The Latest: Trump signals he's open to multiple budget bills instead of just one

Hours after the Senate approved a spending framework, President Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview that he’s open to approving the spending plan in multiple bills “as long as we get to the same point.”

Here's the latest:

Maine governor says funding fight is about ‘whether a President can force compliance with his will’

Maine Gov. Janet Mills says Trump does not have the right to withhold funding appropriated by Congress and paid for by taxpayers “in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will.”

The Democratic governor made the statement Friday after the U.S. Department of Education told Maine’s Department of Education that it had been instructed to begin an investigation into the state for allowing transgender athletes to compete.

Trump has threatened to cut the state’s federal funding unless it backs down.

Mills says she thinks “the outcome of this politically directed investigation is all but predetermined” but said she would work with the attorney general to fight for Maine in court.

“But do not be misled: this is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation,” she said. “I believe he cannot.”

The Supreme Court won’t allow Trump to immediately fire head of whistleblower office

The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily kept on the job at the head of the federal agency that protects government whistleblowers, in its first word on the many legal fights over Trump’s second-term agenda.

The justices said in an unsigned order that Hampton Dellinger, head of the Office of Special Counsel, could remain in his job at least until Feb. 26. That’s when a lower-court order temporarily protecting him expires.

The high court neither granted nor rejected the administration’s plea to immediately remove him. Instead, the court held the request in abeyance, noting that the order expires in just a few days.

▶ Read more about the Supreme Court’s order

Park service restores jobs and adds more seasonal workers

The Trump administration is restoring jobs for dozens of National Park Service employees fired amid government-wide reductions and hiring nearly 3,000 additional seasonal workers, following an uproar over an aggressive plan to downsize the agency.

At least 50 jobs are being restored to help maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and collect admission fees, according to two people familiar with the agency’s plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The moves come as the park service said in a new memo that it will hire up to 7,700 seasonal positions this year, up from about 5,000 promised earlier this week and higher than the three-year average of 6,350 seasonal workers. The park service has about 20,000 employees.

Lawmakers and advocacy groups have criticized the widespread layoffs as unnecessary and a threat to public safety and the parks themselves.

▶ Read more about park service jobs being restored

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Associated Press reporter Matthew Daly contributed reporting.

US Department of Education announces investigation of Maine agency over transgender athletes

The U.S. Department of Education says it is initiating an investigation into the Maine Department of Education over the inclusion of transgender athletes.

The announcement Friday came the same day that Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills sparred at the White House over the issue after Trump singled her out at a governor’s event.

Trump has threatened Maine’s federal funding if the state continues to allow transgender athletes to play in women’s and girls sports. Mills, a Democrat, told the Republican president, “We’ll see you in court.”

State officials had no immediate comment on the planned investigation.

▶ Read more about the threats of funding cuts

Justice Department files complaint against judge weighing challenge to Trump’s transgender troop ban

The complaint accuses U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes of inappropriately questioning a government lawyer about his religious beliefs and trying to “embarrass” the attorney with a rhetorical exercise during an exchange about discrimination.

During the rhetorical exercise, Reyes told the attorney that she changed the rules in her courtroom to bar graduates of the University of Virginia law school from appearing before her because they are all “liars and lack integrity.” She instructed the government attorney, a graduate of the school, to sit down.

In another exchange cited in the complaint, the judge asked the attorney what “Jesus would say to telling a group of people that they are so worthless, so worthless that we’re— we’re not going to allow them into homeless shelters?”

The complaint calls for an investigation, saying “appropriate action” should be taken to ensure that future hearings are conducted with the “dignity and impartiality the public has a right to expect.”

▶ Read more about the complaint against the judge

Trump plans to retaliate against taxes on digital services

Trump says he plans to sign an action as soon as Friday to put tariffs on countries that tax digital services.

“What they’re doing to us and other countries is terrible with digital,” Trump told reporters.

The U.S. president didn’t flesh out the details of the action or how the tariffs would necessarily apply.

About half of European countries have announced, proposed or implemented taxes on digital services, which largely hit U.S. tech companies, according to the Tax Foundation, a center-right think tank.

Pentagon is cutting 5,400 probationary jobs

The Pentagon says it’s laying off 5,400 probationary workers starting next week and will put a hiring freeze in place.

It comes as Trump’s administration is firing thousands of federal workers who have less civil service protections.

At the Defense Department, “we anticipate reducing the Department’s civilian workforce by 5-8% to produce efficiencies and refocus the Department on the President’s priorities and restoring readiness in the force,” said Darin Selnick, who is acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also has directed the military services to identify $50 billion in programs that could be cut next year to redirect those savings to fund Trump’s priorities.

