Senate confirms Martin Makary to lead Food and Drug Administration
The Senate tonight confirmed Dr. Martin Makary, a pancreatic surgeon who has made controversial claims about Covid-19, as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
Makary, a surgeon at Johns Hopkins and a former Fox News personality, was confirmed in a 56-44 vote.
As FDA commissioner, Makary will be tasked with regulation and oversight related to drugs, vaccines, food and other products.
During the Covid pandemic, Makary voiced support for natural immunity. He incorrectly predicted in February 2021 that the United States would hit herd immunity by that April.
How encrypted app Signal can leave the door open for spies and hackers
Signal, the most secure widely available messaging app, has become a go-to resource for journalists, leakers and other people concerned about privacy. But it’s not infallible. And its shortcomings and limitations are precisely why its use by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top Trump administration defense officials has rocked the worlds of politics and national security.
The app made headlines yesterday after Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg published the bombshell news that the Trump administration had accidentally added him to a Signal group chat this month to discuss military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
At first glance, it might not seem a major problem. Cybersecurity experts widely consider Signal to be the leading easy-to-use encrypted messaging service, and there are no public reports of its ever having been compromised by hackers.
Signal’s encryption protocol — the complicated algorithm that scrambles messages as they’re sent, then descrambles them for recipients — is the basis for some of the most popular messaging apps, including WhatsApp and iMessage. In 2023, Signal began updating its encryption to address the hypothetical threat of a quantum computer that could break less complicated encryption codes.
But Signal can’t protect people, even Cabinet members, if they accidentally tell it to message the wrong person.
Environmental Protection Agency workers in Chicago stepped out during their lunch periods to protest recent cuts at the agency.
Speaker Mike Johnson floats eliminating federal courts as GOP ramps up attacks on judges
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Scott Wong, Melanie Zanona and Rebecca Kaplan
Facing pressure from his right flank to take on judges who have ruled against Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., today floated the possibility of Congress eliminating some federal courts.
It’s the latest attack from Republicans on the federal judiciary, as courts have blocked a series of actions taken by the Trump administration. In addition to funding threats, Trump and his conservative allies have called for the impeachment of certain federal judges who have ruled against him, most notably U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who tried to halt Trump’s using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants.
Mike Waltz says he wants contents of text chain to ‘stay confidential’
National security adviser Mike Waltz said in tonight’s Fox News interview that he does not support releasing a chain of messages about military planning that inadvertently included The Atlantic’s top editor.
“I certainly want our deliberations to stay confidential,” Waltz told host Laura Ingraham. “Of course, I don’t want it all out there, because these were conversations back and forth that you should be able to have confidentially.”
Waltz was responding to a question about whether Waltz would object to the public release of the messages if the contents were not classified, as Trump and his allies have claimed.
The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, wrote in his article yesterday that plans in the group text “included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing,” but that he had not included those details because of national security concerns.
Earlier today, Trump diminished the seriousness of the leak, saying the chat included “no classified information, as I understand it.”
Musk’s super PAC jumps into Florida’s special elections
A super PAC tied to billionaire Elon Musk has started spending in two deeply Republican House seats in Florida ahead of next week’s special elections, according to a new campaign finance report.
America PAC, which has not filed a financial disclosure yet this year but was almost entirely funded by Musk in 2024, is spending $20,000 on “texting services” to boost Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis in the 1st Congressional District and state Sen. Randy Fine in the 6th District, according to a report filed tonight with the Federal Election Commission, which was first reported by The New York Times.
America PAC’s spending in the special elections is minimal so far compared with the millions of dollars that have already been spent there. But it is a sign that Musk may be paying attention to the contests, as he continues to ramp up his political engagement while serving as a key White House adviser. America PAC has also spent millions of dollars on next week’s state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin.
Tuesday’s special elections in Florida are taking place in deeply Republican territory. Trump carried the 1st District by 37 points in November and the 6th District by 30 points, according to election result calculations from the NBC News Decision Desk.
Attorneys ask judge to add plaintiff in CFPB case to fulfill his late wife’s dying wish
Pastor Eva Steege was one of the named plaintiffs in a lawsuit the National Treasury Employees Union filed last month against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and acting CFPB Director Russell Vought. At the time, Steege was in hospice care with a terminal illness, according to court filings.
But she had been working with the student loan ombudsman of the CFPB to fulfill a dying wish: to secure a discharge of her student loans before she died through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to avoid putting a financial burden on her surviving family.
“That important and time-sensitive work was immediately halted by Acting Director Vought’s work-stoppage order of February 10, and his decision to summarily terminate the Student Loan Ombudsman, along with all other term employees of the Bureau, three days later,” attorneys for Steege wrote.
Steege died March 15. She was 83.
“The thing that she feared has thus come to pass: She died without securing the discharge of her student loan debt,” the filing says. “The plan to shutter the CFPB has thus permanently deprived Eva of the ‘timely assistance’ that the CFPB was required to provide.”
Attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to include Steege’s husband, Ted Steege, as a plaintiff in the lawsuit as the person responsible for administering his wife’s estate.
The ombudsman who was working with Eva Steege, Julia Barnard, said she would love to help if she were still employed by the agency.
“If I were still able to perform the duties of the Student Loan Ombudsman, I would be able to meet with Ted to help him talk through his remaining options and fill out any remaining paperwork,” she wrote in a court filing. “I would also be able to meet with other partners, such as staff at the Office of Federal Student Aid and federal student loan servicers, to check on the status of Pastor Eva Steege’s outstanding Public Service Loan Forgiveness application, explore the family’s options, and escalate the case if necessary.”
