kentucky depository on only three occasions.
Roosevelt inspected the depository in 1943. His visit was the first time it opened its doors to anyone aside from authorized personnel.
More than 30 years later, in 1974, then-Treasury Secretary William Simon again departed from the no-visitors policy in response to rumors that the gold held in the depository was gone, welcoming a congressional delegation and a group of journalists.
The New York Times reported at the time that the gold was still there.
This century, non-authorized personnel have only been invited in the historic vaults once.
In 2017, during Trump's first term, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others took a trip to see the stash.
What has the administration said about it?
Over the last several days, Musk has zeroed in on the depository, demanding to know whether the gold is "still there."
"Who is confirming that gold wasn't stolen from Fort Knox?" he wrote Monday. "Maybe it's there, maybe it's not."
Responding to a post from far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones about a potential DOGE investigation into "missing gold" at Fort Knox, Musk said a "live video walkthrough" would be "cool."
In a Wednesday post, he said a "livestream" of the highly secretive location would be fire emoji (x2).
Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One Wednesday, said, "We're going to go into Fort Knox to make sure the gold is there."
If it isn't, he said, "we're going to be very upset."
What we're watching: Bessent said he would invite any senator to visit and arrange an inspection of Fort Knox.
President Trump's media group on Wednesday sued a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, alleging that he censored right-wing voices on social media platforms.
Why it matters: The lawsuit came just hours after charges against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, were sent to Brazil's highest court.
Driving the news: The Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, and Rumble accused Judge Alexandre de Moraes of violating the free speech rights of U.S.-based conservative commentators, according to the lawsuit filed in a U.S. federal court in Tampa.
The plaintiffs argued that Moraes' orders to remove Rumble accounts amounted to censorship, and that the accounts would be "lawful" under U.S. law.
"The Gag Orders demand that Rumble, from its Florida-based headquarters and without any Brazil operations, enforce a universal ban on the targeted accounts—imposing a total blackout that extends even to U.S. users," the suit reads.
Truth Social — which relies on Rumble technology for cloud hosting, video streaming and other back-end services — risks "operational challenges" in the U.S. as a result, the suit argues.
Catch up quick: Bolsonaro was charged Tuesday over an alleged coup plot to overturn his 2022 election loss to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro was also accused of being involved in a plan to kill his political rival.
Moraes, who has overseen the investigations into the ex-president, was also a target in the assassination plot detailed in the indictment, the New York Times reported.
The 69-year-old populist leader has denied any wrongdoing and accused investigators of targeting him.
Flashback: Bolsonaro has long accused Moraes, who has aggressively gone after hate speech and misinformation on social media, of censoring conservative voices.
Moraes in 2022 struck down Bolsonaro's bid to overturn his election loss. A mob of his supporters stormed government buildings on Jan. 8, 2023.
Zoom out: Moraes has also clashed with Elon Musk, now a "Special Government Employee" in the Trump administration, over far-right accounts and misinformation shared on X.
Moraes ordered the suspension of X last year because Musk didn't name a legal representative for the platform in the country.
The ban came months after Moraes announced he was investigating Musk for obstruction of justice after the billionaire vowed to defy a court order blocking certain accounts on X in Brazil.
More than a month after the ban was imposed, X acquiesced and the prohibition was lifted.
Democrats and Black and Gen Z shoppers are carving a new path of resistance by refusing to shop at certain stores over their political stances in the new Trump era.
Big companies like Target, Disney and Google have recently abandoned or changed their DEI policies and programs to align with the president's agenda.
Why it matters: Consumers on both sides of the political spectrum have used their wallets in the past to protest individual companies — with varying results.
"It seemed like consumers are just fatigued by all this shifting politics in their brands," Harris Poll CEO John Gerzema told Axios, comparing the drive to "opt out" of the economy to "a mental health break."
"Instead of maybe standing in the checkout line, they're just sort of checking out," he added.
State of play: Democrats were more likely to say they'd stop shopping at companies that have political views they disagree with, with 45% saying they'd dump a brand compared to 34% of Republicans, according to The Harris Poll findings shared with Axios Tuesday.
Half of Democrats indicated they had shifted their spending entirely in the last few months to align with their moralscompared with Republicans (42%).
The Guardian was the first to report on the findings.
By the numbers: Around four out of 10 Americans have changed their spending habits over the past few months to align with their moral view, the poll found.
Some 24% of respondents said they had stopped shopping at their favorite stores because of their politics, a sentiment 35% of Black respondents and 32% of Gen Z respondents shared.
Between the lines: Conservatives in recent years were more vocal about dumping companies they deemed political or "woke."
Right-wing activists led a boycott of Bud Light in 2023 that torpedoed parent company Anheuser-Busch's sales after the beer company sent trans social-media influencer Dylan Mulvaney an influencer package.
Last year, Target chose to sell its Pride Month collection in fewer stores following right-wing ire and boycotts over LGBTQ+-themed products.
Zoom out: Amazon, Disney, Google and others have similarly reviewed and rolled back DEI programs, in part over shareholder pressure and the changing legal landscape after the Supreme Court's 2023 affirmative action decision.
Others, like Apple and Costco, have upheld their DEI efforts.
Calls to boycott Target since it changed its DEI policieshave gained broad traction online.
Twin Cities Pride announced in late January that the Minnesota-based company would not "have a presence at the festival or parade" despite a long-standing partnership with the LGBTQ+ group.
What's next: Some entrepreneurs and business owners have pushed back against corporate DEI rollbacks. They've argued policy changes have left some minority-owned brands that work with larger retailers in limbo over how to market their products.
