Trump revokes Biden’s security clearance; slips up on Japanese company name: Live

Alex Woodward writes:

President Donald Trump’s unprecedented power grabs within his first three weeks in office have provoked an opposite and equal reaction in the form of an avalanche of lawsuits.

Now, how far the president can plunge the United States into a constitutional crisis could depend on a handful of federal judges.

Americans should be prepared for the administration to ignore them, “unless and until there’s real enforcement, either by law enforcement or by the Supreme Court,” says Ty Cobb, a former White House counsel during Trump’s first administration.

“The real question is, will Trump honor those orders?” Cobb tells The Independent.

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Indonesian authorities have halted development of a tourism project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump.

The project, covering over 3,000 hectares, is a collaboration between Trump’s business partner, Indonesian billionaire Hary Tanoesoedibjo, and the Trump Organization.

Tanoesoedibjo attended Trump’s inauguration in Washington last month. His association with Trump began in 2014 when his group company, MNC, was looking for an operator for sprawling “six star” resorts, one to be built on the tourist island of Bali and the other near Jakarta.

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The Ohio city that became a flashpoint of the immigration debate during the 2024 presidential election after Donald Trump amplified false rumors of Haitian immigrants “eating the pets” is suing a neo-Nazi group for unleashing a “campaign of hate and harassment” against residents who defended the city’s migrant population.

Justin Baragona has the story.

Employees at the Department of Health and Human Services are bracing for layoffs across the vast public health agency, as Donald Trump’s administration instructs federal health officials to rank their essential workers and those who are deemed less essential.

Leaders were also asked to justify why certain employees should be retained.

Alex Woodward reports.

The first job report of Donald Trump’s second presidency suggested that he inherited a labor market that is solid but unspectacular – but experts have warned his policies could change that.

U.S. employers added just 143,000 jobs last month, but the jobless rate slipped to 4% to start 2025 and the government revised November and December payrolls higher. January job creation was down from 307,000 in December and 263,000 in November. Economists had expected about 170,000 new jobs in January.

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Nineteen Democratic attorneys general sued President Donald Trump on Friday to stop Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department records that contain sensitive personal data such as Social Security and bank account numbers for millions of Americans.

The case, filed in federal court in New York City, alleges the Trump administration allowed Musk’s team access to the Treasury Department’s central payment system in violation of federal law.

The payment system handles tax refunds, Social Security benefits, veterans’ benefits and much more, sending out trillions of dollars every year while containing an expansive network of Americans’ personal and financial data.

Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, was created to discover and eliminate what the Trump administration has deemed to be wasteful government spending. DOGE’s access to Treasury records, as well as its inspection of various government agencies, has ignited widespread concern among critics over the increasing power of Musk, while supporters have cheered at the idea of reining in bloated government finances.

In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office filed the lawsuit, said DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department’s data raises security problems and the possibility for an illegal freeze in federal funds.

“President Trump does not have the power to give away Americans’ private information to anyone he chooses, and he cannot cut federal payments approved by Congress,” said James, a Democrat who has been one of Trump’s chief antagonists. “Musk and DOGE have no authority to access Americans’ private information and some of our country’s most sensitive data.”

Also on the lawsuit are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Earlier this week, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end told reporters that he considered Trump’s appearance to be “a great honor.”

Kevin E G Perry has the story.

A former police officer attacked during the January 6 insurrection was heckled outside the Capitol by a rioter pardoned by Donald Trump.

Former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn was confronted after a gathering on the Capitol steps Wednesday honoring fellow fallen officer Brian Sicknick, who died after suffering two strokes the day after he was attacked and sprayed with bear mace during the riot.

Mary Papenfuss has the story.

President Donald Trump on Friday said he would be denying former president Joe Biden any access to classified information and the courtesy briefings traditionally provided to former presidents as needed.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was “immediately revoking Joe Biden’s Security Clearances, and stopping his daily Intelligence Briefings,” following a precedent Biden had set four years earlier when he instructed U.S. intelligence officials to halt any briefings to Trump, citing the then-former president’s “erratic behavior” in the wake of his 2020 election loss.

As elected officials, presidents do not hold security clearances but they have traditionally been given courtesy briefings on an as-needed basis, such as when traveling abroad or when meeting with foreign government officials.

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