Trump signs executive order requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections
Trump today signed a sweeping executive order attempting a major overhaul of American elections, requiring people to prove their citizenship when they register to vote.
The order — which also includes an array of other changes, from mail-in ballot deadlines to election equipment — could risk disenfranchising tens of millions of Americans. Election law experts questioned whether Trump had the authority to make the changes, saying the order is all but certain to be met with legal challenges.
Federal law currently requires that voters swear under penalty of perjury that they are citizens and eligible to vote when they register, and courts have prevented states from adding documentary proof-of-citizenship requirements for voters in federal races because of such laws.
Trump’s order directs the Election Assistance Commission, an independent, bipartisan commission that supports election officials, to redo its voter registration form and require voters to show U.S. passports or other government ID that shows citizenship to register to vote.
Mike Waltz says he takes ‘full responsibility’ for putting together text group that included a journalist
National security adviser Mike Waltz said in a Fox News interview tonight that he takes “full responsibility” for organizing a text group on the messaging app Signal that accidentally leaked plans for U.S. airstrikes on Houthi militants in Yemen to the editor of The Atlantic.
“I take full responsibility. I built the — I built the group,” Waltz told host Laura Ingraham. “My job is to make sure everything’s coordinated.”
Waltz’s comments were in response to a question about whether a staffer was responsible for adding The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the group.
Waltz also suggested, without evidence, that Goldberg might have “deliberately” appeared in the group, which included top administration officials.
“Now, whether he did it deliberately or it happened in some other technical means is something we’re trying to figure out,” Waltz said, adding that he had spoken with Elon Musk today and that “we’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened.”
The Atlantic has pushed back against efforts by Trump and his allies to attack its reporting.
“Attempts to disparage and discredit The Atlantic, our editor, and our reporting follow an obvious playbook by elected officials and others in power who are hostile to journalists and the First Amendment rights of all Americans. Our journalists are continuing to fearlessly and independently report the truth in the public interest,” Anna Bross, a spokesperson for the publication, said in a statement today.
GOP lawmaker and Speaker Mike Johnson clash over proxy voting for new parents
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Scott Wong, Melanie Zanona and Rebecca Kaplan
Reporting from Washington
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is clashing with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., over her push to pass legislation that would allow lawmakers who are new parents to vote remotely.
In a closed-door meeting today, Johnson discouraged rank-and-file Republicans from supporting Luna’s proxy voting bill, warning that it was unconstitutional, a source in the meeting said.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for young parents to be able to participate in the process,” Johnson told reporters after the meeting. “But proxy voting, in my view, is unconstitutional.”
Luna then took to X and posted a photo of three documents showing when Johnson had himself voted by proxy in 2022.
Watchdog group sues Signal group chat members over adherence to Federal Records Act
Government watchdog group American Oversight sued Trump administration officials involved in a group chat discussion of military plans that mistakenly included a journalist.
“Messages in the Signal chat about official government actions, including, but not limited to, national security deliberations, are federal records and must be preserved in accordance with federal statutes, and agency directives, rules, and regulations,” the lawsuit says.
“Defendants’ use of Signal presents a substantial risk that they have used and continue to use Signal in other contexts, thereby creating records that are subject to the [Federal Records Act] and/or the [Freedom of Information Act], but are not being preserved as required by those statutes,” it adds.
American Oversight also noted that under State Department and Treasury Department recordkeeping rules, “officials do not forward Signal messages, including messages from the Signal chat, to their official email accounts, thereby barring American Oversight and other FOIA requesters from obtaining responsive records to which they are otherwise entitled under FOIA, particularly if such Signal messages are set to auto-delete.”
The lawsuit asks the judge to declare, among other things, that messages and communications sent via Signal in conducting official business are records subject to the Federal Records Act.
Trump signs order punishing law firm that hired a prosecutor from the Mueller investigation
Dareh Gregorian and Jesse Rodriguez
Trump signed an executive order today punishing a law firm that hired Andrew Weissmann, a Trump critic who was a prosecutor on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s team that investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The order directs that employees of the firm Jenner & Block be stripped of security clearances and have their access to federal buildings limited and that federal agencies terminate any contracts with the firm. The order repeatedly singles out Weissmann, an NBC News & MSNBC legal analyst. “Andrew Weissmann is the main culprit with respect to this,” Trump said as he signed the order in the White House. “He’s a bad guy.”
Weissmann declined to comment this evening.
“Today, we have been named in an Executive Order similar to one which has already been declared unconstitutional by a federal court,” a spokesperson for the firm said in a statement. “We remain focused on serving and safeguarding our clients’ interests with the dedication, integrity, and expertise that has defined our firm for more than one hundred years and will pursue all appropriate remedies.”
Trump has taken similar action against other law firms that hired prosecutors who worked on Trump cases or supported Democratic causes. He revoked an order involving the powerful firm Paul Weiss last week after it agreed to perform $40 million in free legal work for causes Trump supports and, according to a social media post from Trump, get rid of any internal diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
House Democratic leader urges Trump to ‘immediately’ fire Pete Hegseth
Rebecca Kaplan and Zoë Richards
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., urged Trump in a short letter today to “immediately” fire Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, citing the military plans that were inadvertently shared with a journalist in a group text.
“Pete Hegseth is the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in American history. His continued presence in the top position of leadership at the Pentagon threatens the nation’s security and puts our brave men and women in uniform throughout the world in danger,” Jeffries wrote.
Referring to the leaked plans for U.S. airstrikes on Houthi militants in Yemen, Jeffries wrote that Hegseth had “recklessly and casually disclosed highly sensitive war plans.”