Activists have encouraged "intentional spending" to support minority-owned or small businesses. The NAACP's recently released Black Consumer Advisory urges Black buyers to make "informed spending decisions" and demand accountability amid attacks on DEI.
Methodology: This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by The Harris Poll from January 30th to February 1st, 2025, among a nationally representative sample of 2,108 U.S. adults.
A Delta Air Lines plane from Minneapolis crashed while landing at Toronto's Pearson International Airport Monday, but officials said all 80 people on board were evacuated from the aircraft that flipped during snowy conditions.
The big picture: There were no fatalities from the crash that involved Delta Connection flight 4819, operated by regional subsidiary Endeavor Air, but "18 customers" were taken to local hospitals, per a Delta statement on what the airline called a "single-aircraft accident."
Toronto Pearson CEO Deborah Flint at a Monday evening briefing said 22 of the 76 passengers and four crew members aboard the plane were Canadian. The others were "multinationals," added Flint, who did not elaborate further and declined to answer questions.
Footage and photos of the scene showed the plane upside down on the snow-covered ground.
Situation report: Delta said the crash happened about 2:15pm ET during blowing snow and strong wind gusts.
Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken said at a Monday night briefing that while the cause of the crash was being investigated, "the runway was dry and there was no cross-wind conditions."
Medical transport provider Ornge said in a media statement that three people sustained critical injuries in the crash. However, Flint said at the evening briefing that officials did not know of any critical injuries.
Departures and arrivals at Toronto Pearson resumed about 5pm ET after the airport briefly closed, according to Delta and the airport.
Flint called the emergency response "textbook" and said the focus was on the care and concern for the passengers and the crew, "some of whom have already been reunified with their friends and their families."
Zoom in: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigators were en route to Toronto and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada will lead the investigation, per a post to X from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
"I've been in touch with my counterpart in Canada to offer assistance and help with the investigation," Duffy added.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said on Bluesky he's "in touch with Delta" about the crash, adding: "Grateful to the first responders and professionals on the scene."
Zoom out: The crash follows a midair collision last month between a commercial aircraft and an Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport, outside D.C.
Despite these incidents, data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows flying is the safest form of transportation.
Presidents Day comes every third Monday in February: It's a day many Americans enjoy off from work and cash in on sales.
The big picture: The way the holiday is celebrated has evolved throughout U.S. history, from a day of reverence for George Washington to a retail bonanza.
The growing pains sparked congressional debates decades ago, but the advertising industry's cash cow won out over political quarrels, institutionalizing the contemporary idea of Presidents Day.
The modern Presidents Day weekend is often recognized as a time to shop for mattresses, appliances, electronics, and more. But the reason for the season dates back long before online shopping and BOGO deals.
The intrigue: The placement or absenceof an apostrophe in the day's name further muddled the purpose of the holiday.
Here is a brief history of Presidents Day:
Is Presidents Day George Washington's birthday? It's complicated.
The day does honor the first president's birthday, which falls on Feb. 22.
So, no, it's not on his actual birthday — in fact, it never is. But, yes, his birthday is the origin of the holiday.
Flashback: During his life and after Washington's death, Americans informally celebrated his birthday, according to Mount Vernon's history of the holiday.
Washington himself seemingly wasn't a partier on his birthday, according to his diary entries: In 1760, he installed a fence, and in 1788, he spent the day indoors as snow fell.
Zoom in: Some eight decades after Washington's death, lawmakers formalized the unofficial birthday festivities honoring the Father of His Country, adding Feb. 22 to the short list of federal holidays, according to a Prologue article by historian C.L. Arbelbide in the National Archives.
The popular bill, signed into law by President Rutherford B. Hayes, applied only to D.C. federal workers.
In 1885, it was extended to all federal workers.
Why is it celebrated on a Monday?
Congress in 1968 passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act (the legislation to thank for three-day weekends), which shifted observance of some government holidays — including Washington's Birthday — to Mondays.
With the implementation of the law in 1971, observance of Washington's Birthday was booted to the third Monday in February.
Lawmakers proposed the change as an opportunity for leisure and to address concerns about absenteeism, Arbelbide wrote — while others raised alarms about nongovernmental workers' rights for the benefit of business.
There was some discussion over renaming Washington's Birthday to Presidents' Day — but the idea, which triggered unease among Virginia lawmakers and others, was dropped.
With the holiday falling on the third Monday in February, it ensured it would never be celebrated on Washington's actual birthday: The third Monday in February can't fall any later than Feb. 21, according to the National Archives.
While the law did not formally broaden the day to honor President Abraham Lincoln, who was born on Feb. 12, Washington began sharing the holiday spotlight.
The sales scene erupted, as advertisers morphed the two presidents' birthdays into "the sales sound bite" of "President's Day," according to Arbelbide.
Some states chose to shirk the federal title of Washington's birthday, opting instead for Presidents' (or President's, or Presidents) Day monikers.
States to this day vary in how they recognize Presidents Day — in their placement of an apostrophe, over which presidents they honor, or whether they recognize it at all.
Democrats are signaling they won't bail out Republicans as yet another government funding deadline looms — and with a GOP trifecta in Washington, some say it won't be their fault if the government goes dark.
Why it matters: If past negotiations are an indicator of how the vote to stave off the March 14 shutdown deadline will go, the GOP will almost certainly need Democratic support.
"Republicans have consistently shut down the government in the past," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "It would be no surprise if they do just that this time around."
"It is up to them [Republicans] to keep that government running," Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said on CNN's "State of the Union." "They better learn how to run it because right now, it is pure chaos."
As a GOP-controlled Congress empowers President Trump's sweeping executive actions, the Democratic arsenal has been stripped of many of its most powerful weapons.
