{"id":923,"date":"2025-03-27T16:04:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T16:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/03\/27\/trump-administration-live-updates-hhs-plans-10000-layoffs-in-dramatic-restructuring-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-03-27T16:04:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T16:04:09","slug":"trump-administration-live-updates-hhs-plans-10000-layoffs-in-dramatic-restructuring-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/03\/27\/trump-administration-live-updates-hhs-plans-10000-layoffs-in-dramatic-restructuring-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration live updates: HHS plans 10,000 layoffs in ‘dramatic restructuring’ – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Trump to hold ‘tele-town hall’ for Florida special election candidate<\/h2>\n
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Trump is holding a “tele-town hall” this evening with Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, the Republican candidate competing in the special congressional election Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“Hear from the President on why the election for CD-1 is so important to not only families in the Panhandle BUT the entire nation!” Patronis posted on X<\/a>, encouraging his supporters to dial into the tele-town hall. Patronis is vying to replace former Rep. Matt Gaetz in Florida’s 1st Congressional District, which Gaetz and Trump easily carried in November.<\/p>\n

The district is deeply Republican, but Patronis’ Democratic opponent, gun control activist Gay Valimont, has swamped him in fundraising. Valimont, who also lost to Gaetz in November, has spent millions on the race. Patronis has received some help in the final days from outside groups, including Elon Musk’s super PAC. <\/a><\/p>\n

There is also a special election in Florida’s 6th Congressional District on Tuesday to replace former GOP Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser. It is unclear if Trump is holding a similar event for the GOP candidate in that race, State Sen. Randy Fine. The state senator has raised some concerns among GOP leaders<\/a> because of his lackluster fundraising.<\/p>\n


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\u2018A crisis moment\u2019: New Politics launches $20 million push to recruit service-oriented candidates<\/h2>\n
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New Politics, a group focused on supporting candidates from service backgrounds, is launching a multimillion-dollar effort to recruit thousands of candidates over the next four years. And the congressman co-chairing the effort said it comes as the country faces \u201ca crisis moment in political leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I talk to my constituents, they sense that we have a fundamental lack of leadership in the country right now and are desperate for integrity and courage and authenticity and candor and honesty, and they\u2019re not feeling that,\u201d Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., said in an interview. \u201cIt\u2019s the exception rather than the rule in both parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full story.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Senate Armed Services Committee requests Pentagon’s acting inspector general to investigate Signal chat<\/h2>\n
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Isabella Ramirez<\/span>Isabella Ramirez is a politics intern with NBC News.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., sent a letter<\/a> today requesting the Defense Department\u2019s acting inspector general to launch an investigation into the leaked Signal chat about U.S. military strikes in Yemen.<\/p>\n

The letter raises concerns over the nature of the information shared in the group chat, asking for an assessment of whether the senior Trump administration officials adhered to the department\u2019s classification and declassification policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis chat was alleged to have included classified information pertaining to sensitive military actions in Yemen. If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know,\u201d the senators wrote.<\/p>\n

The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to schedule a briefing with acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins following the completion of his review, they said.<\/p>\n


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Trump reiterates desire to acquire Greenland ahead of Vances’ visit <\/h2>\n
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Trump is reiterating his desire for the United States to acquire Greenland ahead of a high-profile trip by Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, who arrive tomorrow. It originally was supposed to be a cultural visit for the second lady, but now the trip has a sharper focus on national security. NBC\u2019s Molly Hunter reports for “TODAY” from Nuuk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Wisconsin provides a critical test for Democrats\u2019 anti-Musk playbook<\/h2>\n
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Next week\u2019s Wisconsin Supreme Court race<\/a> is emerging as the first big test of Democrats\u2019 anti-Elon Musk<\/a> strategy as the party searches for a winning message following its loss to Trump last November.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s billionaire adviser has been a major player in the technically nonpartisan judicial race: Musk\u2019s super PAC has emerged as the top spender in the contest and has offered $100 to Wisconsin voters to sign a petition to oppose \u201cactivist judges,\u201d while he often posts about the election on his X feed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Between that and his polarizing efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency to slash the size of the federal government \u2014 and polling that shows he\u2019s less popular than Trump, who endorsed conservative candidate Brad Schimel<\/a> last week \u2014 Democratic-aligned groups and liberal candidate Susan Crawford have made Musk a major focal point in the race\u2019s final stretch.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a playbook that Democrats could seek to replicate elsewhere if it\u2019s successful in one of the country\u2019s tightest battleground states.<\/p>\n

Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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DOGE’s lease terminations at anti-discrimination agency raises questions about flouting protocol<\/h2>\n
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The Department of Government Efficiency website’s lease termination listings<\/a> for as many as eight Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offices is raising questions from Congress about whether the terminations flouted standard protocol. <\/p>\n

A group of House Democrats sent a letter yesterday to acting EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, whom Trump renominated for another five-year term this week, urging the agency to \u201creverse course on any plan to terminate leases at EEOC\u2019s field offices.\u201d <\/p>\n

The letter also says the lease terminations are \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d because the independent agency is without a quorum to approve any changes. Trump fired two Democratic commissioners<\/a> in January, leaving the anti-discrimination watchdog agency with just two remaining commissioners. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Commission must approve changes to the boundaries of field offices by vote,” the lawmakers wrote. “As you are aware, the Commission lacks a quorum and cannot approve such changes unilaterally.\u201d <\/p>\n

The agency’s five-person commission must approve changes to “jurisdictional boundaries of any EEOC field activity,” according to a 2006 EEOC memo obtained by NBC News. “No jurisdictional boundaries can be established or changed, even temporarily, without Commission approval,” the memo says.<\/p>\n

An EEOC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. Agency spokespersons declined to comment when asked earlier this month for clarity about the lease terminations and agency protocol.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Department of Health and Human Services announces it’s cutting 10,000 more jobs<\/h2>\n
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Rebecca Shabad<\/span><\/span><\/span> and Elyse Perlmutter-Gumbiner<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Department of Health and Human Services announced this morning that it is cutting 10,000 more employees <\/a>from its workforce, which will shrink from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees when combined with other HHS layoffs. <\/p>\n

The cuts will save taxpayers $1.8 billion annually as part of a “dramatic restructuring” that will “streamline the functions” of HHS, the department said.<\/p>\n

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The department said it will consolidate \u201cmany redundant units\u201d in its 28 divisions into just 15 divisions. It will also halve its number of regional offices from 10 to five.<\/p>\n

It said “the overhaul will implement the new HHS priority of ending America\u2019s epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins.”<\/p>\n

The W<\/a>all Street Journal<\/a> was the first to report the restructuring.<\/p>\n

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement that the department is “realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Department will do more \u2014 a lot more \u2014 at a lower cost to the taxpayer,” he said. <\/p>\n

Read the full story.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Homeland Security Secretary Noem visits the El Salvador prison where deported Venezuelans are held<\/h2>\n
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The Associated Press<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reporting from EL SALVADOR<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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TECOLUCA, El Salvador \u2014 Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem yesterday visited the high-security El Salvador prison where Venezuelans the Trump administration alleges are gang members have been held since their removal from the United States. The tour included two crowded cell blocks, the armory and an isolation unit.<\/p>\n

Noem\u2019s trip to the prison \u2014 where inmates are packed into cells and never allowed outside \u2014 comes as the Trump administration seeks to show it is deporting people it describes as the \u201cworst of the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kristi<\/picture>
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem tours the terrorist confinement center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, yesterday. <\/span>Alex Brandon \/ AFP – Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Read the full story here<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Appeals court denies Trump administration’s push for a pause in probationary employees case<\/h2>\n
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Gary Grumbach<\/span><\/span><\/span> and Megan Lebowitz<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A federal appeals court has denied the Trump administration’s request to pause a lower court’s order to reinstate probationary employees.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge William Alsup <\/a>had previously ruled that thousands of fired probationary employees must be reinstated. In a two-to-one decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the government’s request for an emergency stay of Alsup’s orders while appeals are underway. <\/p>\n

The government has also asked the Supreme Court to pause Alsup’s order, although the high court has not yet weighed in. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Trump threatens \u2018far larger\u2019 tariffs on E.U. and Canada if they unite to do \u2018economic harm\u2019 to the U.S.\u00a0<\/h2>\n
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Trump issued an overnight threat to place \u201cfar larger\u201d tariffs on the European Union and Canada than planned if they work together to retaliate in response to his tariffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!,\u201d Trump said in a post<\/a> on his Truth Social platform.<\/p>\n