“His behavior shocks the conscience, risked American lives and likely violated the law,” Jeffries added.
Appeals court weighs in on Trump refugee admissions order
Gary Grumbach and Dareh Gregorian
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that a lower court’s preliminary injunction on refugee admissions will remain in effect, but only for refugees who were conditionally approved as of Jan. 20, when Trump took office for his second term.
The appeals court ruled that Trump’s executive order halting refugee admissions “does not purport to revoke the refugee status of individuals who received that status under the United States Refugee Admissions Program prior to January 20, 2025.”
U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead last month blocked the Trump administration from suspending refugee processing, decisions and admissions across the board. The appeals court today issued a partial stay of the order while it considers the government’s appeal.
Whitehead issued a second preliminary injunction in the case yesterday, blocking the administration from terminating agreements with agencies that serve refugees and ordering the restoration of funding to those agencies. The administration announced today it’s appealing that decision, as well.
Senate Armed Services Committee weighing whether to call Hegseth to testify
Senate Armed Services Committee members are weighing how they intend to get more information from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the information he shared on the Signal chat with Jeffrey Goldberg, with Democrats urging Republicans to call Hegseth to testify before the committee.
“Well, I think it would be helpful, certainly,” Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the committee’s ranking member, told NBC News today about whether he wants Hegseth to testify. “And also, it would reaffirm his assertions that there was nothing unusual or inappropriate about the conversation.”
The committee’s chair, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said no decision has been made on the path forward.
Wicker and Reed discussed having Hegseth testify before the committee before the worldwide threats hearing, and Wicker signaled openness, according to a Democratic source with knowledge of the discussions. But Wicker suggested he wants to get Hegseth on the phone or receive a copy of the full Signal chat.
The Democratic source believes that could be an off-ramp to avoid having the spectacle of a hearing held by a Republican-controlled committee.
Reed said getting a copy of the Signal chat was a priority for Democrats, saying, “There is no legitimate basis for him to withhold information from the committee that he claims is unclassified and has already been shared with a journalist.”
Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, both members of the Intelligence Committee, said they would like to see copies of the Signal chat.
Trump taps conservative leader L. Brent Bozell III as U.S. ambassador to South Africa
Trump is nominating Media Research Center founder L. Brent Bozell III to be the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, according to Congress’ website.
Bozell must be confirmed by the Senate for the role.
Trump had picked Bozell — who wrote a letter last year defending his son, at the time a convicted Jan. 6 rioter — to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media, but his nomination was withdrawn. Bozell and his father were key architects of the American conservative movement.
Trump signed an executive order last month halting U.S. aid to South Africa and promoting the resettlement of Afrikaners who, the order said, faced “government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.”
Elon Musk, the de facto head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, was born in South Africa and has repeatedly posted criticism about the South African government on social media.
Vice president to join second lady Usha Vance on trip to Greenland
Sydney CarruthSydney Carruth is a digital assistant for NBC News.
Vice President JD Vance announced on X this afternoon that he will join his wife, second lady Usha Vance, as part of a U.S. delegation to Greenland this week as Trump escalates calls for a U.S. takeover of the Danish territory.
“You know, there was so much excitement around Usha’s visit to Greenland this Friday that I decided I didn’t want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I’m going to join her,” Vance said in a video posted to his official X account. “I’m going to visit some of our guardians in the Space Force on the northwest coast of Greenland and also just check out what’s going on with the security there.”
Vance said the Trump administration believes leaders in the United States and Denmark have “ignored” the island, which is rich in coveted critical mineral resources and is along key North Atlantic shipping routes, for “far too long.”
“Speaking for President Trump, we want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland because we think it’s important to protecting the security of the entire world,” he said.
The Vances will be part of a larger U.S. delegation that includes Energy Secretary Chris Wright and national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Outgoing Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte B. Egede has questioned the motives of the trip, arguing it could be a show of force by the Trump administration to intimidate local leaders.
Senate Finance Committee advances Mehmet Oz’s nomination in party-line vote
Reporting from Washington
The Senate Finance Committee voted 14-13 to advance Dr. Mehmet Oz’s nomination to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
A confirmation vote in the full Senate has not been scheduled yet.
U.S. funding cuts could lead to ‘surge’ in global AIDS deaths, U.N. warns
There could be an additional 6.3 million AIDS-related deaths globally in the next four years if U.S. funding cuts are not reversed, the United Nations warned.
Almost all U.S. foreign aid has been put on hold since Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, though his administration says there is an exemption for the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, which is estimated to have prevented 25 million early AIDS-related deaths since President George W. Bush launched it in 2003.
Still, the program has been affected by cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which could lead to a “real surge” in HIV/AIDS cases, said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of the U.N. AIDS agency.
“This sudden withdrawal of U.S. funding has led [to the closure] of many clinics, laying off of thousands of health workers,” she told reporters in Geneva yesterday.
The world will see the disease “come back, and we see people dying the way we saw them in the ’90s and in 2000s,” she added, saying that “we have not heard of other governments pledging to fill the gap.”
Appeals court temporarily halts USAID re-opening
A federal appeals court today temporarily halted a lower court’s order that the U.S. Agency for International Development reopen its headquarters.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an administrative stay of U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang’s order until Thursday, an indication it will decide in the next 48 hours on the administration’s request for a stay while a full appeal is heard.
The Baltimore judge found last week that the efforts of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to largely dismantle USAID “likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways.”
The judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering the agency to reopen its headquarters and restore access to email, payment and other electronic systems for all USAID employees and contractors.
Trump says aides ‘probably’ won’t use Signal anymore
Speaking from the White House in a lengthy back-and-forth with reporters, Trump downplayed the events and said the chat contained “no classified information, as I understand it.”