But amid budget talks, some Democrats have expressed willingness to take a stand against Elon Musk-led shifts with their most basic tool: their vote.
What they're saying: "There's a Republican president, a Republican House and a Republican Senate," Jeffries said Sunday. "They have a responsibility to make sure that government remains open and can function."
But Jeffries noted the GOP budget blueprint that just passed the House Budget Committee on a party-line vote is a "a non-starter" for Democrats — a stance he predicts will persist "because it's out of control."
Zoom out: Klobuchar echoed her Democratic colleague, saying it's "not Democrats who are going to shut this government down."
But pressed whether she was signaling a no vote, Klobuchar pushed back, saying, "What we are doing is trying to work with them to get a budget together."
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said on "Fox News Sunday" that the GOP is "having a hard time getting on the same page" amid "confusion" between House and Senate Republicans, whose competing budget proposals must be identical to move forward with reconciliation.
Negotiations between GOP hardliners and leadership hit a friction point over how deep spending cuts should go before the plan was revealed, Axios' Erin Doherty reported.
Yes, but: Kaine emphasized he would never use a shutdown as "a threat."
"I don't like the fact that Donald Trump is shutting government down as we speak," referencing staggering dramatic layoffs throughout federal agencies that some experts say are legally dubious.
He contended Trump's workforce reductions are a "shutdown unauthorized by Congress." But he repeated: "I don't think we should be contemplating shutdown."
The big picture: The exact details on what lawmakers think the party should be demanding vary, Axios' Andrew Solender reports. But there's harmony on one key factor: Democrats want assurances that the Trump team will stick to whatever spending law Congress passes.
Jeffries, in a letter to colleagues earlier this month, wrote that he had made it clear to GOP leadership that "any effort to steal taxpayer money from the American people ... must be choked off in the upcoming government funding bill, if not sooner."
Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) questioned: "How do you make a deal with a guy who says 'I don't have to abide by the deal'?"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a "Meet the Press" interview aired Sunday that he would "never accept" decisions made by the U.S. and Russia about Ukraine's future, even as the two nations appear poised to engage in peace talks this week.
The big picture:President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed Sunday on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that he and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz will travel to Saudi Arabia to "hopefully make some really good progress" on the Russia-Ukraine peace process.
Zelensky had said hours before that Ukraine was not invited to participate in any peace talks, a notion which Witkoff pushed back against to Fox News' Maria Bartiromo.
"Ukraine is part of the talks," Witkoff said, adding, "I don't think this is about excluding anybody."
Zoom out: European allies had also expressed concern Ukraine wouldn't get an equal say in peace talks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shocked NATO allies by declaring key bargaining chips off the table.
Hegesth's comments sparked concerns over what concessions the White House might be preemptively offering the Kremlin. President Trump himself contended that NATO membership isn't "practical" for Ukraine and that it's "unlikely" the nation gets "all of its land back."
In his "Meet the Press" interview, Zelensky warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin "will wage war against NATO" and is only waiting for the military alliance to weaken, perhaps if the U.S. "will think to take its military from Europe."
Vice President JD Vance warned that Europe had to be ready to defend itself in a speech at the Munich Security Conference last week.
NATO defense ministers and European officials have rebuked the U.S.' shifting posture. But Waltz said that while allies may not like "the sequencing that is going on" as negotiations begin, he pushed back on "any notion that they aren't being consulted."
He added, "At the end of the day, though, this is going to be under President Trump's leadership that we get this war to an end."
When asked whether Ukrainians will be dealt in to the negotiations, Waltz pointed to discussions between U.S. officials and Kyiv over "a partnership" to be "co-invested" with the U.S.
Trump recently demanded that Ukraine grant access to some $500 billion in rare earth minerals in return for U.S. military support.
Yes, but: Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that any talks are in early stages.
Asked who he would be meeting in Saudi Arabia, Rubio said "nothing has been finalized yet."
"It's a bit premature," he said. "I know there's been a lot of reaction to it because there's been no conversation about it or any serious conversation."
If talks crossed a line into "real negotiations," he said, Ukraine and European nations "will have to be involved." But he added, "We're just not there yet."
Asked if he believes Trump is negotiating in good faith, Zelensky said, "I hope so."
Without U.S. support, Zelensky said there's a "low chance" Ukraine survives.
Linda McMahon, who once helmed World Wrestling Entertainment, will take her turn with the Senate Thursday as President Trump's pick to lead the Education Department.
Why it matters: Lawmakers will likely press McMahon on the president tapping her to lead an agency has repeatedly said he wants shut down.
Trump's proposals to dismantle the Department of Education could have dramatic implications for public schools that rely on federal funds to fill gaps in state and local support. On top of that, experts say it could be a recipe for chaos as critical government programs are reorganized.
Trump told reporters earlier this month he hopes McMahon will "put herself out of a job."
Reality check: Eliminating the Department of Education, which has been a punching bag for the GOP for decades, would require congressional action.
But that's not to say the administration won't try to dismantle it before urging lawmakers to deliver the final blow.
The Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has begun dissecting the agency from the inside, claiming the team has terminated some $881 million in contracts deemed wasteful.
Members of the DOGE team have also reportedly obtained "administrator" emails in the department's system, NBC reported.
State of play: Labor unions have turned to the courts amid the DOGE-driven dismantling at federal agencies, including in a recent lawsuit seeking to stop the team from accessing private information at the Education and Treasury departments and the Office of Personnel Management.
McMahon, if confirmed, would be tasked with implementing several education-related executive orders Trump has signed, including one that threatens to slash funding for K-12 schools that "indoctrinate" students by teaching about race and gender.
The big picture: McMahon, the former Small Business Administration director and a longtime Trump ally (and megadonor), appears before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) at 10am ET.
