It has been another busy week in Washington, D.C. with President Donald Trump continuing his efforts to dramatically shrink the federal workforce and laying a pathway to a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine. Here are your headlines from our nation’s capital.
Trump-Putin talks
Trump announced Wednesday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin talked on the phone for 90 minutes in a lengthy Truth Social post. He said following the call that negotiations to end the war in Ukraine would begin immediately and later suggested in an Oval Office press conference that he would meet the Russian leader in person, possibly in Saudi Arabia, and suggested he might go to Moscow.
The announcement came after an unexpected prisoner swap in which Pennsylvania schoolteacher Marc Fogel was released from a Russian prison after three years in captivity for possession of medical grade marijuana. The deal was brokered by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steven Witkoff.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed Trump’s calls for peace, saying in a post on X that he was grateful for Trump’s continued interest in pursuing a lasting peace in the region.
Legal fights continue over DOGE firings
There has been a significant increase in firings at federal agencies following a federal judge’s ruling Wednesday allowing the Trump administration’s employee buyout program to proceed. The firings mark the first major employee purge of Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency efforts to dramatically downsize the workforce of the federal government.
This comes as eight independent inspectors general fired from their independent watchdog posts by Trump are now suing to get their jobs back, saying the president violated procedure by failing to notify Congress of their termination and ignoring regulations designed to protect them from political interference and retribution.
Senate confirms Gabbard Wednesday, Kennedy Thursday
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Trump’s nominee for director of National Intelligence, former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. The final vote was 52-48 in favor of Gabbard, with Republican Senator Mitch McConnell joining all Democrats in opposing her nomination.
The Senate also voted Thursday morning to confirm vaccine Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has in the past pushed conspiracy theories, reiterating a debunked claim that vaccines cause autism and attributing pesticides to gender identity changes in children.
This story was written by Sahil Gupta. He can be reached at sahil.gupta@marquette.edu.