“They were using an app, as I understand it, that a lot of people in government use, a lot of people in the media use,” he said.
Trump said he didn’t want Waltz to be “hurt” by the breach and saw no need for him to apologize, even as the president said aides would “probably” not use Signal any longer.
“If it was up to me, everybody would be sitting in a room together,” Trump said. “The room would have solid lead walls and a lead ceiling and a lead floor. But you know, life doesn’t always let you do that.”
Waltz, who was in the room for a meeting of ambassadors, defended himself amid repeated questions about when Trump learned of the chat and how. Waltz said they planned to look into how Goldberg got added to the chat and whether Signal is secure enough to use for high-level discussions.
“We are we have our technical experts looking at it,” he said. “We have our legal teams looking at it. And of course, we’re going to keep everything as secure as possible.”
South Korea hosts Alaska governor amid talk of gas pipeline
South Korea is hosting the governor of Alaska and other state representatives this week amid talk of a long-stalled $44 billion pipeline supported by Trump that would transport gas from Alaska to U.S. allies in Asia.
The delegation led by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, which is visiting today and tomorrow, also includes representatives from the Glenfarne Group, the lead developer of the project, and the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea.
The chamber said Dunleavy was scheduled to meet with South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun; Joseph Yun, the acting U.S. ambassador to South Korea; and acting President Han Duck-soo, who was reinstated in the role yesterday after the Constitutional Court overturned his impeachment amid continuing political turmoil in the country over impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt in December to declare martial law.
Judge blocks Trump administration from canceling Radio Free Europe funding
Reporting from Washington
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued a temporary restraining order this afternoon against the U.S. Agency for Global Media and its acting CEO, Kari Lake, blocking the Trump administration from canceling funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
“Congress has found that ‘it is the policy of the United States to promote the right of freedom of opinion and expression’ and that ‘open communication of information and ideas among the peoples of the world contributes to international peace and stability,’” Judge Royce Lamberth wrote in his opinion. “The leadership of USAGM cannot, with one sentence of reasoning offering virtually no explanation, force RFE/RL to shut down—even if the President has told them to do so.”
The line Lamberth appeared to be referring to is “The award no longer effectuates agency priorities,” a sentence by Lake included in a notice of grant termination sent to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
“The Court concludes, in keeping with Congress’s longstanding determination, that the continued operation of RFE/RL is in the public interest,” Lamberth wrote.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett facing scrutiny for calling Texas Gov. Abbott ‘Governor Hot Wheels’
Rebecca Kaplan
Melanie ZanonaMelanie Zanona is a Capitol Hill correspondent for NBC News.
Rebecca Kaplan and Melanie Zanona
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, is coming under fire from Republicans for referring to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as “Governor Hot Wheels” at a Human Rights Campaign dinner in Los Angeles over the weekend. Abbott is paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair.
“Y’all know we got Governor Hot Wheels down there, come on now. And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot ass mess, honey,” she said.
Several Republicans, including the NRCC and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. R-Ga., have amplified and criticized the remarks. Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, is planning to introduce a resolution to censure Crockett over her remarks about Abbott, according to Weber’s office.
In a post on X, Crockett denied that she was making a reference to Abbott’s wheelchair use.
“I was thinking about the planes, trains, and automobiles he used to transfer migrants into communities led by Black mayors, deliberately stoking tension and fear among the most vulnerable,” she said. “Literally, the next line I said was that he was a “Hot A** Mess,” referencing his terrible policies. At no point did I mention or allude to his condition.”
Thune says Senate Armed Services Committee may hold hearings on leaked military plans
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that he “suspects” the Senate Armed Services Committee may hold hearings and have national security officials testify who were involved in the signal group chat discussing strikes on the Houthis.
“I suspect the Armed Services Committee may want to have some folks testify and have some questions answered as well,” Thune said. “I think everybody has acknowledged, including the White House, that, yeah, mistakes were made, and what we want to do is make sure that something like that doesn’t happen again.”
Trump signs pardon for Hunter Biden’s ex-business partner
Trump has signed a pardon for Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s ex-business partner. Trump says Archer was targeted politically for cooperating with a probe into the Bidens and called him the “victim of a crime, as far as I’m concerned.”
Democrats grill Social Security nominee over disruptions as GOP defends Trump
Sahil Kapur and Victoria Ebner
Trump’s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration, Frank Bisignano, got an earful from Senate Democrats at his confirmation hearing Tuesday, in the wake of early actions by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to downsize the agency.
Democratic senators pressed Bisignano on whether he was involved in discussions about DOGE operations regarding onboarding personnel, which he denied. They grilled him on whether he agrees with Musk’s rhetorical attacks on the program, which he sidestepped. They asked him to reassure them that Trump is telling the truth when he says he doesn’t want to slash benefits for seniors, and that he’d protect the program if confirmed.
States say some FEMA money still frozen after successful lawsuit
States that successfully sued the Trump administration over its federal funding freeze say the government has yet to release some disaster relief money, and are asking a judge to force the Federal Emergency Management Agency to release the cash.
“The parties remain at an impasse as to millions of dollars in obligated FEMA awards, which are and have remained frozen dating to as early as February 7,” the coalition of states with Democratic attorneys general said in a court filing yesterday.
“Plaintiff States will need to wind down important programmatic emergency services, including disaster relief to people and communities affected by the Maui wildfires, in short order if funding is not immediately unfrozen.”
The filing says 4,000 individual wildfire survivors could lose services soon if the funds aren’t released, and that Oregon and Colorado are facing imminent major disruptions as well.