Beyond Trump's push to decimate the agency, McMahon may also face questioning over WWE controversies, including allegations that she and her husband, Vince McMahon, turned a blind eye to sexual abuse at the company.
Attorneys representing the McMahons have denied those allegations.
What we're watching: She will likely address the nation's pervasive learning loss trend exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Times reports.
A bill introduced by a House Republican requiring voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote has triggered alarm bells among voting and civil rights organizations.
The big picture: The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act aims to restrict noncitizen voting — which is exceptionally rare and illegal. But voting rights advocates warn it could risk disenfranchising U.S. citizens who don't have proof of citizenship readily available.
According to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, more than 9% of American citizens (21.3 million people) of voting age don't have proof of citizenship at hand.
Driving the news: The bill, championed by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), has been on the congressional radar for months, first introduced in May 2024 and reintroduced to the 119th Congress last month.
Roy, in a statement provided to Axios, characterized voting rights groups' concerns as "absurd armchair speculation."
He added that the "legislation provides a myriad ways for people to prove citizenship and explicitly directs States to establish a process for individuals to register to vote if there are discrepancies in their proof of citizenship documents due to something like a name change."
Catch up quick: Claims of millions of undocumented immigrants voting began circulating during the 2016 election.
President Trump, without evidence, contended at the time he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 2.9 million votes because 3 million (or more) undocumented immigrants voted.
But a Brennan Center nationwide study of the 2016 election across 42 jurisdictions found that officials referred only an estimated 30 incidents of suspected noncitizen voting for further investigation or prosecution.
What does the SAVE Act do?
The bill, which seeks to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), would require Americans seeking to register or re-register to vote to present a REAL ID-compliant ID that indicates U.S. citizenship, a passport or another citizenship document.
Other "[v]alid government-issued photo identification" cards that do not indicate birthplace or citizenship must be presented alongside a birth certificate, a naturalization certificate, an adoption decree or other listed forms of documentation demonstrating status or birthplace.
The Brennan Center writes that the bill would "functionally eliminate mail registration" because it requires people to present documentary proof of citizenship in person.
As noted by Roy, the bill directs states to establish a process for applicants to provide "additional documentation" to establish that the applicant is a citizen "in the event of a discrepancy with respect to the applicant's documentary proof of United States citizenship."
Reality check: Citizenship is already a requirement to vote.
The NVRA requires states to use a common voter form, including confirming that the applicant is a citizen under penalty of perjury.
Noncitizens who register often do so by mistake and very rarely cast a ballot. The stakes of voting as a non-U.S. citizen, even unintentionally, are very high. Punishments include prison time and possible deportation.
CLC says the act imposes "unnecessary barriers" to the registration process, noting that most voters could not use their driver's license alone to register — enhanced driver's licenses, which demonstrate citizenship, are only available in five states.
Married women who have changed their last names, young voters and voters of color are more likely to have problems accessing necessary documentation, the Brennan Center says.
The Bipartisan Policy Center, in a July brief, stated that while the goal of ensuring only citizens register to vote is important, the sweeping changes outlined in the bill would take time — and funding, which the mandate does not include — for states to implement.
Zoom out: Kansas tried to implement a rule mandating documentary proof of citizenship to vote, but it was struck down in court as a violation of the Constitution and the NVRA.
Arizona implemented a similar law, but the Supreme Court upheld only partial enforcement. People who can't provide proof of citizenship can register to vote in the state using federal forms and are only permitted to vote in federal races.
What's next: The bill passed the House once already in July, earning support from five Democrats along with 216 Republicans.
It will likely see the floor again in the coming days.
However, the Senate has not voted on the legislation, and it's unlikely seven Democrats would back the bill for it to overcome a filibuster in the chamber.
But some Democrats, following the party's 2024 losses, have sided with Republicans on legislation they previously opposed, possibly signaling new opportunities for bills that may have stalled or been struck down in past years.
President Trump has signed more than 75 executive orders, memos and proclamations during his first few weeks in office at a pace that surpasses his most recent predecessors'.
The big picture: The executive actions reflect much of Trump's rhetoric on the campaign trail: reducing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; cracking down on immigration; and formalizing "America First" foreign policy.
Trump's executive actions — many of which have direct links to Project 2025 — have already had far-reaching impacts,triggering a rapid shakeup of the federal bureaucracy.
Earlier this month, his administration froze humanitarian programs across the globe by empowering the new Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency to take control and make cuts.
The orders Axios has identified and grouped illuminate how the Trump administration is carrying out its agenda, though his actions have raised constitutional questions about the reach of his authority that courts will now weigh in on.
What they're saying: "President Trump has taken bold action to fulfill the promises that earned him a resounding mandate from the American people," spokesperson Harrison Fields told Axios in an emailed statement.
"With every decision, President Trump is putting Americans first – and he's just getting started," he added.
Here are some of the most notable categories:
Foreign policy
Trump's foreign policy approach in his early days in office centered around tariff threats, shirking international agreements and bringing much foreign aid to a halt.
Critics say his foreign policy approach may leave a vacuum for U.S. adversaries as Trump touts his "America First" agenda.
Much of his dealmaking diplomacy has been done through threats of tariffs, a favorite tool of Trump's that economists warn could be passed on to U.S. consumers.
What we're watching: Trump has also floated expansionist ideas like making Canada a state, a "take over" of Gaza, and seizing control of Greenland and the Panama Canal.
DEI
Trump issued a sweeping executive order revoking decades of federal diversity and affirmative action practices.
While the order makes a commitment to equality, it scraps the federal government's historical approaches to root out discrimination and guarantee equal opportunity, particularly among the federal contractors that employ about 3.7 million people.