Trump says he’s not going to visit Moscow

The president dismissed reports that he might be going to Moscow, saying, “No, no I’m not.”

Trump made the comment as he spoke to reporters while swearing in new Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio arrested near Capitol on assault charge

Former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio was arrested Friday near the U.S. Capitol on a charge that he assaulted a woman protesting a gathering attended by Tarrio and others who received presidential pardons for crimes stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in the nation’s capital.

Capitol police said officers saw Tarrio strike the protester’s cellphone and arm after the woman placed the phone close to his face as they walked near the Capitol. Tarrio had just left a news conference that had ended “without incident,” police said.

“The woman told our officers that she wanted to be a complainant, and the man was arrested for the simple assault,” police said in a statement.

Tarrio, of Miami, was serving a 22-year sentence — the longest among hundreds of Capitol riot cases — when President Donald Trump granted clemency last month to all 1,500-plus people charged in the attack.

▶ Read more about Tarrio’s arrest

AP sues 3 Trump administration officials, citing freedom of speech

The Associated Press sued three Trump administration officials Friday over access to presidential events, citing freedom of speech in asking a federal judge to stop the 10-day blocking of its journalists.

The lawsuit was filed Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The AP says its case is about an unconstitutional effort by the White House to control speech — in this case refusing to change its style from the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” as President Donald Trump did last month with an executive order.

“The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government,” the AP said in its lawsuit, which names White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“This targeted attack on the AP’s editorial independence and ability to gather and report the news strikes at the very core of the First Amendment,” the news agency said. “This court should remedy it immediately.”

▶ Read more about the AP’s lawsuit against the Trump administration and read the court filing

Lutnick takes oath to be commerce secretary

Howard Lutnick has been officially sworn in as commerce secretary, a cabinet post that the Wall Street investor plans to use to impose Trump’s planned tariffs.

“We are going to balance the budget of the United States of America, because Donald Trump understands global business,” Lutnick said while in the Oval Office with the president.

Lutnick is a supporter of cryptocurrency and led the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

US stocks tumble as businesses and consumers worry about tariffs and Washington

U.S. stocks fell sharply after reports showed worries about how Trump’s policies may be hitting the economy.

The S&P 500 sank 1.7% Friday for its worst day in two months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 2.2%.

The losses accelerated through the day following several weaker-than-expected reports on the economy.

One report suggested U.S. business activity is close to stalling, with optimism slumping because of worries about tariffs and other potential policies from Washington. Reports on consumer sentiment and home sales also came in weaker than expected.

Akamai Technologies weighed on the market after giving financial forecasts that fell short of expectations. Treasury yields fell in the bond market.

▶ Read more about dropping U.S. stocks

ICE’s acting director has been reassigned

The top official in charge of carrying out Trump’s mass deportations agenda has been reassigned after the administration voiced concerns that the deportation effort isn’t moving fast enough.

Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that Caleb Vitello, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was “no longer in an administrative role, but is instead overseeing all field and enforcement operations.”

The statement didn’t give a reason for the move. Vitello is a career ICE official with more than two decades on the job. But White House officials have expressed frustration with the pace of deportations of people in the country illegally.

Judge clears way for Trump administration remove thousands of USAID staffers

A federal judge has cleared the way for the Trump administration to pull thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development staffers off the job.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols removed his temporary block on the effort to pull all but a small fraction of USAID staffers from their posts and give those abroad a 30-day deadline to move back to the U.S. at government expense.

His ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by unions on behalf of workers. They say the rush to dismantle the agency had cut off some staffers overseas from emergency communications systems, including some in danger of political violence in Congo.

The Trump administration and the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency tied to billionaire Elon Musk have moved swiftly to shutter USAID, asserting that its work is wasteful and out of line with the president’s agenda.

▶ Read more about the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle USAID

Lawmakers ask about list of possible military firings

A group of lawmakers, all of whom served in the U.S. military, have asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide the criteria he is using to evaluate military officers for possible dismissal.

In the last two days, a list of seven three- and four-star military officers identified to be fired, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown, has circulated among some lawmakers.

It was not clear who sent the list to Capitol Hill, and the office of the secretary for defense did not immediately respond to questions about it.

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, described the list as potentially just socializing those names to gauge how much pushback there would be in firing them.

Notably, neither Republican leaders of the House or Senate armed services committees said they have been notified or provided an official list from the Pentagon.

“Most if not all of the three and four star General and Flag officers were general officers under the first Trump administration and have served honorably under many administrations of both parties,” said the seven lawmakers — six Democrats and one Republican.

Three-and four-star officers’ ranks are all tied to their position, and the president has the authority to relieve them at will.