The states said that as of two weeks ago, “at least 215 FEMA grants to at least nineteen plaintiff states remain frozen or otherwise rendered inaccessible.”
In a court filing earlier this month, the Justice Department contended the “vast majority” of the funding holds “relates to the manual review process that FEMA is utilizing,” and that the agency is permitted to carry out such reviews.
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson says military plans leak ‘obviously not a great look’
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., claimed in an interview today with right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk that the reaction to the inadvertent leak of military plans to a magazine journalist has been “embellished,” but added, “It’s obviously not a great look.”
Johnson said the inclusion of Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, on a high-level Trump administration chat about plans for a military strike against Houthis in Yemen was “a mistake,” adding, “a mistake that I’m sure is being corrected — has been corrected immediately.”
“It’ll be up to the president to decide exactly what action to take,” he said, adding that he believed the situation was being blown out of proportion by Democratic members of Congress.
Johnson has previously been critical of Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state during the Obama administration, which drew tremendous GOP criticism during her 2016 run for president. The Wisconsin senator continued to pursue that information even after Clinton lost the election.
China invites U.S. business leaders to Beijing as it tries to decipher Trump’s trade plans
Eunice Yoon, CNBC
Eunice Yoon, CNBC and Evelyn Cheng, CNBC
Trump’s top intelligence officials claim no classified information was shared in group chat that included a journalist
Daniel Arkin and Dan De Luce
Trump’s top intelligence officials claimed on Tuesday that they did not share any classified materials in a group text about U.S. military plans that inadvertently included a journalist.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe both downplayed the mishap during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing a day after The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg reported that he had been added to a text thread about U.S. military plans to strike Houthi militias in Yemen.
The incident has raised questions about the Trump administration’s handling of classified information as well as its use of Signal and other electronic communications.
Russia and Ukraine agree to Black Sea ceasefire, Trump administration says
The White House said Tuesday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea and to implement a ban on attacks on energy facilities by the two neighbors, an apparent breakthrough after American negotiators held separate talks with both countries.
Negotiators had agreed with both countries “to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea,” the White House said in two separate but similar statements.
Top Intelligence Committee Democrat questions administration’s claim that leaked military plans were unclassified
Sydney CarruthSydney Carruth is a digital assistant for NBC News.
During morning testimony at the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., repeatedly questioned Gabbard and Ratcliffe’s denials that the military strike plans that were leaked in a Signal group chat were classified.
“The idea somehow, ‘Well, none of this was classified but we can’t talk about it here,’ you can’t have it both ways,” Warner told the officials.
Gabbard and Ratcliffe had repeatedly deflected questions at the hearing about Signal group chat they were both reportedly part of, arguing the subject should not be discussed in a public forum. But central to their arguments on the gravity of the leak, they also denied that any of the information in the group chat was classified for security reasons.
“It strains my mind to think, it strains my mind, if the shoe had been on the other foot, what my colleagues would be saying about this,” Warner said, referring to Republican senators.
During the 2016 election, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton drew immense Republican backlash for her use of a private email server for communications when she was secretary of state in the Obama administration. National security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have both condemned the past mishandling of classified information by Democrats.
“If it’s not classified, again, we’d ask you to give it to the public today,” Warner said. “If you got it here it’s not classified, stand by your position, or is this just one more example of a careless approach to how we keep our secrets in this administration?”
Pete Hegseth comes under scrutiny
As the hearing continued, the role of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth became a primary focus.
During questioning, Ratcliffe and Gabbard both said that Hegseth was the “original classifying authority” on the chat. That was a reference to the fact that, according to The Atlantic, Hegseth was the governmental official who shared the targeting information that Democrats argue was classified.
While initial questions after the Atlantic story broke focused on why Waltz set up the chat, Hegseth is likely to face further scrutiny about why he chose to share military targeting information on the chat.
As the investigation continues, Hegseth, as the person who posted the military information, may face the most intense criticism.
CIA director answers ‘no’ when asked if chat mishap was ‘a huge mistake’
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., asked Ratcliffe whether he remembered various details in The Atlantic’s report on the Signal chat about the military plans to attack the Houthis in Yemen, including whether Vice President JD Vance initially disagreed with the strike plans, as the magazine had reported.
The CIA director answered that he did not recall those details.
Ossoff then asked, “Director, this was a huge mistake, right?”
“No,” Ratcliffe said.
That prompted Ossoff to remark that a national political journalist had been privy to sensitive information and “there has been no apology.”
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., then chimed in, saying in his final remarks in the public portion of the hearing that putting the information out in the Signal chat could have allowed adversaries to reposition their defenses.
“And the unwillingness of the individuals on this panel who were on the chat to even apologize for acknowledging what a colossal screw-up this is speaks volumes,” Warner said.
Gabbard won’t say whether she was using personal phone in Signal chain
Questioned by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., at the hearing, Gabbard refused to say whether she was using her personal or work phone in the Signal text chain on planned strikes against Houthi forces in Yemen.
“Were you using your private phone or public phone for the Signal discussions?” Reed asked.
Gabbard replied: “I won’t speak to this because it’s under review by the National Security Council. Once that review is complete, I’m sure we’ll share the results with the committee.”
Reed followed up: “What is under review? It’s a very simple question, were you using a private phone or officially issued phone? What could be under review?”
Gabbard declined to answer directly. “The National Security Council is reviewing all aspects of how this came to be, how the journalist was inadvertently added to the group chat and what occurred within that chat across the board,” she said.
Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on global threats adjourned ahead of a private session
Sydney CarruthSydney Carruth is a digital assistant for NBC News.