It mandates that federal agencies identify companies, foundations and schools that have diversity programs, and target them for civil enforcement actions.
Trans rights
Trump has moved to radically reshaping trans people's rights in the U.S, from sports to accessing gender-affirming health care and joining the military.
He declared on Day 1 in office that the federal government would only recognize two sexes, male and female.
He later signed an executive order banning federal funding or support for youth gender-affirming care for those under 19 and a separate an executive order banning trans women and girls from participating in female sports in federally-funded schools.
Immigration/national security
Trump pledged to curtail immigration and has declared an emergencyat the U.S.-Mexico border, vowing to deploy troops to the region, including the National Guard.
He instructed the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to construct additional border barriers.
Trump reinstated the "Remain in Mexico" policy, which ends a program that released asylum seekers into the U.S. while their cases were considered.
He took aim at ending "birthright citizenship" for those born to undocumented immigrants, which quickly got ensnared in the courts.
Reshaping federal government
The Trump administration has swept through the federal bureaucracy during his first three weeks in office, eliminating DEI offices, reshaping the federal workforce and obstructing the flow of funding.
In a day one executive order, Trump reinstated a policy that could strip protections from from thousands of civil servants, effectively bringing back his controversial first-term Schedule F employment category.
He established his Department of Government Efficiency, an unofficial Elon Musk-led body that sought the disbanding of the U.S. Agency for International Development, slashing the workforce of the government's lead humanitarian aid arm.
Trump also ordered federal employees to return to in-office work and mandated a hiring freeze on all executive branch positions, excluding the military and other categories like national security, public safety and immigration enforcement.
He also signed an executive order asserting presidential authority over boards and commissions meant to operate largely independently from the White House, like the like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Energy/climate
Trump on Day 1 declared a national "energy emergency" and has moved to walk back a number of Biden-era regulations and made good on his promise to "drill, baby, drill" with orders aimed at expanding fossil fuel production
He repealed the Biden administration's Justice 40 Initiative and federal procurement targets for EVs, clean energy and more.
He's walked back EPA tailpipe emissions rules and moved to restart liquified natural gas terminal approvals.
Finance/technology
Trumprevoked former President Biden's artificial intelligence guardrails and has since signed executive orders aimed at bolstering the country's competitiveness in AI and tech.
His early actions, such as his executive order establishing a working group on digital asset markets, have also signaled a friendly approach to crypto.
Declaring holidays/months
On day one, Trump ordered the American flag be flown at full-staff every Inauguration Day. After the death of former President Jimmy Carter in January, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and some Republican governors ordered half-staff flags to be raised for Trump's inauguration.
He also recognized February 9, 2025, as the first ever Gulf of America Day after renaming the body of water from Gulf Of Mexico.
Reality check: The U.S. does not exclusively control the gulf and doesn't have full say over what it's called.
Other
Trump signed an order to declassify files related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. in the name of "transparency and truth."
He also issued an order aimed at expanding access to in vitro fertilization, calling for his domestic policy assistant to make recommendations to reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF.
What we're watching: The Trump administration has flooded the zone with a flurry of sweeping actions, some of which have been blocked by courts across the country.
He's stretched — and in some cases, seemingly overstepped — the barriers of executive authority. While Democrats have chided some steps as unlawful, the MAGA majority on Capitol Hill keeps blowing wind in Trump's sails.
But Trump does not seem intent on slowing down, with his barrage of executive actions piling up through his first three weeks in office.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought was hit with two union lawsuits on Sunday after he issued directives freezing much of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) work.
Why it matters: The CFPB has become the latest target of President Trump's Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), threatening a critical oversight agency that safeguards consumers from unfair business practices.
Vought, who is the acting head of the CFPB, directed employees in a weekend email to halt much of their work, including issuing rules and conducting investigations, multiple outletsreported.
CFPB employed some 1,600 people in fiscal year 2023.
Driving the news: The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CFPB employees, filed two lawsuits against Vought in D.C. District Court on Sunday.
One seeks to block DOGE's access to CFPB employee information, alleging three staffers affiliated with the unofficial office were given access to internal systems.
The second alleges that Vought's directive halting work at the bureau and his refusal to receive its next disbursement of funding "reflects an unlawful attempt to thwart Congress's decision to create the CFPB to protect American consumers."
The DOGE lawsuit alleges that the same day Vought instructed CFPB staff to grant Musk's team access to all non-classified bureau systems, the billionaire tech mogul posted, "CFPB RIP."
Zoom in: As of Monday morning, the bureau's website and its official X page were inaccessible.
Flashback: Trump fired the prior CFPB head Rohit Chopra, whose term was not supposed to end until next year, in the early weeks of Trump's second term.
Zoom out: Unions and Democratic officials have turned to the courts amid the unprecedented blitz through federal agencies.
A federal judge last week temporarily restricted DOGE representatives' access to sensitive Treasury payment system information.
Soon after, another federal judge blocked DOGE from accessing Treasury records with sensitive personal data in response to a lawsuit from 19 Democratic attorneys general.
And the administration's plan to put thousands of USAID employees on administrative leave also hit a roadblock when a federal judge temporarily halted the order.
Our thought bubble, via Axios' managing editor for business and markets Ben Berkowitz:The CFPB, which conducted a flurry of activity late in the Biden administration targeting banks and data brokers, was always expected to be a prime target for Trump, given that its elimination was a clear goal of Project 2025.
But the CFPB has also championed efforts to stop Americans from being de-banked, which has been a focus of early Republican legislative efforts.
President Trump's early approval ratings show he's settled into office in a better spot than in 2017 — but Americans remain starkly divided based on partisan affiliations.
