Derek Hawkins

Biden had ordered a six-month extension on Mayorkas's detail, which would have run through mid-July. The service was alerted on Friday that the Mayorkas detail was being shut down, internal records show. w/ @carolleonnig.bsky.social

Live updates: GOP-led House to hold hearings on judges who have blocked Trump actions Get the latest news on President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the new Congress.

NEW: Trump has revoked Secret Service protection from former homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a week after announcing he was terminating Hunter and Ashley Biden's details.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump to Cabinet: Musk has no authority to fire workers The president convened his secretaries, with Musk, to clarify power.

Some daylight emerging between Trump and Musk: Trump convened his cabinet in person today to tell them they, not Musk, are in charge of firing decisions. Musk was in the room, per Politico.
www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

Regardless of what you think of the merits of this approach, it's really hard to imagine most Americans buying this argument if we do wind up in a recession.

Head of watchdog agency ends lawsuit to stop his firing by Trump Hampton Dellinger also sought to halt the firing of some probationary government employees amid the Trump administration’s workforce cuts.

Hampton Dellinger is ending his legal battle to keep Trump from firing him from his job as head of the the Office of Special Counsel. It's a victory for Trump's attempts to reshape the federal workforce and a blow to the office's longstanding independence.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

‘What the Hell Is Happening to Your Country?’ American allies don’t trust Trump with the intelligence they share.

I spent the past several months asking U.S. allies whether they thought President Trump is a reliable ally. The answer was no. But it came with an essential caveat. My latest in @theatlantic.com. www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

Trump-era resignation letters take center stage: ‘We will not falter’ A wave of federal government firings and resignations since President Donald Trump took office means colorful departure letters have burst into public view.

The burst of epistolary activity — from career bureaucrats who in many cases worked under Democratic and Republican presidents — amounts to a collective cry of frustration in response to an administration they feel has belittled and discounted their work.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

How Trump Is Dividing and Conquering the White House Press Corps A spat with the Associated Press has revealed deep fissures among Washington journalists.

"he White House then asked The Wall Street Journal if it wanted to take HuffPost’s spot and it said no; later, the White House called Axios, which jumped at the opportunity."

nymag.com/intelligence...

Where Jeff Bezos Went Wrong With The Washington Post The billionaire handled his ownership admirably for more than a decade. But his courage failed him when he needed it most.

I wrote something here about a subject close to my heart. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Judge says Trump cannot fire head of independent watchdog agency The federal judge’s decision blocks Trump from removing Hampton Dellinger as head of the Office of Special Counsel and sets up a likely Supreme Court battle over the president’s powers.

NEW: A federal judge ruled late Saturday that Trump can't summarily fire Hampton Dellinger, head of the Office of Special Counsel. Dellinger's independence "is inextricably intertwined with the performance of his duties," Judge Amy Berman Jackson wrote.

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

At Federal Bureau of Prisons, senior retirements add to uncertainty At least six top Federal Bureau of Prisons officials have announced plans to retire in coming months, including acting director William Lothrop.

At least six top officials at the Federal Bureau of Prisons have announced plans to retire amid questions about the agency's direction under Trump. That's more than a third of BOP's senior leadership. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

What the choice of Dan Bongino could mean for Kash Patel’s FBI vision FBI deputy director Dan Bongino is a bombastic podcast host who has never worked at the FBI and has spent years pushing conspiracy theories about the bureau.

The FBI’s new deputy director is a bombastic podcast host who has never worked at the bureau and has pushed conspiracy theories about it for years.

Reaching that point in the day when I have way too many tabs open

U.S. reverses plan to shut down free covid test program The government had been preparing to shut down the program that ships free coronavirus tests to American households and was considering destroying 160 million tests.

Anyway read my colleagues' reporting on the Trump administration's free testing flip-flop

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Government officials are considering destroying 160 million covid tests. I asked to take 4 of them off their hands before they do. Nope, turns out I've reached the limit. Across three administrations, this country has never had a coherent covid testing policy.

This seems like something dreamed up in a c-suite by people who have never set foot in a newsroom. Bylines and taglines aren't participation trophies. They show who did the work. This limit makes it harder for readers and sources to hold reporters accountable and robs journalists of credit.