The public portion of the Senate Intelligence Committee oversight hearing on global threats has adjourned. The committee will move to a closed session, where several lawmakers have said they will question Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in more detail about the leak of sensitive military information to journalist Jeffrey Goldberg during a high-level group chat on the messaging app Signal.
Bennet grills Ratcliffe: ‘You need to do better’
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., posed the most pointed questions of the hearing so far, demanding that Ratcliffe answer whether Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Moscow during the group chat. Russia is widely known for its ability to gain access to electronic devices and eavesdrop in sophisticated ways.
“Did you know that the president’s Middle East adviser was in Moscow on this thread while you were, as director of the CIA, participating in this thread, were you aware of that? Are you? Are you aware of that today?”
Ratcliffe replied, “I’m not aware of that.”
Bennet, shouting, said, “This sloppiness, this incompetence, this disrespect for our intelligence agencies and the personnel who work for him is entirely unacceptable. It’s an embarrassment.” He added, “You need to do better. You need to do better.”
Gabbard acknowledges ‘discussion around targets in general’ in Signal chat
Gabbard acknowledged under questioning from Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., that the administration officials in the Signal chat discussed targets, although she had previously declined to say whether she was in the group chat.
“I believe there was discussion around targets in general,” Gabbard testified after saying moments earlier that she did not “remember mention of specific targets.”
“I think that’s consistent with my recollection,” Ratcliffe added when being asked the same question.
In answer to a string of questions from Kelly on whether those on the chat discussed the timing of airstrikes, weapons systems or military units, Gabbard and Ratcliffe repeatedly answered that they did not recall.
Sen. John Cornyn drills down on Russia’s threats to Ukraine
Andrea Mitchell and Rebecca Shabad
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, drilled down in his questioning on Russia’s threats to Ukraine and Europe’s response.
Cornyn said the annual threat assessment says “Russia views its ongoing war with Ukraine as a proxy conflict with the West, and its objective to restore Russian strength and security,” adding that Russia’s perceptions on “U.S. and Western encroachment has increased the risks of unintended escalation between Russia and NATO. Do you agree with that statement?”
Gabbard said she agreed.
Cornyn suggested that the perceptions of U.S. leadership receding on security matters in Europe could lead to nuclear proliferation.
“I know the incoming chancellor of Germany has talked about the possibility that Germany might share its nuclear weapons with Ukraine, and suggested that the U.K. would be part of that,” Cornyn said. “I know that Poland has talked about acquiring nuclear weapons and perhaps other European countries to make up for what they view as a receding of the American umbrella of protection.”
Sen. Angus King presses Gabbard over why global climate change is not included in worldwide threats report
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, asked Gabbard why global climate change was not included in this year’s worldwide threats report, despite it being included in prior reports.
“Every single one of these reports that we have had has mentioned global climate change as a significant national security threat, except this one. Has something happened, has global climate change been solved?” King asked, noting that the effects of climate change include famine, mass migration and political conflicts.
“This annual threat assessment has been focused very directly on the threats that we deem most critical to the United States and our national security,” Gabbard said. “Obviously, we’re aware of occurrences within the environment and how they may impact operations, but we’re focused on the direct threats to Americans’ safety, well-being and security.”
In answer to his question of who was responsible for leaving the subject out of the assessment, Gabbard said she did not recall instructing her team to not include climate change in it.
Gabbard and Ratcliffe say they would be open to audits of their communications
In response to questions from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Gabbard and Ratcliffe said they would be open to audits of their communications after they said that they haven’t participated in classified discussions on Signal.
“To be clear, I haven’t participated in any Signal group messaging that relates to any classified information at all,” Ratcliffe said.
“Senator, I have the same answer,” Gabbard said. “I have not participated in any Signal group chat, or any other chat on another app that contained any classified information.”
They said they would comply with an audit of their communications or other appropriate actions related to the issue.
Top Senate Foreign Relations Republican calls Signal group chat a ‘serious leak’
Sydney CarruthSydney Carruth is a digital assistant for NBC News.
Republican Sen. James Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio “at length” about how a reporter was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat in which the nation’s top intelligence officials, Rubio reportedly included, shared classified plans for military action.
“He is really aware of these kinds of things. We have leakage that happens from time to time,” Risch, of Idaho, said of Rubio, a former member of the committee, during his opening statement at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing this morning. “I can assure you that his knowledge is such and his commitment is such that he had no knowledge of there being the tap on that, that there was when he was communicating.”
The committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, of New Hampshire, expressed concern over the information leak and that no State Department personnel were aware of The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg’s accidental inclusion in the Signal group chat, or of the information that was leaked to him as a result.
Risch called the incident a “serious leak,” and said, “I don’t think there’s anybody that wouldn’t be concerned. … We’ll move on as best we can.”
Republican congresswoman on Signal mishap: ‘People make mistakes’
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said the addition of Goldberg to the White House officials’ Signal chat was “incredibly sloppy” but added that “it was a mistake, and I am, I can say for certain, they’re going to put protocols in place so that doesn’t happen again.”
Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., said “people make mistakes” and to give Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “a pass.”
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., called his former colleague Mike Waltz a “patriot.”
These members were all going in and out of the weekly House Republican conference meeting.
Republicans downplay and sidestep Signal chat
The Republican strategy so far in the hearing appears to be to ignore, minimize and downplay the Signal chat.
No Republican senator has asked about it so far. Instead, Republican senators have focused their questions on migrants, cartels and China.
Gabbard did not mention the call in her opening statement. When Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the committee, asked her about the call, she downplayed its importance, saying, “There was no classified material shared.” Ratcliffe gave a similar answer.