Read the full story.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Marjorie Taylor Greene tells British reporter to \u2018go back to your country\u2019<\/h2>\n
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Peter Guo<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., lashed out at a reporter from Britain at a news conference yesterday, telling her to \u201cgo back to your country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greene made the remarks after Sky News correspondent Martha Kelner attempted to ask about the leaked Signal chat about U.S. military strikes on Yemen. (NBC and Sky News are both owned by Comcast.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t you go back to your country where you have a major migrant problem?\u201d Greene said before Kelner could finish her question. \u201cWe don\u2019t give a crap about your opinion and your reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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When Kelner pressed Greene on whether she cared about \u201cAmerican lives being put at risk\u201d by the Signal leak, Greene fired back: \u201cDo you care about people from your country? What about all the women that are raped by migrants?\u201d<\/p>\n

She then called on an \u201cAmerican journalist\u201d and said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is doing a \u201cgreat job\u201d as she walked out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Former national security officials say airstrike plans shared with journalist were classified <\/h2>\n
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Dan De Luce<\/span><\/span><\/span> and Gordon Lubold<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Former senior national security officials and Democratic lawmakers rejected yesterday the Trump administration\u2019s continued assertion that detailed U.S. airstrike plans inadvertently shared with a journalist were not classified.<\/p>\n

They cited\u00a0The Atlantic\u2019s publication of a full transcript<\/a>\u00a0of the Signal text exchange in which the administration\u2019s top national security officials discussed planned U.S. airstrikes in Yemen.<\/p>\n

Read the full story.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Democrats demand accountability as Atlantic releases full chain <\/h2>\n
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The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg released the entire text chain of messages from a group chat he was mistakenly added to that included Vice President JD Vance and nearly all of the Trump administration senior national security leaders in a discussion of sensitive military plans. It comes as more Republicans are pressing for an investigation, with the White House remaining defiant in the face of mounting backlash. NBC\u2019s Garrett Haake reports for “TODAY.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Senate committee holds hearing to address antisemitism on college\u00a0campuses<\/h2>\n
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The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is holding a hearing this morning to address antisemitic attacks and harassment against Jewish students on college campuses.<\/p>\n

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the chair of the committee, introduced legislation in January that would penalize colleges that do not adequately <\/a>combat discrimination due to heritage and better teach students how to report alleged civil rights violations.<\/p>\n

The hearing comes as the Trump administration aggressively targets alleged incidents of antisemitism at schools, using them in part to justify the deportation of several <\/a>fore<\/a>i<\/a>gn students <\/a>who participated<\/a> in pro-Palestinian protests last year.<\/p>\n

Education Secretary Linda McMahon this month threatened 60 colleges with \u201cpotential enforcement actions\u201d<\/a> if they failed to sufficiently protect the Jewish students on their respective campuses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Trump to sign more executive orders today<\/h2>\n
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Trump is expected to sign additional executive orders this afternoon in the Oval Office, according to the White House.<\/p>\n

The new directives from Trump come after he signed orders this week to place new tariffs on U.S. automobile imports<\/a> and implement new guidelines on federal elections.<\/a> While announcing the auto tariffs at the White House yesterday, Trump told reporters he planned to implement additional tariffs over the next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be doing\u00a0tariffs\u00a0on pharmaceuticals in order to bring our pharmaceutical industry back,\u201d Trump said, adding \u201cwe will be putting a tariff on lumber.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This evening, Trump will participate in an iftar dinner at the White House to commemorate the Muslim month of Ramadan. The event is scheduled to take place in the State Dining Room.<\/p>\n

Last year, President Joe Biden dramatically downsized <\/a>his iftar gathering after invitations to attend the event were declined by several Muslim American community leaders amid backlash to his handling of the war in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump to hold ‘tele-town hall’ for Florida special election candidate Trump is holding a “tele-town hall” this evening with Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, the Republican candidate competing in the special congressional election Tuesday. “Hear from the President on why the election for CD-1 is so important to not only families in the Panhandle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}