The big picture: Trump left office in 2021 with the lowest approval ratings of his White House tenure, but the early days of Trump 2.0 have ranked among the highest ratings of his political career, per some polls.
Still, compared to other modern presidents, his initial job approval ratings are weaker, according to Gallup's data.
By the numbers: 53% of Americans approve of Trump so far, according to a newly released CBS News/YouGov poll conducted Feb. 5 to 7, while 47% disapproved.
The poll marked the highest presidential approval rating for Trump in a CBS News poll, "Face the Nation" anchor Margaret Brennan said on Sunday's broadcast.
In a February 2017 CBS News poll, its first measure of Trump's performance, only 40% approved of how he was handling the job.
A large majority, 70%, said he was doing what he promised in the campaign, per the poll that was released on Sunday.
Yes, but: 66% said he was not focusing enough on lowering prices, a key campaign trail promise that propelled Trump to the White House.
The country is also split on how much influence Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team should have over government operations and spending.
44% of Republicans said Musk and DOGE should have "some" influence, while just 13% of Democrats agreed.
Zoom out: Gallup's initial job approval rating for Trump, collected Jan. 21 to 27, was slightly higher than its first poll conducted after his 2017 inauguration, which showed 45% approval.
But his latest disapproval rating, 48%, was three percentage points higher than in 2017 — a new high for the pollster.
His ratings were sharply partisan: 91% of Republicans approved, compared with 6% of Democrats and 46% of independents.
Pew Research Center, in its Jan. 27 to Feb. 2 survey,found that 47% of U.S. adults approved of how Trump was handling the presidency, while 51% said they disapproved.
The current approval rating is higher than any other point in his first four-year term, per Pew.
But those numbers similarly demonstrated a stark partisan divide: 84% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents approved of the job he was doing, compared to just 10% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters.
That gap is similar to much of his first term, Pew noted, but differs from his final weeks in office, when 60% of Republicans approved of his job performance.
Friction point: Trump's pardons for Jan. 6 rioters who were convicted of violent crimes received broad (74%) disapproval, according to Pew.
Per CBS, Americans have mixed opinions on Trump's tariff threats depending on the country he's targeting.
For example, while 56% approve of tariffs on China, 62% oppose tariffs on Canadian goods.
The bottom line: Per Gallup's polling, initial approval ratings for all elected presidents since former President Eisenhower, excluding Trump, averaged 61%.
Americans are divided on how well Trump is doing his job — but relative to eight years ago, polling suggests he may have more wiggle room.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday she'd encourage President Trump to shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency "as it exists today."
The big picture: The president has said he's considered "getting rid of" FEMA entirely, an agency that many in the GOP have accused of bias and that Trump has blasted for its response to recent natural disasters.
He recently told Fox News' Sean Hannity that "FEMA is getting in the way of everything" and that he'd rather the states "take care of their own problems."
Driving the news: Noem, who oversees FEMA as the head of DHS, said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that the president should "get rid of FEMA" in its current state.
She said federal "resources and the funds and the finances" are still necessary for disaster relief and recovery "but you need to let the local officials make the decisions on how that is deployed, so it can be deployed much quicker."
While there is agreement the agency needs some reforms, Axios' Andrew Freedman writes, governors are likely to push back against attempts to carry the full weight of disaster response. FEMA currently coordinates with state governments and local officials.
"We don't need this bureaucracy that's picking and choosing winners," she said.
Zoom out: Trump signed an executive order last month creating a council to review FEMA and recommend changes. As DHS secretary, Noem is co-chair of that council, along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Threat level: FEMA, which employs over 20,000 people nationwide, is one of several agencies where the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) representatives have created confusion and prompted security concerns.
According to unnamed officials who discussed the situation with the Washington Post, a team that does not have security clearance gained access to FEMA's network containing private information of tens of thousands of disaster victims.
What she's saying: Noem said she is "absolutely" comfortable with Musk's team's presence, claiming "this audit needs to happen."
"We can't trust the government anymore," Noem said.
Americans are as dissatisfied as ever with conditions in the U.S., according to an annal Gallup survey conducted shortly before President Trump's return to the White House.
Why it matters: Trump took office last month at a time of persistent pessimism among Americans, with an average satisfaction score across key elements of U.S. life hovering at just 38%.
That record low average has not budged since 2022.
The results, released Wednesday, also reflect Gallup's findings that Americans are generally unhappy about the direction the country is going.
By the numbers: Across 31 issue areas, Americans were most dissatisfied with the country's efforts to deal with poverty and homelessness.
Just 22% said they were satisfied with the "moral and ethical climate" of the U.S.
The other side: Respondents were mostly satisfied with five of the 31 areas Gallup asked about — including the nation's military strength, overall quality of life and the acceptance of gay and lesbian people in the country.
The intrigue: Only one issue area garnered a majority of satisfaction from both sides of the political aisle: The overall quality of life in the country.
But the percentage of respondents who said they were satisfied with quality of life has still dropped by roughly 18 percentage points since 2017.
Republicans and Democrats were both pessimistic about 17 issues — including abortion policy, race relations and health care quality and affordability.
The bottom line: Americans expressed less satisfaction across most key issues in January 2025 than they did in January 2017, ahead of Trump's first term.
Partisan perspectives will continue to shift with Trump in office — with Republicans' outlook brightening and Democrats' satisfaction slumping further, according to Gallup.
Methodology: Results are based on telephone interviews conducted January 2-15, 2025, with a random sample of –1,005— adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on this sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Why it matters: The preliminary injunction means the president's effort to curb the constitutionally protected right to birthright citizenship cannot go into effect this month as planned unless a higher court rules on the case or it is resolved.