When Warner asked Gabbard if she planned to hand over the Signal exchange to the committee, she gave an unclear answer. When Warner asked FBI Director Kash Patel if he had launched an investigation into the call, he said he had only been briefed on it late last night.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe says Signal was loaded onto his computer upon being confirmed
Ratcliffe defended the use of Signal to discuss military plans, saying it was loaded onto his computer shortly after he was confirmed as CIA director.
Ratcliffe acknowledged that he was in the Signal group chat that was reported by The Atlantic, but said that he had been previously briefed about “the use of Signal as a permissible work use.” He said he was informed that any decisions made needed to be recorded in “formal channels.”
“It is permissible to use to communicate and coordinate for work purposes, provided, senator, that any decisions that are made are also recorded through formal channels. So those were procedures that were implemented,” Ratcliffe said.
Ratcliffe said that his communications on Signal did not include classified information.
Gabbard dodges questions about the Signal chat
Gabbard dodged a question from Warner about whether she was the user, reported as “TG,” in the Signal chat with Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg in which senior Trump administration shared military plans.
“Senator, I don’t want to get into this,” Gabbard said, who repeated the same response after Warner kept pressing her.
Gabbard said that she didn’t want to talk about the magazine’s report because it’s still under review.
She later claimed in response to follow-up questions by Warner that, in the Signal chat, there was “no classified material that was shared.”
Anti-Israel protester interrupts Senate hearing
An anti-Israel protester interrupted the Senate hearing on worldwide threats, yelling, “Stop funding Israel” and the “greatest threat to global security” is Israel.
Cotton began addressing the protest when another protester began shouting.
The hearing resumed moments after, when the protesters left.
Gabbard doesn’t address Signal chat in opening statement
In her opening statement, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard didn’t address the Signal chat at the center of the story yesterday in which The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that he was invited to the discussion with her and other senior Trump administration officials.
Gabbard delivered her opening statement on behalf of the other witnesses, including FBI Director Kash Patel and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
She listed the number of threats facing the U.S., including those from “several nonstate actors, cartels, gangs and other transnational criminal organizations” in their “illicit activity, from narcotics trafficking to money laundering, to smuggling of illegal immigrants and human trafficking.”
Gabbard said that Islamist extremists like ISIS and Al Qaeda continue to pursue and inspire attacks against the U.S. domestically and abroad. She said that China is the U.S.’s most “capable strategic competitor,” and also said Russia has developed cyber capabilities that pose a threat to U.S. infrastructure.
“Among Russia’s most concerning developments is a new satellite intended to carry a nuclear weapon as an anti-satellite weapon, violating long-standing international activity and putting the U.S. and global economy at risk,” Gabbard said.
Gabbard also said that the U.S. intelligence community has assessed that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and that the country’s supreme leader hasn’t authorized the nuclear program.
Sen. Warner begins remarks slamming officials included in The Atlantic’s report
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., began his opening remarks at the Senate hearing on worldwide threats by slamming the White House officials whom The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg reported as having been involved in a Signal group chat discussing military plans that inadvertently included him.
Warner called the group chat mishap an example of “sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior, particularly towards classified information.”
“Putting aside for a moment that classified information should never be discussed over an unclassified system, it’s also just mind-boggling to me that all these senior folks were on this line, and nobody bothered even to check,” Warner said, referring to Goldberg having been included in the discussion. “Security hygiene 101: Who are all the names?”
Senate Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton doesn’t mention leak of military plans in opening remarks
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., did not address the Signal group chat that inadvertently included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, on plans for strikes against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
Cotton, however, did applaud Trump’s “decisive action” against the Houthis this month — which was discussed in the Signal chat — and said he commends White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others on the administration’s national security team — some of whom the magazine reported were represented in the chat.
Cotton also said in his opening statement that U.S. intelligence agencies are not fully capable of handling the threats facing the nation.
“We have to ask, are our intelligence agencies well-postured against these threats? I’m afraid the answer is no, at least not yet,” he said. “As the world became more dangerous in recent years, our intelligence agencies got more politicized, more bureaucratic, and more focused on promulgating opinions rather than gathering facts.”
He continued, “As a result of these misplaced priorities, we’ve been caught off guard and left in the dark too often. I know that all of you agree that the core mission of the intelligence community is to steal our adversaries’ secrets and convey them to policymakers to protect the United States. At the same time, it’s not the role of intelligence agencies to make policy, to justify presidential action or to operate like other federal agencies. After years of drip, the intelligence community must recommit to its core mission of collecting clandestine intelligence from adversaries, whose main objective is to destroy our nation and our way of life.”
Republican congressman on White House group chat claim: ‘That’s baloney’
Asked about the White House’s claim that no military plans were shared on the Signal chat with Jeffrey Goldberg, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said, “That’s baloney.”
“That’s baloney,” he said to reporters this morning as he left the weekly House Republican conference meeting. “Just be honest and own up to it.”
Sen. Mark Warner says intelligence leaders owe Americans answers about Trump’s actions
Rebecca Shabad and Frank Thorp V
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., wrote in an op-ed this morning that U.S. intelligence community leaders owe Americans answers about the Trump administration’s actions, including federal worker layoffs and cuts to U.S. aid, since the inauguration.
“How does ending foreign assistance make us safer?” Warner said in the op-ed published by Fox News. “How does firing our most experienced FBI agents make us safer?”
He also asked how America is made more secure by firing people who oversee the nation’s nuclear stockpile, monitor cyberattacks and prevent disease from spreading to the U.S., as the administration has done, although some who held those critical positions were rehired.
