National

(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Education initiated mass layoffs on Tuesday night, reducing its workforce by nearly 50%, sources told ABC News. The “reduction in force” notices began to go out at about 6 p.m. Some 1,315 employees were affected by the RIFs, leaving 2,183 employed by the department, according to senior officials at the […]

Ezra Acayan/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — A USAID directive to destroy classified documents had been “seriously misapprehended,” Trump administration attorneys wrote in a court filing Wednesday in which they insisted that all records were appropriately handled and “did not violate” federal laws dictating the preservation of government documents. The American Federation of Government Employees, a union […]

Alex Wong/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Wednesday will consider the fate of more than 20,000 probationary government employees fired by the Trump administration. During a hearing in U.S. District Court in Maryland, Judge James Bredar will consider issuing a temporary restraining order that would block future firings and reinstate the probationary employees […]

TSA (NEWARK, NJ) — A Pennsylvania man attempting to go through airport security was discovered to have been hiding a living turtle in his pants as he tried to sneak it onto the plane, authorities said. The incident took place last Friday at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey when a man from Pennsylvania […]

(LOS ANGELES) — The woman who said she was 13 when Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs sexually assaulted her after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards is heard on a recording agreeing Jay-Z did not assault her and saying her lawyer pushed her to sue Jay-Z. The woman’s lawsuit against Jay-Z and Combs […]

(LOS ANGELES) — Evacuation warnings and orders have been issued for parts of Los Angeles County on Wednesday, near burn scar areas from the Palisades Fire, due to high mudslide and debris flow risks, according to the LA Fire Department. “These are recent burn areas and are especially susceptible to heavy rain,” LAFD said in its warning. The […]

(LOS ANGELES) — Lyle and Erik Menendez will appear at independent parole board hearings on June 13 as a part of the brothers’ bid for clemency, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced. “On June 13, we will have the parole hearing board recommendation,” the governor explained Tuesday on his podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom.” “That independent analysis […]

(NEW YORK) — A federal judge has set an expedited briefing schedule for Mahmoud Khalil — the Palestinian activist who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the campus of Columbia University, despite possessing a green card — saying “there is some need for speed here.” His attorneys pointed out Khalil is a lawful […]

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images (LOS ANGELES) — With mass layoffs taking place at the Department of Education, the superintendent for the nation’s second largest public school system says the closure of the department would bring “catastrophic harm” if there is any reduction to the federal funding that students in his district receive. In a […]

(NEW YORK) — Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations have been vandalized, suffered arson attacks and faced protests since the company’s CEO Elon Musk began his work with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, leading to mass layoffs of federal workers, authorities said. The latest suspicious incident occurred overnight in Dedham, Massachusetts, where three […]