U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman, who was nominated to the bench by former President Biden, said that Supreme Court precedent safeguards birthright citizenship, per the Washington Post.
"In fact, no court has endorsed the president's interpretation, and this court will not be the first," she said, according to ABC News.
Driving the news: Boardman's injunction came after a federal judge in Seattle similarly concluded Trump's effort was "blatantly unconstitutional."
Every state with a Democratic attorney general has sued to block Trump's order undermining birthright citizenship, arguing it is a clear violation of the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent.
The Maryland lawsuit was filed by two nonprofit civil rights groups and five pregnant women who say their babies would lose citizenship under the order.
Context: Boardman's injunction goes further than the temporary restraining order previously put in place by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour.
Coughenour, the Seattle-based federal judge, sided with four states when he blocked Trump's day-one executive order for 14 days.
That restraining order was set to expire this week.
Meanwhile, Wednesday's decision froze the White House's action indefinitely, as the injunction will remain in place through adjudication, per the Washington Post.
Catch up quick: The president's order would end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants and those in the country legally but temporarily, like foreign students, workers or tourists.
Trump's team has hinged their defense on the argument that children of undocumented immigrants are not "subject to" American jurisdiction as written in the 14th Amendment.
The amendment reads, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
But legal experts say an 1898 Supreme Court decision invalidates the White House's argument.
The other side: Eighteen Republican attorneys general backing Trump's order signed on to an amicus brief filed in Washington state that echoed the White House's contention.
Wednesday's ruling sets the stage for Trump to appeal to a higher court.
Editor's note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated with more information.
Educators are navigating an information bedlam as ICE arrests across the country have triggered heightened fear among the youngest generations and their families.
The big picture: After the Trump administration nixed a long-standing policy discouraging ICE enforcement in "sensitive" areas like schools and churches, educators have had to step up to soothe nerves among their school communities.
But misinformation has stirred panic among already stressed populations as false rumors spread of ICE raids in schools and hospitals.
Details from the Trump administration about who Homeland Security intends to target in raids have been contradictory.
Officials once said the "worst of the worst" would be the first to go. But the White House recently confirmed it saw all immigrants arrested for suspicion of being in the country illegally as "criminals."
Case in point: "Public schools are designed to serve all kids — full stop," said Rich Harrison, the CEO of Lighthouse Community Public Schools, which serves around 1,600 students in East Oakland, California.
A 2015 study estimated that undocumented immigrants made up 17% of East Oakland residents, and an estimated 35% of children in the area have "at least one unauthorized parent."
Lighthouse provided its families with toolkits in English and Spanish that advise on family preparedness plans, highlight legal resources and outline relevant legislation, and the schools have assured parents of its policies that affirm the right to education for all.
"We're in a day and age where misinformation travels just as fast as the correct information, which really makes for supporting young people and their families incredibly challenging," Harrison said.
State of play: Immigration officials have not provided clear details on what may prompt them to arrest someone at a school, but a White House spokesperson told NBC News that enforcement on school or church grounds will be "extremely rare" and the revised policy isn't a directive for ICE to target such locations.
Threat level: But heightened anxiety amid the administration's immigration crackdown has triggered dips in school attendance nationwide, said Alejandra Vázquez Baur, the co-founder and director of the National Newcomer Network, on a press call.
School districts have varied in their responses to the directives.
Recently circulating New York guidance directs officials not to let law enforcement into schools "except to address an imminent safety situation or where required by law due to a judicial warrant or order."
The Florida Department of Educationtold Axios' Yacob Reyes it would cooperate with "all law enforcement working to enforce the nation's laws on illegal immigration."
But within the Sunshine State, some districts' and unions' messaging has differed. In Miami-Dade County, the teachers union instructed faculty to keep doors locked and provided teachers with "Know Your Rights" information, Axios' Sommer Brugal reports.
Zoom in: Bee Benton, an Alabama middle school teacher, said amid the uncertainty and anxiety, she's focused on responding to her students' feelings while holding administrators and district officials accountable.
"You [teachers] handle what's in your four walls and make sure that your kids are OK," she said.
Last month, she received several questions from her students about what was happening. But she said top-down communication from her state has done little to answer those questions.
Despite that, she said she "100%" knows of children still in the school system who could be impacted by Trump's deportation campaign.
Harrison says it's Lighthouse's policy not to allow any person or organization in that would trigger a"disruption of our educational setting." That means any request by ICE to visit the school's sites must be forwarded to school principals and himself.
School policy states that staff will not require students or families to supply documentation of their status at any time.
The bottom line: Even if ICE on school grounds is not a likely reality, families and young children have been affected by the recent crackdown.
Of the more than 200 people on deportation flights that landed in Colombia on Jan. 28, there were more than 20 children and two pregnant women.
President Trump on Tuesday cited inaccurate figures of autism diagnoses as a reason why the Senate should confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr., his controversial pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Why it matters: Kennedy, a long-time anti-vaccine advocate who survived a closely watched committee confirmation vote Tuesday, has been a leading proponent of a debunked theory linking autism and vaccines.
Driving the news: "20 years ago, Autism in children was 1 in 10,000. NOW IT'S 1 in 34. WOW! Something's really wrong," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
That social media post wasn't the first time Trump has floated misinformation about autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
In a December interview with TIME magazine, Trump said he'd have a "big discussion" with Kennedy about potentially ending childhood vaccination programs, noting the "autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible."
While Trump did not insinuate a tie between autism and vaccines in his Tuesday post, he has in the past.
Reality check: Andrew Wakefield's 1998 study — which built the foundation for debunked theories tying vaccines to autism — was deemed fraudulent and retracted by the medical journal that published it.