“Can anyone tell me how firing probationary officers — without cause, and apparently without regard for merit, accomplishment, expense already incurred by the taxpayer in vetting and training, or the difficulty posed in filling the intelligence gaps left behind — makes us safer, or is an efficient use of taxpayer dollars?” he wrote.
“The instability of the last two months also undermines a critical component of our intelligence gathering capabilities: the trust of allies,” Warner said.
He suggested that he wants answers to these questions during the worldwide threats hearing this morning before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Trump stands by national security adviser Mike Waltz though he disclosed military plans, saying he’s ‘learned a lesson’
Garrett Haake and Megan Lebowitz
Trump stood by his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, after The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief was accidentally added to a private, high-level chat on the messaging app Signal in which military plans were being discussed.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump said today in a phone interview with NBC News.
Democrats demand answers from Trump administration after bombshell report from The Atlantic
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Rebecca Kaplan, Kate Santaliz and Megan Lebowitz
House and Senate Democrats sent letters to top Trump officials demanding answers after The Atlantic reported that its editor-in-chief was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat in which top officials discussed military plans.
Top Democrats on prominent House committees sent a letter to four White House officials whom The Atlantic identified as potentially being in the Signal chat, asking for answers about the information shared.
“We are especially concerned that the reported deliberations may have constituted a security breach, because they relied upon an electronic messaging application that is not approved as a secure method for communicating classified information and because they inadvertently included at least one non-governmental party,” read the letter, which was addressed to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Separately, a group of 14 Senate Democrats sent a letter to Trump, calling the situation “an astonishingly cavalier approach to national security.”
“It does not take much imagination to consider the likely ramifications if this information had been made public prior to the strike — or worse, if it had been shared with or visible to an adversary rather than a reporter who seems to have a better grasp of how to handle classified information than your National Security Advisor,” the senators wrote.
The lawmakers asked that Trump and the officials share other instances in which officials may have discussed sensitive information using Signal and what steps the White House is taking to ensure this does not happen again.
“In how many instances has the National Security Council held discussions on national security matters involving Principals Committee members or any other relevant executive branch officials using the Signal messaging service or any other messaging service application that has not been approved for the transmission of classified information?” read the letter from the top Democrats on the Armed Services, Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees.
Job applications surging among DOGE’s targets
As the Department of Government Efficiency upends federal agencies, a report released today by the job listing website Indeed shows the number of workers looking for new jobs has spiked.
Job applications from workers at agencies targeted by DOGE are up 75% compared with 2022, according to the report’s data. And while job applications among all workers increased after the Trump transition, the spike in applications from DOGE-targeted workers is especially pronounced.
Senate committee to hold confirmation hearing for Social Security Administration nominee
Reporting from Washington
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a confirmation hearing today on Frank Bisignano’s nomination to be commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
The hearing is scheduled to start at 10:10 a.m. ET and last about two and a half hours.
Bisignano will likely face questions on the future of the SSA as talk of privatizing the agency have ramped up. The hearing also comes on the heels of threats from the acting commissioner to shut down the agency after a federal judge barred the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive personal data.
The top Democrat on the Finance Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter to Bisignano yesterday asking whether he supports privatizing Social Security, and whether he would be willing to undo recent changes made, such as the closure of dozens of Social Security offices, mass agency layoffs and new administrative requirements for beneficiaries.
“These new developments leave us deeply concerned that DOGE and the Trump Administration are setting up the SSA for failure — a failure that could cut off Social Security benefits for millions of Americans — and that will then be used to justify a ‘private sector fix.’ Republicans have flirted with the idea of privatizing Social Security for over two decades,” the senators wrote in the letter.
“The latest changes at the Social Security Administration leave us worried that Elon Musk — with his clear disdain for the program that provides financial security to millions of Americans — has taken up the mantle as the latest privatization crusader,” they added.
The hearing will likely get heated, as Democrats are expected to press Bisignano on whether he agrees with the approach DOGE and the acting commissioner have taken so far, as well as his thoughts on threats to customer service and timely benefits, and Elon Musk and Trump’s claims about fraud in Social Security.
Warren told NBC News yesterday that she plans to press Bisignano on a wide range of topics.
“The Social Security administrator nominee needs to come clean with the American people. Is he in favor of the cuts that Elon Musk and his DOGE boys are trying to execute at the Social Security Administration? Or does he plan, once he has the power, to put a stop to it? Is he in favor of the privatization of Social Security that many Republicans are still advancing? Or does he plan to make a stand and put a stop to it? That’s what I want to hear from him,” Warren said.
Bisignano is the chief executive officer of payments technology at Fiserv, which some Democrats have raised concerns since the company could benefit from any privatization of Social Security.
Trump to sign more executive orders today
Trump is scheduled to sign more executive orders today at 2 p.m. ET, the White House said.
No details were provided on the focus of the orders.
Senate Intelligence Committee to hold hearing on worldwide threats
Reporting from Washington
The Senate Intelligence Committee will meet today at 10 a.m. ET for its “Worldwide Threats” hearing, an annual intelligence community oversight hearing with testimony from the heads of the intel agencies.
The open hearing, expected to run almost three hours, will be followed by a classified, closed session. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is the only official who will give an opening statement, but all officials participating will take questions from senators.
The hearing comes less than 24 hours after The Atlantic reported that Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a Signal group chat with Trump administration officials about U.S. military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. The group chat reportedly included two of the officials scheduled to testify today: Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Senators said they expect questions regarding The Atlantic’s reporting.
“I would expect it would, and I would expect our Democrat colleagues would raise it. And I suspect some of my Republican colleagues may raise it just as an issue to be very concerned about,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said yesterday.