Ousted federal watchdogs sue Trump, saying they were fired illegally Eight inspectors general fired by the White House last month have sued the administration, arguing President Donald Trump broke the law.

Eight inspectors general say in a new lawsuit that the White House's attempt oust them last month was unlawful. They were the Senate-confirmed watchdogs at DoD, Veterans Affairs, HHS, Education, Agriculture, Labor, State and the Small Business Admin.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Justice Dept. sues Illinois and Chicago over immigration enforcement It appears to be the first Justice Department lawsuit against local officials for allegedly interfering with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

NEW: DOJ has sued Illinois and Chicago seeking to block state and local protections for noncitizens that it says impede immigration enforcement. Appears to be the first legal action taken as part of Trump's promise to crack down on so-called sanctuary cities.

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

U.S. government officials privately warn Musk’s blitz appears illegal The billionaire’s DOGE team has launched an all-out assault on federal agencies, triggering numerous legal objections.

“So many of these things are so wildly illegal that I think they’re playing a quantity game and assuming the system can’t react to all this illegality at once,” said David Super, an administrative law professor at Georgetown Law School.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has removed data on transgender people in its custody. Until a day or two ago, the site had a footnote on this graph showing about 1,500 trans women and 700 trans men.

The plaintiffs cited government research showing that transgender people face a substantially increased risk of physical and sexual violence when they're housed in places corresponding to their biological sex. The judge said the BOP was almost certainly aware of this potential "parade of harms."

Judge Royce Lamberth said the plaintiffs, three trans women inmates, were likely to succeed on their claims that the policy violated 8th Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. (Note that the judge isn't ruling on the actual merits at this stage, just likelihood of success).

A federal judge in DC has temporarily blocked the Federal Bureau of Prisons from carrying out Trump's executive order to move incarcerated trans women to men's facilities and and stop their gender-affirming medical care.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

FBI agents sue DOJ to block release of who worked on Trump, Jan. 6 cases Firing FBI employees because they worked on cases involving Jan. 6 or President Donald Trump would be unlawful and retaliatory, attorneys for nine agents said.

Two groups of FBI agents sued the DOJ to block any public release of a list of thousands of employees who worked on investigations tied to Trump or the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

FBI leaders have told employees that the examination of the Jan. 6 cases, as well as of investigations of Trump’s handling of classified documents and efforts to block the 2020 election results, could lead to widespread personnel actions. Lawyers for some officials have threatened legal action.

Democrats seek answers on FBI, Justice Dept. ousters, say purge may expand The Justice Department and FBI have removed senior leaders and prosecutors and are reviewing agents’ work. Experts say some removals could violated due process.

Senate Dems are demanding answers about the the Trump administration's ouster of Justice Department and FBI officials, and suggest more law enforcement leaders could soon be removed. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

D.C. federal judge likely to extend ban on Trump OMB funding freeze The judge cited the potential “catastrophic” impacts of Trump’s plan and said after a hearing that she was inclined to extend her order preventing new restrictions.

Federal judge in D.C. warns of "catastrophic" impacts of Trump's spending freeze, including small businesses failing if the directive isn't put on hold. She's likely to extend a block on the freeze later today.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Gabbard faces bipartisan doubt in spy job hearing; Patel gets GOP embrace as FBI pick In dueling confirmation hearings, Trump’s DNI pick appeared on shaky ground after refusing to condemn Edward Snowden as a “traitor,” while FBI director nominee Kash Patel won plaudits from Republicans...

Two controversial nominees, two very different confirmation hearings: Tulsi Gabbard faced bipartisan skepticism of her suitability for DNI, while Kash Patel, Trump's nominee for FBI director, got a friendly reception from Republicans.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Pranshu Verma named Bureau Chief in New Delhi

some personal news: Thrilled to be The Washington Post's next New Delhi bureau chief: www.washingtonpost.com/pr/2025/01/2...

Surreal moment just now

Bernie Sanders displays “Unvaxxed Unafraid” baby onesies sold by Children’s Health Defense, which RFK Jr founded.

“Are you supportive of these onesies,” Sanders thundered.