Experts say broadening diagnostic criteria and rising awareness of the disorder has contributed to an uptick in autism diagnoses — rather than something being "really wrong."
By the numbers: In 2020, the CDC estimated that among U.S. 8-year-olds, the rate identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was around 1 in 36, not the 1 in 34 Trump wrote about.
Twenty years prior, according to the CDC, the rate was around 1 in 150, not 1 in 10,000.
Context: The changing numbers reflect shifting diagnostic criteria and improvements for diagnosing autism, said Peter Hotez, the co-director of theCenter for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital.
The way doctors diagnose autism has shifted through past decades, eventually broadening to autism spectrum disorder, which puts what were once separate diagnoses under the same label, Hotez said.
Hotez, a vaccine scientist, has raised alarms for years about Kennedy's anti-vaccine comments — and has on multiple occasions spoken with Kennedy and given him evidence debunking his claims.
Hotez also published a book in 2018 combatting false ties between vaccines and autism, titled "Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism" chronicling his experience with his daughter's diagnosis.
Zoom in: In 2006, the American Academy of Pediatrics implemented new recommendations that all children receive autism-specific screenings at 18 and 24 months.
That was the "big game changer,"Hotez said. "Before these kids totally escaped, especially those with milder forms of autism."
Zoom out: There's also been an increase in ASD diagnoses among minority groups that traditionally demonstrated lower prevalence than white children.
But in 2020, 8-year-old Asian or Pacific Islander, Hispanic and Black children were found for the first time to have a higher percentage of ASD than white children, per the CDC.
Hotez predicts overall rates may increase again as more women and girls on the autism spectrum are diagnosed.
The bottom line: Hotez fears that conspiracy-driven, negative rhetoric about children with autism and their families will lead to the diagnosis being "demonized."
"The way RFK Jr. talks about kids on the autism spectrum, he treats them like mental defectives, so that will stigmatize both the kids and families with autism," he said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday announced new leadership and a potential restructuring of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),the agency that leads foreign aid programs around the world.
Why it matters:President Trump's administration appears poised to dramatically overhaul, or attempt to shutter, the critical foreign aid agency, in a move that Democrats are sounding the alarm over.
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head ElonMusk said Monday that Trump had "agreed" to "shut" USAID down. Musk railedagainst the agency over the weekend, labeling it as corrupt and wasteful.
The latest: The State Department announced Monday that Rubio had been appointed as USAID's new the acting administrator.
In a letter to lawmakers from both parties Monday, Rubio accused USAID of having "conflicting, overlapping, and duplicative" activities with the State Department, which result in "discord in foreign relations," Punchbowl News reported.
Rubio said he had appointed Trump loyalist Peter Marocco to oversee a review of the agency and "potential reorganization," which he said could include eliminating or downsizing certain programs.
Catch up quick: Employees of the agency were barred from entering its headquarters on Monday, AP reported.
That came after two senior USAID officials were placed on administrative leave for barring DOGE representatives from internal systems during a recent visit.
Dozens of career officials were also put on administrative leave last week, the Washington Post reported, over accusations they tried to sidestep Trump's foreign aid freeze.
Here's what you need to know about the agency:
Why was USAID founded?
President John F. Kennedy founded USAID via executive order in 1961 to implement the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which CRS describes as the "cornerstone" of the country's foreign assistance programs.
USAID brought together several existing foreign assistance programs under one umbrella, per an archived version of the USAID website.
Building on the Marshall Plan, which assisted postwar Europe's recovery, USAID's early focus was on "technical and capital assistance programs," per its archived site.
Through the decades, it expanded its scope to promote "human needs" — like nutrition and education — as well as democracy and free markets.
What does USAID do?
Its workforce of 10,000 managed some $43 billion in appropriations and assisted approximately 130 countries with disaster relief and economic development in fiscal year 2023.
Thetop funding recipients included Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Health programs were the largest USAID funding sector since the 1990s, according to CRS.
USAID and its partners supported HIV and AIDs testing for more than 79.6 million people as part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2019.
Health remained the top USAID sector until fiscal year 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Humanitarian assistance surpassed health for a time and was then passed by governance in FY 2023, a result of U.S. support for Ukraine.
By the numbers: The over $40 billion USAID managed in FY 2023 was still less than 1% of the federal budget.
Zoom in: It's not just other nations that benefit from USAID assistance.
For example, the USAID Food for Peace Program, which provides emergency food assistance around the world, purchased 1.1 million metric tons of food from U.S. farmers of ranchers in fiscal year 2023.
What has Trump said about it?
Trump told reporters Sunday evening USAID was run by "a bunch of radical lunatics, and we're getting them out."
Responding to a report that two senior agency officials were put on leave after trying to stop DOGE reps from accessing restricted spaces, Musk wrote on X, "USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die."
Zoom out: The State Department ordered a freeze on all U.S. foreign assistance funded through the State Department and USAID earlier this month to review whether programs are "efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda" in accordance with an order from Trump.
After widespread confusion, Secretary Marco Rubio signed a waiver Tuesday allowing "existing life-saving humanitarian assistance programs" to continue work.
Yes, but: In the wake of the freeze, USAID partners and contractors were directed to halt work supplying critical drugs treating HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, Reuters reported.
And in Pakistan, officials were ordered to cease working on several projects, including reconstructing police stations damaged by flooding, NPR reported.
What we're watching: Trump has yet to make an official statement on USAID's future but told reporters Sunday the administration would "make a decision."
Democratic lawmakers, after reports Trump was considering merging the agency with the State Department, urged the administration in a letter to the USAID acting director to respect USAID's independence and life-saving work.
The White House did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment.
